Crown makes case for conspiracy in trial for ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers

OTTAWA — Two prominent “Freedom Convoy” organizers were strategizing as part of a team to gridlock downtown Ottawa from the beginning of the protest, the Crown said Wednesday as lawyers laid out final arguments in the criminal trial.

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are co-accused of mischief, intimidation and counselling others to break the law, and Barber is also accused of counselling others to disobey a court order.

The Crown alleges the two were conspiring together so closely that evidence against one of them should apply to both.

Crown lawyer Tim Radcliffe read aloud from text messages the pair exchanged on the second day of the protest.

In one exchange, Lich asked Barber to head over to the “command centre” with her.

“They have a strategy to gridlock the city. I don’t want to make those decisions on my own,” Radcliffe read from Lich’s text to Barber on Jan. 30, 2022.

The message suggests “that she has the authority to make this decision, but she doesn’t want to exercise that authority by herself,” Radcliffe said.

“And who does she reach out to? Mr. Barber.”

What followed was weeks of gridlock around the downtown core of Ottawa, the Crown said, though the defence has pointed out that not all streets were blocked.

The defence will begin its final submissions on Thursday.

The “Freedom Convoy” protest brought thousands of protesters and big-rig trucks flood to Ottawa, overwhelming attempts by police to maintain order.

The court has heard there was excessive noise from crowds, idling engines and honking air horns, an overwhelming smell of diesel and smoke, and some Ottawa residents and businesses faced harassment.

The demonstrators were opposed to pandemic restrictions, vaccine mandates and the federal government, and Lich and Barber said they would not leave until the mandates were lifted.

Lich and Barber were both arrested shortly before police launched a massive operation to shut the protest down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2024.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press