Confederate protest organizer Chad Eros has filed an affidavit in Ontario Supreme Court as a defendant in a proposed class action lawsuit to halt a downtown hornbeam. In this affidavit, text messages and emails revealed how the organizers contacted police a few days before thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles began to paralyze the streets of the city center.
On January 25, three days before The most eager protesters of the first convoy arrived in large trucks to block the city streets, Ottawa Const. Isabelle Cyr-Pidcock sent a message to Eros instructing him to send her a route with the protesters.
“I will have a specific plan for you tomorrow morning,” the officer wrote in Eros.
The organizer of the protest responded saying that he was “so happy” that the police and the organizers could work together and the policeman responded with “Absolutely!”
A toddler wrapped in a Canadian flag plays soccer in front of police during a Feb. 9 convoy demonstration. (Lars Hagberg / Reuters)
The Coventry Road area was “secured” for the protesters
The affidavit does not include all communication between the two. It does include another text on the night of January 25 where Cyr-Pidcock sought information about the route from Eros. “I do not want to bother you, but if you want to work with you, I need the information I asked for. When will you send it all?” the officer wrote shortly before the three-week illegal occupation in downtown Ottawa. Eros responded by saying that he was working on it, but no other texts seem to have been exchanged on that date. The next morning, Cyr-Pidcock tells Eros about the parking lot at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Stadium (RCGT) on Coventry Road, which had been “secured” by police for escort protesters from the east. “You can start working on a bus for them,” he wrote. “Planning for the western escort is almost complete.” The Coventry Road camp became a stronghold for protesters and was used to coordinate the delivery of food and fuel to participants in the city center.
Protesters said they parked in Wellington, SJAM Parkway
Eros does not seem to respond to the officer, but sends another message a few hours later telling him that the protesters will not be able to start directing everyone before 8 in the morning.
“Is it possible to change the opening ceremony later so that we can all get it right?” she writes.
Eros still does not appear to be responding, but Sir-Pintcock tells him in a text late in the afternoon that protesters “will be able to park” on Wellington Street and along Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
“We will provide routes to this area tomorrow morning. The stop area will be ready on Saturday morning,” the text said.
A protester builds a platform over a hangar attached to a flat-top truck on Wellington Street as the protest comes to an end in two weeks. (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press)
An email sent by Cyr-Pidcock on Jan. 27 provides routes to areas apparently set up by Ottawa police in Wellington and the parkway, which will eventually be filled with trucks and other vehicles for weeks.
The email contained specific instructions to protesters about where they could not park because roads had been designated emergency response routes – including Laurier Avenue West and Elgin Street between Wellington and Highway 417.
Protesters began arriving in the city on January 28, and the next day, thousands of people gathered on Parliament Hill, accompanied by a constant honking of trucks and trains. Wellington was blocked by vehicles belonging to protesters, causing many businesses in the city center, including the Rideau Center, to close.
The announcements filed in court show no further texts or emails between Eros and Cyr-Pidcock until 9 February. That day, Eros says to the officer, “Remember you said they could build the tents?”
In the last communication between the two included in the court file, Cyr-Pidcock says: “The city let you stay there for almost two weeks. I think it was very generous. I will call you later tonight.”
A little more than a week later, the police started action to remove the protesters.
A police officer monitors a checkpoint near Parliament Hill on February 23. These checkpoints were set up last week as police prepared to clear the streets in the city center. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press)
The communication of the police with a “formal” protest
Sam Hers, who continues to take part in anti-espionage protests as a member of the Horizon Ottawa organization, says police have led protesters to the core of the city center. “It’s always shocking to some degree … but it’s not weird for me,” he said. “There are so many stories about the co-operation between the Ottawa police and the escort protesters, and their complicity in it.” University of Ottawa forensic pathologist Michael Keba said it was “very typical” for police to communicate with scheduled demonstrations when he expects participants not to stay for long. This was still the expectation at the end of January for the Administration Center of the District of the National Capital, which gathered municipal, provincial and federal information. The center expected the protesters to leave the city “at the latest” on February 2. “In this case, it seems the Ottawa police were trying to reach an agreement,” Kemba said. “In exchange for promises that they would not stay for long, the Freedom Escort would have some space to organize and ensure that it had some form of control over their protest, with the expectation that they would leave after two or three days. “ As of Feb. 5, former police chief Peter Sloley said his force did not have enough resources to end what would be transformed into occupation. He will resign immediately after. Ottawa police did not respond to a request for comment regarding the emails and texts in the affidavit.
