'Freedom Convoy' organizer defends charge of encouraging honking during protest
CTV
The lawyer for 'Freedom Convoy' organizer Chris Barber told a judge Monday that a court order banning honking in downtown Ottawa during the protest wasn't clear enough.
The lawyer for "Freedom Convoy" organizer Chris Barber told a judge Monday that a court order banning honking in downtown Ottawa during the protest wasn't clear enough.
Barber and his co-accused, Tamara Lich, are defending themselves against charges of mischief, intimidation and counselling others to break the law.
Barber faces the additional charge of counselling others to disobey a court order by encouraging protesters to honk their horns.
In a TikTok video posted during the protest, Barber let other protesters know to keep the horns down because of the court order, but said if a large mass of police officers show up that they should let their horns go and not stop.
His lawyer, Diane Magas, said in her closing arguments that there were exceptions to the order, including emergencies.
That exception wasn't clear, she argued, saying the threat of an unlawful arrest by riot police may have constituted an emergency in Barber's mind.
"That's a stretch," Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said when Magas introduced the argument Monday.
