The trial for retired Canadian Armed Forces military veteran Jeff Evely continued on Tuesday at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa. Evely faces mischief and obstructing a police officer charges related to the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. He earlier pleaded not guilty and asserts his constitutional right “not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained,” the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) said in a news release. JCCF lawyer Chris Fleury supports Evely’s defence. The trial, which began Monday, consisted of several open-sourced videos, closing submissions and the Charter question, relating to whether the police the lawful authority to make arrests under the circumstances. A decision from the judge is not expected for "quite some time" according to Right Blend, who reported from the courtroom. .Evely joined thousands of Canadians downtown Ottawa in January and February 2022 in protest of government COVID-19 mandates on vaccines, lockdowns and masks. While there, Evely learned the War Memorial was desecrated — and he proceeded to organize a group of vets to stand guard around the clock to prevent further damage. Police mid-February, following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unlawful invocation of the War Measures Act (Emergencies Act), began “enforcement action” on protestors, making efforts to remove vehicles and people from the downtown core. After police cleared the streets, they closed down major roads into the city centre and unauthorized persons were not able to cross into the area. Only people who lived and worked in the area were allowed through, after showing identification. Evely was heading to the War Memorial February 19 at 4:25 a.m. — having assumed the least desirable shift — when the police stopped him. According to JCCF, police allege that at that point Evely “ran for a short distance before being confronted by two additional police officers.”Evely was “forcibly pushed to the ground” and “landed face first,” one of the officers testified. He was then arrested and charged. “Even if the Charter isn’t really in play, the police still have broad common law authority. But then it becomes a question of whether the conditions satisfied the requirements they needed to have,” said Evely on a podcast with independent journalists Right Blend and Chris Dacey. “My case is quite unique, even within the context of the convoy. Because the mischief charges that have been sticking thus far are all related to people who were told to leave. But that’s not what happened in my case. I was walking on the sidewalk and no one told me to leave.” “It really comes down to whether or not the police are my boss. I don’t believe the state is my boss. I signed up to serve the military of a free country. " .The federal court on January 23 ruled Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act to crackdown on peaceful protestors in the Freedom Convoy was unconstitutional. Crown prosecutors as a result have been “forced to abandon any appeals to the Emergencies Act in their attempts to justify police prohibiting Evely from walking toward the Ottawa War Memorial,” the JCCF said. So instead they claim “the common law granted police the authority to stop and detain” Evely.“Relying on prior precedent against such authority established after the G-20 protests in Toronto, Evely has challenged police authority to arrest him under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that his arrest and detention were arbitrary,” wrote JCCF. “The actions of the Ottawa police in locking down downtown Ottawa and preventing all civilians from accessing public areas greatly exceeded their powers under the common law,” said Fleury. "Mr. Evely’s arrest for simply being inside of the locked down area was arbitrary.”
The trial for retired Canadian Armed Forces military veteran Jeff Evely continued on Tuesday at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa. Evely faces mischief and obstructing a police officer charges related to the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. He earlier pleaded not guilty and asserts his constitutional right “not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained,” the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) said in a news release. JCCF lawyer Chris Fleury supports Evely’s defence. The trial, which began Monday, consisted of several open-sourced videos, closing submissions and the Charter question, relating to whether the police the lawful authority to make arrests under the circumstances. A decision from the judge is not expected for "quite some time" according to Right Blend, who reported from the courtroom. .Evely joined thousands of Canadians downtown Ottawa in January and February 2022 in protest of government COVID-19 mandates on vaccines, lockdowns and masks. While there, Evely learned the War Memorial was desecrated — and he proceeded to organize a group of vets to stand guard around the clock to prevent further damage. Police mid-February, following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unlawful invocation of the War Measures Act (Emergencies Act), began “enforcement action” on protestors, making efforts to remove vehicles and people from the downtown core. After police cleared the streets, they closed down major roads into the city centre and unauthorized persons were not able to cross into the area. Only people who lived and worked in the area were allowed through, after showing identification. Evely was heading to the War Memorial February 19 at 4:25 a.m. — having assumed the least desirable shift — when the police stopped him. According to JCCF, police allege that at that point Evely “ran for a short distance before being confronted by two additional police officers.”Evely was “forcibly pushed to the ground” and “landed face first,” one of the officers testified. He was then arrested and charged. “Even if the Charter isn’t really in play, the police still have broad common law authority. But then it becomes a question of whether the conditions satisfied the requirements they needed to have,” said Evely on a podcast with independent journalists Right Blend and Chris Dacey. “My case is quite unique, even within the context of the convoy. Because the mischief charges that have been sticking thus far are all related to people who were told to leave. But that’s not what happened in my case. I was walking on the sidewalk and no one told me to leave.” “It really comes down to whether or not the police are my boss. I don’t believe the state is my boss. I signed up to serve the military of a free country. " .The federal court on January 23 ruled Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act to crackdown on peaceful protestors in the Freedom Convoy was unconstitutional. Crown prosecutors as a result have been “forced to abandon any appeals to the Emergencies Act in their attempts to justify police prohibiting Evely from walking toward the Ottawa War Memorial,” the JCCF said. So instead they claim “the common law granted police the authority to stop and detain” Evely.“Relying on prior precedent against such authority established after the G-20 protests in Toronto, Evely has challenged police authority to arrest him under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that his arrest and detention were arbitrary,” wrote JCCF. “The actions of the Ottawa police in locking down downtown Ottawa and preventing all civilians from accessing public areas greatly exceeded their powers under the common law,” said Fleury. "Mr. Evely’s arrest for simply being inside of the locked down area was arbitrary.”
