Ottawa police misjudged protesters who besieged Canada's capital - testimony

FILE PHOTO: Canadian police officers stand guard as they work to restore normality to the capital while trucks and demonstrators continue to occupy the downtown core for more than three weeks to protest against pandemic restrictions in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 19, 2022. REUTERS/Blair Gable

TORONTO (Reuters) - A three-week occupation of the center of Canada's capital last month resulted in part from police underestimating anti-government protesters by assuming they would leave within days, according to police sources and police leadership testimony.

That miscalculation was compounded by a reluctance to crack down on the demonstrators once they had become entrenched in downtown Ottawa, partly out of fear of escalation, a police source and multiple observers told Reuters.