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This past week, Adamson Barbecue became a role model for anti-lockdown freedom fighters everywhere.

After repeated refusals to close the business down, authorities sealed the door, forcing owner Adam Skelly to make his way inside the restaurant and bust it open. 

Police didn't take kindly to the civil disobedience, and barged their way in, knocking several, including Rebel reporter David Menzies, to the ground in their rush to arrest Skelly and make an example out of him.

While Costco and No Frills remain open just a few hundred metres away, with customers free to shop for what is deemed “essential,” Adamson's saw approximately 50 police officers, along with cavalry and squad cars both lining and blocking the streets. Both entrances have been manned by officers to prevent anyone from entering.

Around the corner, anyone parking on the side streets were subject to tickets from bylaw officers. It was a full ‘assault’ on the small business and its supporters.

While there, we asked several onlookers and protesters what they thought of the scene, and the vast majority responded to the tune of “this isn't right.”

Many of the demonstrators are out of work themselves, and were upset with the apparent hypocrisy present in that big businesses serving food are allowed to stay open while family-owned establishments like Adamson's aren't. 

Some also highlighted the apparent double standard of the extreme law enforcement presence that turned up to control the peaceful demonstrators at Adamson's, while far less turned up for protests from other political groups.

Ironically, later that evening, activists blocked traffic at Yonge-Dundas in Toronto, and received nowhere near the same police response as a small business simply looking to feed local patrons.