Ottawa police made several arrests on Friday after confronting protesters opposing COVID-19 mandates, who were wearing helmets and shields while large trucks tried to reach the Parliament building.

The protesters arrived Friday afternoon as part of the "Rolling Thunder" march, organized by Freedom Fighters Canada, a group dedicated to speaking out against COVID-19 mandates.

Many of the protesters were also part of the three-week demonstration that closed downtown Ottawa with large excavators, prompting the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act for the first time, and this attempt ended after hundreds of police officers moved to disperse the crowds, with dozens of arrests.

Before the protesters arrived on Friday, Ottawa police pledged that this protest would be different, and that protesters would not be allowed to gain a foothold for a long-term occupation this time.

They called in more than 800 reinforcements from the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police, and regional police services to guard every major downtown intersection and prevent protesters from bringing vehicles into the heart of the city.

It started quietly enough, with familiar chants of "From Freedom Convoy members!" as protesters mingled and danced on Wellington Street, the main road in front of the Parliament building.

The protesters also marched through the ByWard Market accompanied by police.

But early Friday evening, police warned of a large convoy trying to break into the city, as protesters soon gathered around the big trucks and began camping out outside the parliamentary area.

The protesters shouted "Stay in line," trying to keep police officers away from the vehicles.

Police gradually pushed the crowds away from the trucks and moved back toward Parliament Hill, where protesters called the police officers "traitors."

The "Rolling Thunder" group was initially unclear about the cause they were gathering for, except saying they would "peacefully celebrate our freedom," and opposing the removal of veterans from the National War Memorial during the "Freedom Convoy."

It is worth noting that many residents in the area expressed their fears of these protests continuing for a long time as happened during the downtown occupation days in February of this year.

But some protesters said there was a sense of community belonging, and that might be part of what brings people together again.

Others gathered near the war memorial said they were only in Ottawa this weekend to honor the veterans whom the police removed from the site along with the rest of the protesters in February.