The criminal trial of “Freedom Convoy” organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber began Tuesday, as they answer charges related to their roles in the protests 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 federal 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 filling streets with the smell of diesel.
Lich became a figurehead of the protest movements as well as the person responsible for handling millions of dollars in donations.
From the Canadian Press