‘Pro-police’, ‘very collaborative’ and ‘extremely law-abiding’: Some police described the Freedom Convoy in glowing terms before, and even after, its move to Ottawa which led to the invocation of the measures of emergency, show documents.
While writing his report on the protest that was rolling towards his city, an Ottawa police officer decided to quote English Canadian commentator Rex Murphy on “the hypocrisy of politicians”, as evidence that one could s expect ‘large crowds’ in support of the Freedom Convoy.
“The event is less a “professional event” […] but rather a real event that comes from the base [organic grass roots] “, wrote Sergeant Chris Kiez on January 25, between a comparison with the movement of yellow vests in France and an allusion to the socio-economic status “entirely middle class” of the expected demonstrators. Its report was made public on Tuesday by the Commission on the state of emergency.
Ottawa Police Inspector Russell Lucas used this description of the convoy for his operational plan which details the controversial decision to let the trucks set up directly in front of the parliament building. Beforehand, he had reassured his colleagues in a meeting on January 27: “the main organizing truckers are cooperative and are for the most part pro police”, can we read in a report.
While the Rouleau Commission is devoting this week to hearing the views of municipal police officers in Ottawa and provincial officers in Ontario, thousands of pages of filed documents also help to trace the changing attitude of the police towards the Convoy. of freedom. The motorized demonstration opposed to sanitary measures turned into an occupation of the streets of the capital for three weeks last winter.
first legal
The Convoy was described Monday as “extremely legal” and “extremely law abiding” ahead of its arrival in Ottawa by Acting Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell. The same officer justified the reluctance to enforce the law by his agents by the fear of violence from the demonstrators, once installed in the capital.
“The crowd has evolved […] the people who participated in the convoy have changed, ”explained his colleague Russell Lucas, during his appearance on Tuesday.
The latter described as “misinformation” any hint of police sympathy towards the demonstrators. According to him, testimonies to this effect are taken “out of context” in situations where officers were trying to disarm tense situations.
“It means that if you are friendly with them [les manifestants], have a conversation, take a photo with them, then people become more relaxed. It avoids confrontation, and that’s what our officers are taught to do,” he said.
However, videos posted on social networks showing sympathetic remarks by police officers towards the cause of the Convoy were interpreted by the demonstrators as proof of the legality of their actions, revealed an investigation by the To have to.
At least two Ottawa police officers have gone so far as to contribute financially to the Freedom Convoy fundraiser, the acting chief told commission lawyers. The previous leader, Peter Sloly, however, considered the occupation illegal from the start.
A chance at negotiation
An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) provincial liaison team official, Marcel Beaudin, also testified on Tuesday. He believes authorities had a missed opportunity to negotiate with protesters, citing a never-realized plan for a federal government official to meet with convoy leaders.
An OPP intelligence report from February 13 seems to indicate that by that date any negotiation had become futile. “The organizers of the blockades […] are convinced that if the government has not contacted them to negotiate, it is because a police deployment against them is imminent”.
At the end of the police operation of February 18 and 19, at least 533 criminal charges were filed, including a dozen for violent crimes, calculated Patrick Morris, head of intelligence on the convoy within the OPP. According to him, these figures prove the good behavior of the demonstrators.
“The low number of violent crimes is shocking,” Mr. Morris told Judge Rouleau last Wednesday, before drawing a parallel between the demonstrators in the convoy and the Muslims falsely suspected of radicalism after September 11, 2001.