Trial of 'Freedom Convoy' organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber begins today
CTV
The criminal trial of 'Freedom Convoy' organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber begins today, as they answer charges related to their role in the protest that threw Canada's capital city into chaos last year.
The criminal trial of "Freedom Convoy" organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber begins today, as they answer charges related to their role in the protest that threw Canada's capital city into chaos last year.
Lich and Barber were part of the original group that mobilized a convoy of big rigs and other trucks and cars to drive to Ottawa in winter 2022 to protest COVID-19 public health restrictions and the Liberal government.
Hundreds of vehicles blocked downtown streets and thousands of protesters entrenched themselves for three weeks, hosting all-night parties with open fires, honking their horns at all hours and filing the streets with the smell of diesel.
The protest inspired similar demonstrations at several international border crossings and precipitated the first invocation of the federal Emergencies Act since the legislation was created in 1988.
Lich and Barber are co-accused, both charged with mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation.
The trial is expected to last at least 16 days.
Barber, who owns a trucking company in Saskatchewan, is also charged with counselling others to disobey a court order that banned loud honking in Ottawa's downtown core.
