Obama administration terrorism expert and CNN analyst furiously backtracks after calling for Freedom Convoy trucker's tires to be slashed and their vehicles to be seized: Accused of promoting 'vigilantism'

• 'The convoy protest, applauded by right wing media as a 'freedom protest,' is an economic and security issue now,' CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem said Thursday 
• The left-leaning journalist went on to offer an extreme solution to ending the blockade that included slashing truckers' tires and removing them by force
• 'Slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks,' said Kayyem, once the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Barack Obama
• Hours later, Kayyem, 52, appeared to hurriedly walk back her comments 
• 'Earlier today, I tweeted something that has been used by others to suggest I was promoting vigilantism. I was not,' she wrote on Thursday evening
• 'People have the freedom to protest. Governments have the responsibility to protect public safety. That was what I intended to say.' 
•  Truckers in Ontario continue to protest mandates put in place by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau last month by blocking streets in Ottawa for the 14th straight day 
• The protesters have since also halted traffic at the province's Ambassador Bridge, a crucial crossing that connects the country to the United States 
• Protesters appeared to be ignoring a 7pm demand to clear the bridge on Friday
• The blockade has disrupted the flow of products between the two nations and threatening to shut down production at several American auto plants  

 

A former official with the Obama administration has hastily walked back her comments made on Thursday when she called for Canadian truckers participating in the protests against the Liberal government's coronavirus policies to have their tires slashed.

 

Juliette Kayyem, 52, was the assistant secretary of homeland security for intergovernmental affairs under President Barack Obama.

 

She had tweeted on Thursday of her desire for the Ambassador Bridge connecting Canada to the United States to be cleared of truckers.

 

'Slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks,' she demanded. 

 

But just hours later, Kayyem was seeking to clarify her comments in a follow-up tweet.

 

 

 CNN journalist and former Obama aide Juliette Kayyem offered an extreme solution to a blockade formed by protesting truckers at a crucial border US-Canada crossing. 'Slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks,' the journalist said Thursday

 

 

But just hours later, Kayyem was seeking to clarify her comments in a follow-up tweet.

 

Protestors and supporters take a vote on whether to stay or leave ahead of an impending 7PM injunction deadline at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge on Friday night, sealing off the flow of commercial traffic over the bridge into Canada from Detroit

 

 

As a convoy of truckers and supporters continues to occupy The Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, blockades and convoys have popped up around the country in support of the protest against Canada's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers

 

 

'Earlier today, I tweeted something that has been used by others to suggest I was promoting vigilantism. I was not. People have the freedom to protest. Governments have the responsibility to protect public safety. That was what I intended to say,' she tweeted late on Thursday night.    

 

She had previously advocated the slashing of tires and removal of drivers by force adding that the chaos was obstructing the country's supply chain to America.

 

'The convoy protest, applauded by right wing media as a 'freedom protest,' is an economic and security issue now,' CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem said earlier on Thursday in a post to social media, as demonstrators in Ontario continued to protest mandates put in place by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month by blocking streets in the country's capital for the fourteenth straight day.

 

The protesters have since halted traffic at the province's Ambassador Bridge, a crucial crossing that connects the country to the US, disrupting the flow products between the two nations and threatening to shut down production at several American auto plants.

 

The left-leaning journalist and senior lecturer of international security at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, offered an extreme solution to the current predicament.

 

'The Ambassador Bridge link constitutes 28 percent of annual trade movement between US and Canada,' Kayyem, once the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Intergovernmental Affairs for Barack Obama, explained in a post published on Twitter.  

 

 

 

Protesters have halted traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial crossing that connects the country's Ontario province to the US, disrupting the flow products between the two nations and threatening to shut down production at several American auto plants

Read More Here: Daily Mail