The trial of Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber opened on September 5, the first week of what is anticipated to be four weeks or longer. .With some breaks throughout September, the trial is expected to go into October — plus, the Crown has loaded the disclosure with additional evidence not previously shared with the defence. .“More days of trial may be required, but it is hard even for defence counsel to predict how many extra days may be required when there is documentation they have not seen,” The Democracy Fund tweeted Friday during the lunch break. .Lich and Barber are charged with mischief, intimidation, obstruction, and counselling mischief not committed, counselling intimidation not committed, and counselling obstruction not committed. Barber is additionally charged with counselling to breach a court order not committed. .Tuesday.The court heard from Constable Craig Barlow of the Ontario Police Services (OPS), who provided a video compilation of Surete du Quebec (SDQ) police body cam footage from the Ottawa protest. .The footage was presented as an 11-minute montage of 38 clips. However, Barlow had left out significant footage that showed the lighter sides of the protest, such as “people hugging, kids playing on the streets, [and] bouncy castles,” Diane Magas, counsel for Barber, pointed out. “None of that is in the video.” .Magas also asked Barlow if he saw any evidence of police officers using violence, such as “punching a man in the head for no apparent reason.” .Barlow said he did not, but after being shown a video of a police officer kneeing a protestor and another officer holding the same protestor in a headlock, he admitted he saw an officer “striking” a protestor..Wednesday .Wednesday’s testimony included Inspector Russell Lucas of the Ottawa Police Services (OPS), incident commander during the Freedom Convoy protest. Lucas was tasked with minimizing the impact of the protest on the city..Lucas planned to concentrate the demonstration in a specified area on Wellington Street — until he received a command from Peter Sloly, then Ottawa Police Chief, who allegedly said, “We’re not giving them one inch.” .“The event exceeded our expectations,” Lucas said. While the police allegedly expected only about 1,000 vehicles, “well over 5,000 vehicles” showed up in downtown Ottawa on the last weekend of January 2022. .“[Our resources] were stretched so thin.”.“As the event grew,” Lucas said, “we’re not going to stop it — so how do we find a way to minimize the impacts of the city as a whole.”.Lucas said relations were good between the police and protestors in the early days of the demonstration. He told the court he had “approved” and “endorsed” the idea to get all the trucks over to the Wellington location. .“For the most part, we had overall compliance.” .However, the plan never saw the light of day, and Lucas’ role became more focused on managing real-time operations. .Lucas told the court he never entered the Wellington Street demonstration zone, did not directly participate in negotiations, and has never had any contact with Lich or Barber. .Meanwhile, Lich’s counsel, Lawrence Greenspon, read an entry from the Police Liaison Team (PLT) logs that showed the trucker’s then-lawyer, Keith Wilson, was already communicating with truckers about minimizing the footprint. .“Truckers want to move 40-plus trucks starting [February 14],” the log reads. “They have room to fit on Wellington.”.“Truckers are prepared to honour their commitment to the Mayor.”.Thursday.Thursday’s court proceedings wrapped early after viewing a day’s worth of social media footage archived by Sergeant Joanne Pilotte of the Ontario Police Services (OPS) homicide unit. Thursday's proceedings were in the form of a voir dire, or trial within a trial, to determine if evidence presented by the Crown is admissible in court..Pilotte collected the video footage from Chris Barber’s alleged social media account, @BigRed19755, from February 3 to 10, 2022. .In the footage, Barber repeats several times that the protest should remain peaceful. .“Come to Ottawa and flood this city,” Barber told his TikTok followers, “the world’s largest peaceful gathering.”.Barber said in the footage that he hoped to have a discussion with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rather than just listen to him “hurling insults.”.“We’re representing so many Canadians,” Barber said. “We have to win this. There’s no option for going home without answers. Peace is the only option.”.“This is not about vaccinations,” he said. “This is about mandates.”.Friday .Friday’s court proceedings got off to a rocky start for the Crown, with the judge expressing her “unhappiness” with its attempt to drop excess loads of evidence on the defence with little to no time to review it..The prosecution said that it “submitted 4000 pages of digital chats/messages as part of disclosure by August 1, but is now seeking to delineate about 2000 pages it wishes to specifically use as evidence,” The Democracy Fund tweeted..Lawrence Greenspon, counsel for Lich, submitted that the Crown’s “approach to disclosure, what they are relying upon, and [the] lately brought Carter application are causing [the] defence to have to review already viewed disclosure,” said TDF. “A monumental task, especially when you are in the midst of trial.”.The prosecution showed footage of a February 2022 press conference hosted by Tom Marazzo, Freedom Convoy volunteer, as well as Lich and Barber..In the video, Marazzo repeatedly emphasizes that it was a “peaceful” protest..“We will not resist. We will not be violent,” Marazzo said. “This is a peaceful protest.” .“Crown agrees to provide the purpose of the Facebook posts and the complete Carter application over the weekend,” TDF said. “Judge says goal is that defence knows the case they have to meet. It is not a moving target.” .The trial resumes on Monday, September 11, 2023.
