Windsor police officers face misconduct charges for allegedly donating to 'Freedom Convoy'Two Windsor police officers are facing misconduct charges and a civilian employee will be disciplined for allegedly donating money to the “Freedom Convoy” that occupied downtown Ottawa and choked off access to the Ambassador Bridge.
“We hold our members to the highest standards of conduct and those who fail to maintain those principles must be held accountable for their behaviour,” said Deputy Chief Frank Providenti. “By choosing to support an illegal blockade at our country’s busiest border crossing, these members demonstrated a complete disregard for our city’s economy and reputation as well as for the safety of their own colleagues who were dealing with the volatile situation.”
Constables Jason Michael Brisco and Brooke Fazekas are both facing charges. Following an investigation by the Windsor Police Service’s professional standards branch, a civilian employee will also be suspended without pay for one day.
“The Windsor Police Service condemns the actions of two sworn members and one civilian employee who made donations to support the Freedom Convoy that blocked access to the Ambassador Bridge earlier this year,” said Providenti.
There was a brief Zoom hearing Monday morning for Brisco — who was placed on leave without pay when the police service implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate — who is charged with discreditable conduct under Ontario’s Police Services Act.
Brisco did not appear at the virtual meeting, where a hearing officer, a Windsor police inspector acting as prosecutor, and a representative of the Windsor Police Association discussed the case. The hearing was adjourned until October.
The Police Act hearing for Fazekas has not started yet.
According to a leaked list of donors, Brisco allegedly donated $50 to the so-called “Freedom Convoy.” There was also a comment with the donation, given under the name “Officers for freedom.”
“Thank you fellow Canadians for fighting for freedom at the base of Sauron’s Tower. The world is watching… and we see Trudeau’s true colours.”
Fazekas allegedly donated $40, according to the leaked documents.
Hackers targeted GiveSendGo in February, revealing the names, emails, postal codes, dollar amounts and country of origin for about 93,000 people who hackers say donated more than US$8.4 million in support of protests against government COVID-19 mandates.
According to the report leaked by hackers, 274 people from the Windsor West and Windsor Tecumseh areas donated a total of $35,277 to the protests. Thousands more dollars came from people elsewhere in Essex County.
The protesters turned to GiveSendGo, a U.S.-based Christian crowd funding service, after GoFundMe shut down a similar campaign that had raised more than $10 million.
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ultimately froze the GiveSendGo funds at the request of the provincial government.
Protesters occupied the streets of downtown Ottawa for three weeks and blocked access to several border crossings.
The Ambassador Bridge, North America’s most important economic corridor, was shutdown for nearly a week. Huron Church Road was also shut down, wreaking havoc in Windsor’s west end, until Windsor police, RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police and officers from several other jurisdictions moved in to push out the protesters.
The bridge blockade stalled billions of dollars in trade. It also cost the City of Windsor nearly $5.7 million, mostly for policing, including overtime, road barriers, housing and feeding more than 500 out-of-town officers, and a $130,000 bill from the London Police Service.
https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-police-officers-face-misconduct-charges-for-allegedly-donating-to-freedom-convoy
