A wounded veteran who served in Afghanistan was allegedly arrested, beaten, and “dumped” without charge far from downtown Ottawa by police during the February 18 Freedom Convoy protest cleanup. told the Public Order Emergency Commission on Friday.
“It wasn’t that I wanted to go to Ottawa, I felt it was my duty and I had no choice. [but] Veteran Chris Dearing said while explaining why he joined the protest.
He said he wanted to protest the duties that affected his mental health as a wounded veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
“I couldn’t do anything. , give me my flowers.”
Dearing, who lives in New Brunswick, first took part in the protests over the weekend of February 12 before returning home.
After the Liberal government invoked the state of emergency law on February 14, Deering said he “hurried back to Ottawa to do what I could to protect peaceful citizens.”
Trucker-led protests demanding the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions began in Ottawa on January 29.
When the police mopping-up operation began on February 18, Deering said he crossed arms with fellow veterans near the War Memorial.
Police arrested Deering and video of the event was presented to the commission as evidence. It shows that he was grabbed and beaten by the police.
Deering, the lone crew member of a military vehicle who survived a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan and was critically injured, was wearing his military medals that day and was told by police officers of his identity before being arrested. Say you talked.
He said some went down the line because they didn’t want to have anything to do with him. said he was hit on the head.
— Katcasto (@KatCasto78) November 4, 2022
After his arrest, while awaiting processing, Deering asked police if he needed to be able to kneel or sit because of his chronic pain, or to be able to take medication, but he was Your request has been denied.
“I was obviously flushed and cried many times, but I never cried. It was the worst pain I’ve felt since the bombing,” he said.
After being processed by police, Deering said he was told he had been charged with obstruction of justice and mischief. He and others were then put on a wagon in a rice field 10 kilometers from the Capitol and released without charge, he said.
“Police officers came out and issued a stern warning and said don’t go back to Ottawa or you’ll be prosecuted,” Deering said.
He and others were left stranded in a public works building, stranded in freezing weather, and their cell phones running out of battery life.
“I didn’t expect the police to kick me out of town like trash.”
An attorney for Freedom Corp, who is representing protesters before the committee, brought the practice up with an Ottawa police officer who previously testified.
Ottawa Police Deputy Chief Steve Bell told the commission on October 24 that he was unaware of the issue. He said the police have a remote post-arrest processing site on the southern tip of Ottawa, which he said was a “common” practice for police.
Bell said the protesters were brought to a municipal parking lot where the truck was being towed.
“There’s no building in that parking lot… there’s no phone. There’s no such thing, right?” asked Freedom Corp attorney Brendan Miller.
“I don’t know what the logistics of the building were. I think I needed a phone call because I had to call my lawyer,” Bell said.
“I would say it wasn’t,” Miller replied.
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Noé Chartier is a reporter for the Epoch Times based in Montreal. Twitter: @NChartierET Gettr: @nchartieret