Freedom Convoy organizer Benjamin Dichter told the Public Order Emergency Commission about disagreements he had with organizers Keith Wilson, Tom Marazzo, and Pat King, who seemed to have objectives that ran counter to Dichter's. ."I think their goals were ending the protest and getting everybody out of the city as quickly as possible," Dichter said on Thursday..Dichter accused convoy lawyer Wilson and organizer Marazzo of setting up a meeting with the city of Ottawa, "pretending to be negotiating some sort of deal." .On Feb. 13, Dichter made a tweet claiming the deal the convoy made with the city to move the trucks out of residential areas was fake. Dichter said he didn't ask anyone if the news article was real. .Dichter said he didn't support the convoy's deal with the city.."That's not a deal, that's a capitulation," he said..Dichter said he was also shocked nobody from the Ottawa Police Service, mayor's office or city council "did the most basic due diligence to see if these people possessed the moral persuasion that they could speak on our behalf."."I was uncomfortable with Keith Wilson because that's not the client-solicitor relationship; them telling us what to do and going and doing their own deals, and dictating to the truckers what we have to do," he added..Dichter said on Feb. 4, he also became concerned with a "doom and gloom" video put online by Freedom Convoy lawyers, including Wilson. Ditcher said it ran counter to the "positive message" of "peace, love, unity and freedom," he was attempting to spread. Dichter said he exchanged "trucker words" with Wilson to explain his discontent..Additionally, Dichter said he was frustrated that Marazzo wanted to hold several press conferences.."When I first met Tom Marazzo, he said 'Listen, I'm just going to be here dealing with the trucks. I'm going to be a ghost, nobody will know I was here,' and I said 'great.'".The next day, Marazzo held a press conference. "Less than 12 hours ago he told me he wasn't going to do that. That's the sort of cats we were trying to herd.".Dichter said he refused to speak with mainstream Canadian media outlets, instead doing interviews with what he called the "current media" of Fox News, Newsmax, and Russia Today. .Shortly after Dichter testified, Marazzo tweeted, "All I can say is I don’t even know this BJ person. I testified, under oath, yesterday I hardly spent any time with him. I literally don’t understand what his issue is with me or Keith Wilson.".Dichter told the commission he was also not comfortable with Pat King being a part of the convoy, especially after his "Trudeau is going to catch a bullet," comments were reported by the media..Dichter said he told organizer Tamara Lich, "He's got to go. We can't have this sort of rhetoric.".Dichter said Lich talked to King, who said he was going to leave the convoy, but then he showed up at the next trucker stop..King's statements about indigenous people and Asians were "problematic," Dichter said. "I personally don't get offended very easily. But I really cared he would negatively impact the tenor of the convoy. I was worried he might cause some unnecessary anxiety.".On Jan. 24, Convoy organizers released a press release claiming King only represented himself, not the Freedom Convoy.."We needed to ensure the government didn't get confused. They could understand we were reasonable, peaceful that they could speak with," Dichter said. "They wouldn't get that impression with that sort of rhetoric, which is why we were all quite concerned with it and wanted King to not be involved.".Dichter was also asked about his own past statements where he claimed Islamic groups were infiltrating the country. Ditcher said he was speaking to concerns many people had at the time, adding he stands by those statements.
Freedom Convoy organizer Benjamin Dichter told the Public Order Emergency Commission about disagreements he had with organizers Keith Wilson, Tom Marazzo, and Pat King, who seemed to have objectives that ran counter to Dichter's. ."I think their goals were ending the protest and getting everybody out of the city as quickly as possible," Dichter said on Thursday..Dichter accused convoy lawyer Wilson and organizer Marazzo of setting up a meeting with the city of Ottawa, "pretending to be negotiating some sort of deal." .On Feb. 13, Dichter made a tweet claiming the deal the convoy made with the city to move the trucks out of residential areas was fake. Dichter said he didn't ask anyone if the news article was real. .Dichter said he didn't support the convoy's deal with the city.."That's not a deal, that's a capitulation," he said..Dichter said he was also shocked nobody from the Ottawa Police Service, mayor's office or city council "did the most basic due diligence to see if these people possessed the moral persuasion that they could speak on our behalf."."I was uncomfortable with Keith Wilson because that's not the client-solicitor relationship; them telling us what to do and going and doing their own deals, and dictating to the truckers what we have to do," he added..Dichter said on Feb. 4, he also became concerned with a "doom and gloom" video put online by Freedom Convoy lawyers, including Wilson. Ditcher said it ran counter to the "positive message" of "peace, love, unity and freedom," he was attempting to spread. Dichter said he exchanged "trucker words" with Wilson to explain his discontent..Additionally, Dichter said he was frustrated that Marazzo wanted to hold several press conferences.."When I first met Tom Marazzo, he said 'Listen, I'm just going to be here dealing with the trucks. I'm going to be a ghost, nobody will know I was here,' and I said 'great.'".The next day, Marazzo held a press conference. "Less than 12 hours ago he told me he wasn't going to do that. That's the sort of cats we were trying to herd.".Dichter said he refused to speak with mainstream Canadian media outlets, instead doing interviews with what he called the "current media" of Fox News, Newsmax, and Russia Today. .Shortly after Dichter testified, Marazzo tweeted, "All I can say is I don’t even know this BJ person. I testified, under oath, yesterday I hardly spent any time with him. I literally don’t understand what his issue is with me or Keith Wilson.".Dichter told the commission he was also not comfortable with Pat King being a part of the convoy, especially after his "Trudeau is going to catch a bullet," comments were reported by the media..Dichter said he told organizer Tamara Lich, "He's got to go. We can't have this sort of rhetoric.".Dichter said Lich talked to King, who said he was going to leave the convoy, but then he showed up at the next trucker stop..King's statements about indigenous people and Asians were "problematic," Dichter said. "I personally don't get offended very easily. But I really cared he would negatively impact the tenor of the convoy. I was worried he might cause some unnecessary anxiety.".On Jan. 24, Convoy organizers released a press release claiming King only represented himself, not the Freedom Convoy.."We needed to ensure the government didn't get confused. They could understand we were reasonable, peaceful that they could speak with," Dichter said. "They wouldn't get that impression with that sort of rhetoric, which is why we were all quite concerned with it and wanted King to not be involved.".Dichter was also asked about his own past statements where he claimed Islamic groups were infiltrating the country. Ditcher said he was speaking to concerns many people had at the time, adding he stands by those statements.
