After 20 years of military service, Veteran Jeffrey Evely stands accused by his own government, charged with mischief and obstructing police for attempting to guard the War Memorial in Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy in 2022.

This is a summary of the press release from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. In reality, it is yet another attempt by our government to silence anyone who supported the Freedom Convoy and what it represented.

Ignoring an earlier court ruling confirming that the Trudeau government erred in invoking the Emergencies Act (EA), Crown Prosecutors push forward, desperate for alternative justifications to support their continued persecution of peaceful protestors.

Jeffrey Evely was one of many veterans in attendance. Showing the dedication and commitment typical of military personnel; when word spread that someone may have desecrated the war memorial, Evely joined others with a plan to guard it around the clock.

On Trudeau’s command, with the EA as their authority, police were told to begin enforcement actions including barricading areas of downtown (including Parliament Hill and the War Memorial) to prevent people from entering this public space.

Mr. Evely encountered the police barricade en route to fulfill his shift at the memorial. Subsequent reports state that he ‘ran a short distance’ before being apprehended during a second encounter with police where he was pushed to the ground face-first.

Mr. Evely and his lawyer believe his arrest was arbitrary; he was simply walking to the memorial. Using previously established legal precedence, they are challenging the authority of the police to detain and arrest him under section 9 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Those responsible for arrests during the convoy were empowered by the authority of the EA, now proven to have been illegally implemented. Without this protection, what they did amounts to nothing less than the excessive use of power and force.

Every soldier considers it an immeasurable honour to stand guard over a memorial of their fallen brothers and sisters. It is a task taken very seriously, and an effort to be respected.

To read the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms article, click here