Fireworks are usually awe-inspiring. But when misused, fireworks can also become firearms, a judge has concluded in a groundbreaking decision. A woman learned this the hard way when she aimed a pyrotechnic at police officers during a 2021 protest in Montreal.
Ripley Lavoie, a 30-year-old woman from Chicoutimi, was found guilty this week at the Montreal courthouse of four charges, including assault on a peace officer, pointing a firearm at peace officers and concealed carrying of a firearm. Crimes that can result in between 5 and 10 years in prison.
1er May 2021. It’s the annual anti-capitalism demonstration in Montreal. “Fuck the police. No justice. No peace,” the protesters chant. Tensions are high. The rioters are at work. Signs are bent in half. Garbage cans litter the ground. Windows are broken.
Agitators throw smoke bombs under an overpass, blocking the view of Montreal Police Department officers following the protesters. The smoke bombs are set off by “crow’s feet” (or caltrops), welded metal crosses that prevent police officers from passing by on bicycles or in cars.
A police officer is attacked by a rioter. A firework falls right next to him. A light bulb filled with paint is thrown at his bike.
The police continued their way under the viaduct near Parc and Beaumont avenues. They were unaware that a protester, hidden above the viaduct, was preparing to attack them with a firework.
But two officers witness the scene. The accused, Ripley Lavoie, is so focused that she does not see the officers three meters away from her. She rummages in her bag and takes out a cylindrical firework. According to the officers, she only has to light the fuse to shoot at the police officers who are downstairs. They intervene just in time.
In her bag, Ripley Lavoie had a large torch lighter, a can of gasoline and a red road flare. Her two fireworks were new “Silver Shrapnel” pyrotechnics from the company “Vulcan”. According to one expert, a firework and gasoline can create an “incendiary ball”.
Pig’s eye
A novel question was at the heart of this trial: can a firework constitute a “firearm” within the meaning of the Criminal Code? Judge Dominique B. Joly determined that this was indeed the case, since a firework has a barrel and can inflict serious bodily harm on a person, the two criteria defined in the Code.
In one of the only court decisions to address this issue (from 1991), the judge stated that a firework is not a “weapon” when buried in the ground and used as intended by the manufacturer, but becomes a “firearm” when someone points it at a person.
According to the defense attorney, M.e Arij Riahi, a velocity test would have been required to recognize the object as a firearm. To do this, the “pig’s eye” test must be used.
If a projectile fired from a certain distance can blow out a pig’s eye, it is a “firearm.” This test is commonly used to determine whether an air rifle can fire with enough power to injure someone and constitute a “firearm.”
But according to Judge Dominique B. Joly, this test is not “mandatory,” since the Criminal Code does not require it. In addition, it is “obvious that fireworks can cause burns and bruises,” and therefore serious injuries or death.
As for the other charges, there is no doubt, according to the judge, that the accused possessed the device for a dangerous purpose and was preparing to use it to injure police officers, hence the guilty verdict on the charge of assault on a peace officer.
“Everything in the evidence depicts a person in position and ready to use a weapon against the police while there is a demonstration, smoke bombs in action and the police are the only ones left on the street,” the judge concluded.
Sentencing observations are scheduled for next fall.e Lauren Dahan represented the prosecution. The defense declined to comment.