The trial of Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber opened on September 5, the first week of what is anticipated to be four weeks or longer. .With some breaks throughout September, the trial is expected to go into October — plus, the Crown has loaded the disclosure with additional evidence not previously shared with the defence. .“More days of trial may be required, but it is hard even for defence counsel to predict how many extra days may be required when there is documentation they have not seen,” The Democracy Fund tweeted Friday during the lunch break. .Lich and Barber are charged with mischief, intimidation, obstruction, and counselling mischief not committed, counselling intimidation not committed, and counselling obstruction not committed. Barber is additionally charged with counselling to breach a court order not committed. .Tuesday.The court heard from Constable Craig Barlow of the Ontario Police Services (OPS), who provided a video compilation of Surete du Quebec (SDQ) police body cam footage from the Ottawa protest. .The footage was presented as an 11-minute montage of 38 clips. However, Barlow had left out significant footage that showed the lighter sides of the protest, such as “people hugging, kids playing on the streets, [and] bouncy castles,” Diane Magas, counsel for Barber, pointed out. “None of that is in the video.” .Magas also asked Barlow if he saw any evidence of police officers using violence, such as “punching a man in the head for no apparent reason.” .Barlow said he did not, but after being shown a video of a police officer kneeing a protestor and another officer holding the same protestor in a headlock, he admitted he saw an officer “striking” a protestor..Wednesday .Wednesday’s testimony included Inspector Russell Lucas of the Ottawa Police Services (OPS), incident commander during the Freedom Convoy protest. Lucas was tasked with minimizing the impact of the protest on the city..Lucas planned to concentrate the demonstration in a specified area on Wellington Street — until he received a command from Peter Sloly, then Ottawa Police Chief, who allegedly said, “We’re not giving them one inch.” .“The event exceeded our expectations,” Lucas said. While the police allegedly expected only about 1,000 vehicles, “well over 5,000 vehicles” showed up in downtown Ottawa on the last weekend of January 2022. .“[Our resources] were stretched so thin.”.“As the event grew,” Lucas said, “we’re not going to stop it — so how do we find a way to minimize the impacts of the city as a whole.”.Lucas said relations were good between the police and protestors in the early days of the demonstration. He told the court he had “approved” and “endorsed” the idea to get all the trucks over to the Wellington location. .“For the most part, we had overall compliance.” .However, the plan never saw the light of day, and Lucas’ role became more focused on managing real-time operations. .Lucas told the court he never entered the Wellington Street demonstration zone, did not directly participate in negotiations, and has never had any contact with Lich or Barber. .Meanwhile, Lich’s counsel, Lawrence Greenspon, read an entry from the Police Liaison Team (PLT) logs that showed the trucker’s then-lawyer, Keith Wilson, was already communicating with truckers about minimizing the footprint. .“Truckers want to move 40-plus trucks starting [February 14],” the log reads. “They have room to fit on Wellington.”.“Truckers are prepared to honour their commitment to the Mayor.”.Thursday.Thursday’s court proceedings wrapped early after viewing a day’s worth of social media footage archived by Sergeant Joanne Pilotte of the Ontario Police Services (OPS) homicide unit. Thursday's proceedings were in the form of a voir dire, or trial within a trial, to determine if evidence presented by the Crown is admissible in court..Pilotte collected the video footage from Chris Barber’s alleged social media account, @BigRed19755, from February 3 to 10, 2022. .In the footage, Barber repeats several times that the protest should remain peaceful. .“Come to Ottawa and flood this city,” Barber told his TikTok followers, “the world’s largest peaceful gathering.”.Barber said in the footage that he hoped to have a discussion with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rather than just listen to him “hurling insults.”.“We’re representing so many Canadians,” Barber said. “We have to win this. There’s no option for going home without answers. Peace is the only option.”.“This is not about vaccinations,” he said. “This is about mandates.”.Friday .Friday’s court proceedings got off to a rocky start for the Crown, with the judge expressing her “unhappiness” with its attempt to drop excess loads of evidence on the defence with little to no time to review it..The prosecution said that it “submitted 4000 pages of digital chats/messages as part of disclosure by August 1, but is now seeking to delineate about 2000 pages it wishes to specifically use as evidence,” The Democracy Fund tweeted..Lawrence Greenspon, counsel for Lich, submitted that the Crown’s “approach to disclosure, what they are relying upon, and [the] lately brought Carter application are causing [the] defence to have to review already viewed disclosure,” said TDF. “A monumental task, especially when you are in the midst of trial.”.The prosecution showed footage of a February 2022 press conference hosted by Tom Marazzo, Freedom Convoy volunteer, as well as Lich and Barber..In the video, Marazzo repeatedly emphasizes that it was a “peaceful” protest..“We will not resist. We will not be violent,” Marazzo said. “This is a peaceful protest.” .“Crown agrees to provide the purpose of the Facebook posts and the complete Carter application over the weekend,” TDF said. “Judge says goal is that defence knows the case they have to meet. It is not a moving target.” .The trial resumes on Monday, September 11, 2023.
