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On Wednesday, August 14, the crown finished presenting their closing arguments against freedom convoy organizer Tamara Lich and co-accused Chris Barber in the Ottawa Courthouse.

The two have been charged with mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation for their roles in the trucker convoy against COVID mandates back in late January and early February of 2022. Lich was arrested and jailed for 49 days following the demonstration.

I’m in Ottawa, covering freedom convoy organizer Tamara Lich’s trial again today! Make sure to follow along for live updates.
The crown has been punishing Tamara by making this as long and expensive as possible. To help cover her enormous legal fees, go to https://t.co/5xqn96MdPT pic.twitter.com/3YQSMfIYTT

— Sarah Stock✝️ (@sarahcstock) August 14, 2024

Around 15 supporters of the accused were in attendance at the day’s proceedings, with some displaying signs outside of the courthouse.

Tamara steps out of court for lunch, thanking her supporters 🙏🇨🇦
The system is coming after her with all they have– but Canadians have her back.
To help cover her legal fees (costing hundreds of thousands) please donate at https://t.co/5xqn96LG0l pic.twitter.com/6vBK0h0qKf

— Sarah Stock✝️ (@sarahcstock) August 14, 2024

The crown has drawn the case out for almost a year and 42 days in court so far, with the trial expected to end early next week, making it the longest-running mischief trial in Canadian history. Lich’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, told Rebel News he estimated the crown has spent from $5-10 million on defence costs.

The crown has made a Carter Application, which if granted by the judge, would mean Lich and Barber were co-conspirators and any evidence against one of the accused would also apply to the other.

Throughout the day, they attempted to prove this by submitting text exchanges between the two with each other as well as others, and transcripts of TikTok videos.

Quotes submitted as evidence against Lich include, “We are all one big family now,” and “We make choices from love, and we make choices from fear.” The latter statement was used to accuse Lich of inciting others to obstruct the police, by referencing a video where protesters stood in front of a police line chanting, “Love over fear.”

The crown submitted a photo of Lich wearing matching sweatshirts with another protester as evidence of a “unified purpose.” The judge did not appear to believe the evidence held significance, as she responded, “Maybe there was a sale.”

Lich’s hefty legal fees are being covered by The Democracy Fund (TDF), which is crowdfunding the costs from freedom-loving Canadians.

Rebel News provided live updates of today’s proceedings via X and also spoke with supporters of the accused, TDF lawyer Mark Joseph, and Lich’s lawyer, Laurence Greenspon.

Greenspon told us that the defence will be continuing their theme of not submitting evidence, but relying on that from the crown witnesses. Tomorrow, court proceedings will resume, with the defence teams responding to the crown’s evidence.