After two days of trying to demonstrate that the two blockages of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel by the Farfadaas were demonstrations to denounce police brutality, the co-accused Mario Roy himself undermined this narrative framework on Wednesday. Documents he filed in evidence show that he considered one of these blockades as a “warning” intended for the police, in which he called, among other things, for the arrest of Prime Minister François Legault and Dr.r Horacio Arruda to avoid a “civil war”.
Mr. Roy appeared in the witness box on the third day of the trial of the four Farfadaas members charged with mischief and conspiracy to block the tunnel on March 13, 2021. The other three defendants, Steeve Charland, Karol Tardif and Tommy Rioux, did not intervene during his testimony.
The 51-year-old, who admitted to being the organizer of the March 13 blockade, had also organized a similar blockade in December 2020 to denounce the police brutality which he said occurred during a anti-sanitary measures demonstration that had taken place in downtown Montreal a few minutes earlier.
Mr. Roy filed in evidence an exchange of text messages that he says he had with Jason Gauthier, investigator of the Intelligence Service of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), before and after the event. He told her that he had been informed that the demonstrators would have more than “100 canisters of cayenne pepper for bears” during the demonstration downtown to protect themselves from the police, and that it was likely “that a bridge or tunnel [serait] blocked if the SPVM [venait] kids” the participants.
After the demonstration ended with several arrests led by riot police, Mr. Roy decided to block the tunnel with a handful of accomplices. “Do not go to civil war […]. We just want criminals like François Legault to be put in prison”, Mario Roy asked the police, in a video he broadcast live on Facebook during the blockage in order to “grab them momentarily”.
“The tunnel was blocked for 4 minutes as a warning,” he later wrote to the SQ Intelligence Service investigator. “By acting in this way, the police will provoke a civil war instead of arresting the corrupt who have infiltrated the judicial system,” added Mr. Roy later in this exchange.
These documents were the subject of several questions in cross-examination. “Did you ask for the arrest of the Prime Minister and the Dr Arruda during the bridge-tunnel event? asked Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné during cross-examination.
“Absolutely,” replied Mr. Roy. “The Sûreté du Québec knew that I was peaceful,” he insisted.
Cross-examination
This assertion opened the door to a series of questions from the Crown prosecutor, Ms.e Martin Bourgeois, regarding the criminal history of Mr. Roy, who was found guilty, among other things, of assault with a weapon, assault, threats, obstructing a peace officer, breach of condition, attempted fraud and forging false documents between 1992 and 2019. Mr. Roy claimed that he had been convicted “unjustly” in all these cases.
According to him, the accusations “targeted only against core members” of the Farfadaas for the blocking of the tunnel is “a political shot”. He himself was charged because he was considered a “potential threat” by the government after he tried to have Horacio Arruda arrested. “There was a political pass towards me,” he said.
In a frenzied explanation, Mr. Roy also attempted to demonstrate that, on March 13, 2021, someone made death threats to him and that a man armed with a hammer who interrupted the blocking of the tunnel by hitting the leading cars had “a warrant” against him. He wanted to introduce into evidence an article by The Press reporting an alleged attempted murder of which he says he was the victim in the parking lot of a restaurant in 2020. “You are losing me”, retorted the judge, reminding him a few times to focus on the acts of charge in dispute.
Mr. Roy has had, since 2010, around forty trials before Quebec courts, in which he almost always appears without a lawyer.
Very pedagogue, the magistrate began to show signs of impatience towards him, reminding him on numerous occasions that at this stage of the trial, he was at the bar to testify, and not to plead his case. “I don’t talk much about you, Mr. Roy. When I speak, I would like you to listen to me,” he asked her.
“You are the judge who has given me the best assistance to date”, then congratulated Mr. Roy.
Mr. Roy’s cross-examination continues on Thursday.