EXCLUSIVE: Freedom truckers wanted 'slow roll' into downtown Ottawa—police demanded they park, creating gridlock, defense lawyers say

Defense lawyers gave their closing statements in the Freedom Convoy trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber resumed Thursday with defense lawyers taking the stand to passionately argue for the freedom to protest in Canada.

Defense counsel Diane Magas began her testimony by pointing out that not only did Chris Barber “not come to Ottawa to cause gridlock” but that it was in fact Ottawa police who created that condition by telling Barber and other truckers that they could not do a “slow roll” into Ottawa’s downtown. Police ordered the truckers to park on the street. Magas acknowledged that regular "slow rolls" might cause a "grievance" with the city "but it wouldn't shut the city down." She presented text after text from Barber that discouraged fellow truckers from blocking traffic.

The issue of gridlock and the accusation that Barber and Lich deliberately tried to shut down the capital of Canada, has been a major contention and talking point for the prosecution and opponents of the Freedom Convoy.

Magas led off the defense summation, remarking to Judge Heather Perkins-McVey that the Crown will have a difficult time proving guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

She said “the freedom to protest does not become unlawful because there's a large number of people,” especially when that protest is “unprecedented” in terms of numbers and length of time for everybody in Canada.”

"The Crown is suggesting that my client and Ms. Lich are guilty because of everybody else that showed up in Canada. Everybody had the right to show up … nobody had the right to act in a criminal fashion. It doesn't mean, because of that, that my client is guilty because other people decided to commit criminal offenses, unless the Crown can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that my client … participated,” Magas told the court.

Magas also emphasized that it was never Barber’s intention to “gridlock” the city. There is no mention of gridlock appearing in any of his text messages before he arrived in Ottawa and he observed it as a phenomenon, Magas noted.

"It continues to show that my client was morally innocent of any criminal action.”

Magas noted that Barber even “worked to try to unblock Kent St. How can it be argued that his mensrea (criminal intent) was to block streets?”

The lawyer shared a text where Barber expressed his frustration with truckers continuing to impede traffic flow on Kent St. in downtown Ottawa. “The stupid asses blocked it again,” he wrote.

The statements were expected to finish Thursday but the Crown dropped “thousands of new documents” in their two days of testimony, Lawrence Greenspon, who represents Lich, told The Most Millennial.A verdict is now not expected until at least early 2025, Greenspon said.

"The Crown dropped a mountain of new documents this week,” he said. “The judge now has that much more evidence to consider in her verdict. That is going to extend the length of this trial well into the New Year.”

Both Lich and Barber have pleaded not guilty to charges of mischief, intimidation, obstruction and other counts related to their roles in organizing, promoting and raising money for the Freedom Convoy trucker protest. The two did help organize that protest in February 2022, which;galvanized opponents of Covid mandates. The protest was abruptly halted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act that brought down the full force of the law on the protest in the nation’s capital.

The defense has focused on Barber so far in their closing statement because the prosecution has targeted him and hopes to make Lich responsible for all of his actions as co-conspirators.The trial began on Sept. 5, 2023. Greenspon has previously told The Post Millennial that he has experienced murder trials that have not lasted as long as this trial has.Greenspon will finish the defense's closing statement next week.