(Ottawa) Prosecutors in the trial of two organizers of the “freedom march” argue that the accused conspired to block streets and paralyze downtown Ottawa last year as part of their demonstration against the public health measures related to COVID-19.
The lawsuit alleges that this “plot” began on January 29, 2022, when Tamara Lich and Chris Barber led a convoy of protesters to Ottawa for a massive and disruptive demonstration that ultimately lasted more than three weeks in the federal capital.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Chris Barber
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are charged with mischief, intimidation and several other charges related to advising others to break the law.
Prosecutors argue that Mme Lich and Mr. Barber worked so closely together that the evidence against one of the defendants should apply to both.
Their common goal was to pressure the government to end mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, which Mme Lich and Mr. Barber stated publicly several times throughout the protest.
To do this, they blocked streets and interfered with property, said Crown prosecutor Tim Radcliffe.
The defense asked the judge to dismiss the conspiracy allegation on the grounds that the protest in Ottawa was not violent and that it is not illegal to plan a protest.
But the Crown is seeking to maintain the conspiracy allegation until the end of the trial.
Prosecutor Radcliffe highlighted at trial Thursday several text messages sent by Mr. Barber on the first day of their arrival in Ottawa, where he wrote that protesters were disrupting the city, many of whom parked large trucks and other vehicles in the streets near from Parliament Hill.
“We are completely ruining the city,” he wrote in one of the text messages on the first day.
In a response to another person’s message the next day about the city’s traffic jam, Mr. Barber said it was already blocked.
Not “ordinary” protesters
Mme Lich and Mr. Barber were not simply members of the mob, Mr.e Radcliffe.
“These two individuals, Mme Lich and Mr. Barber, are no ordinary protesters. These are not ordinary members of the occupation. They are the leaders,” he said.
Mme Lich has been identified several times as the president of the organization created on behalf of the protest organizers. Mr. Barber has also been featured publicly on social media and at press conferences as a leader and one of the original organizers of the protest.
The mayor of Ottawa at the time, Jim Watson, also recognized Mme Lich as protest chairwoman as part of a deal he made with her, Mr. Barber and others to move trucks out of residential neighborhoods.
The court heard that Mr. Barber was able to facilitate the movement of several trucks on Wellington Street or out of Ottawa thanks to the agreement.
The Crown intends to prove that both had influence over the crowd and worked together to achieve the same ends.
During the first days of the demonstration, Mme Lich texted Mr. Barber to let him know she had a call with the protest’s “command center.”
“They have a strategy to blockade the city. I don’t want to make these decisions on my own,” she told Mr. Barber in the text message dated January 30, 2022. “OK. I’ll get dressed,” Mr. Barber replied.
At a press conference a few days later, Mr.me Lich outlined the group’s demands for the federal government to abolish mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.
“Our departure will depend on the Prime Minister doing what is right,” said Mr.me Lich on February 3, 2022.
The Crown admits that police ordered many trucks to park on Wellington Street, opposite Parliament Hill, when they first arrived in Ottawa.
However, prosecutor Radcliffe said both organizers were also aware that the group was under close surveillance by police, who reported after the first weekend of the protest that protesters were not were more welcome.
Police messages intensified in the following weeks, Ms.e Radcliffe, and police began warning protesters that they could be arrested if they did not leave.
“They stayed even though they weren’t welcome. They continued to do what the police considered illegal,” said Me Radcliffe.
“Just because the police say it was illegal doesn’t mean it is,” responded Ontario Court President Justice Heather Perkins-McVey.
Me Radcliffe released a 12-minute video compilation of police footage of the protest that demonstrates the enormity of the protest that took place for weeks in Ottawa.
“All of this doesn’t happen by chance,” he said, as images of blocked streets played on a large television screen in the courtroom.
M’s defense lawyersme Lich and Mr. Barber will have the opportunity to respond to the Crown’s arguments.