As the criminal trial of ‘Freedom Convoy’ leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber continues, the Crown has released never-before-seen video evidence showing what the occupation of the nation’s capital was like from the police perspective.
The video evidence, prepared by Crown witness and Ottawa Police Cst. Craig Barlow, features a mixture of footage from police body cams and surveillance drones. It shows just how overwhelmed officers were as they tried to control protesters who had entrenched in the capital.
This is the biggest file of the more than 100 exhibits entered as evidence in the trial. Of these, 50 are videos, including social media clips from Tik Tok and Facebook. Some of the videos were posted by Lich and Barber.
The footage shows the scope of the protest which saw big rigs clogging up the capital’s roads for kilometres and spilling over into residential neighbourhoods. It also shows just how overwhelmed officers were. In the video, protesters surround police, screaming, chanting and screaming at officers.
Ottawa Police Inspector Russell Lucas testified that officers were often “swarmed.”
The Crown alleges that Lich and Barber conspired together to encourage thousands of followers to come to Ottawa to participate in an occupation that gridlocked the city.
Central to the case are three words: “Hold the line.” The Crown says the infamous phrase isn’t a rallying cry, but a call to break laws.
“The Charter does not give any person the legal right to unlawfully trample the rights of others. Not only did protesters hold the lines for weeks as directed by Mr. Barber and Ms. Lich – they crossed the line,” said assistant Crown attorney Tim Radcliffe in his opening statement.
The defence maintains that the two convoy leaders planned a “peaceful protest.”
Lich and Barber were arrested on February 17, 2022, three days after the Emergencies Act was invoked. The act provided authorities with broad power to curtail civil rights to maintain public order. The day after the arrests of the convoy leaders, police began a massive operation to dismantle the protest.
More than 2,000 police officers from the RCMP, OPP and 13 municipal police services deployed officers to dismantle the demonstration. The policing bill for the three week protest cost $55 million. Ottawa Police laid more than 500 charges during the “Freedom Convoy.”