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Fact check: Canadian government didn't place rock-filled bins to incite violence at trucker protest

McKenzie Sadeghi   | Paste BN

The claim: The Canadian government planted dumpsters full of rocks to incite violence during COVID-19 demonstrations

During major protests, rumors sometimes surface about bricks being deliberately placed by law enforcement to incite violence.

The baseless conspiracy theory emerged in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in anticipation of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, and similar false claims about pallets of bricks made the rounds during the 2020 election and nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.  

The latest iteration of the claim targets the Canadian trucker demonstration against COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

“Canadian Government leaving dumpsters full of rocks in the streets in the hopes that the protests will turn violent,” reads a Feb. 9 Facebook post from the page Libertarian Candidates that accumulated more than 800 reactions in less than three days.

Accompanying the text is an image of a large, red container filled with rocks and rubble. A caption over the photo says, “If anything happens cause of those rocks, its (sic) 100% orchestrated.” The photo was captured from a Feb. 7 TikTok video that generated more 39,000 likes.

The claim follows Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson's state of emergency declaration, which followed reports of violence and disruptive behavior amid the ongoing demonstrations.  

But rocks were not placed by the government to incite violence. The image circulating online shows a container filled with rubble from a construction project that had been taking place long before the demonstrations started, Paste BN confirmed..

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Paste BN reached out to the social media users for comment.

Container was for a construction project

A logo seen on the container reveals it belongs to Mr. Dumpster, a bin rental company located in Ottawa. One of the owners, Nicolas Benson, told Paste BN that the bin wasn’t “just dropped off” for the demonstrations and there isn’t anything malicious about it.

He said a contractor rented a bin for a construction project that has been taking place since the summer of 2021 in downtown Ottawa, and the bin was removed from the location the same day the TikTok video went viral.

The company also took to social media to address the claims. 

“The dumpster is being rented and used for concrete repair work that has been ongoing for over a year by a reputable contractor,” reads a Feb. 7 Facebook post from Mr. Dumpster. “The use is strictly for the contractor and in no way intended for any malicious acts. As a precaution, the dumpster was removed Sunday afternoon as requested by the contractor.”

The construction took place outside the Constitution Square office complex near Canada’s Parliament Hill, where many of the demonstrations have been taking place. On Feb. 10, a reporter with AFP visited the site and confirmed the dumpster was no longer there.

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Paste BN reached out to the city of Ottawa and the Ottawa Police Service for additional comment.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the Canadian government planted dumpsters full of rocks to incite violence during COVID-19 demonstrations. The company that owns the container said it was being used by a contractor for a construction project that had been taking place since 2021. The container has since been removed. 

Our fact-check sources: 

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