Guatemala prosecutor seeks to strip electoral authorities of immunity after election



GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s prosecutor for electoral crimes has asked the Supreme Court of Justice to strip five magistrates of the country’s top electoral authority of their immunity so they can be investigated on fraud allegations made by the loser of the Aug. 20 presidential election.

It is the latest example of elections that observers declared to be free and fair being dragged into the courts, even as President-elect Bernardo Arévalo begins the official transition with outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei.

The National Unity of Hope party of former first lady Sandra Torres filed a fraud complaint after the election. The party’s lawyer Carlos López said 164 precinct tallies duplicated votes. The party wants the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal investigated for allegedly not carrying out their duties.

Later Tuesday, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal gave Arévalo and his running mate Karin Herrera the credentials formally making them president-elect and vice president-elect.

“During recent weeks we have been subjected to an exhaustive analysis between the validation of the electoral process and the challenges that still remain,” said the tribunal’s President Irma Palencia. She called on people to respect the rule of law, separation of powers and civil rights of all Guatemalans.

Arévalo praised the magistrates as a bulwark against attempts to disrupt the election and a “central defense of the country’s democratic values.”

“The people already decided, the people already voted and the people won,” said Herrera. “That is what has to be respected.”

On Monday, Arévalo and Giammattei had their first transition meeting with Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro present. Giammattei made his most direct comments since the election, saying “Dr. Arévalo will be the next president for the Seed party that won the elections.”

Arévalo previously had accused forces in Giammattei’s government of attempting a coup d’etat to keep him from taking power. The leader of the Organization of American States’ electoral observation mission had said legal efforts since the election appeared to be aimed at keeping Arévalo from assuming the presidency.

Over the weekend, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal blocked the suspension of Arévalo’s Seed Movement party, which had come at the request of prosecutors. They allege that there was wrongdoing in the collection of the required signatures years earlier to register the party, something Arévalo himself had reported to authorities before the election.

—-

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Sonia Pérez D., The Associated Press

South Korean teachers hold mass protests after suicide highlights pressures from parents

IT TAKES A VILLAGE NOT JUST PARENTS

Story by By Jessie Yeung, Yoonjung Seo and Gawon Bae, CNN •1d


Hundreds of thousands of teachers are protesting in South Korea after the suspected suicide of a teacher that was widely blamed on the burden on educators in a country notorious for its high-pressure education system.

Angry teachers say they face overly harsh demands and even harassment from aggrieved parents, and are calling for legal reform and greater protections.

Up to 200,000 protesters participated in a rally on Saturday, according to the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, citing event organizers. And on Monday, an estimated 50,000 teachers stopped work and gathered in the capital to commemorate the deceased teacher, according to organizers – despite authorities’ initial warnings that striking would be considered “illegal.”


South Korean teachers on strike in the capital Seoul, wearing black in tribute to a teacher who died, on September 4, 2023. - Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

The teacher had taught first grade homeroom at the Seoi elementary school in Seoul, and died on campus on July 18, according to an August announcement from the country’s Education Ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who conducted an investigation into the death. They did not name the teacher.

Two days after her death, the metropolitan education office superintendent, Cho Hee-yeon, said the teacher had made “the unfortunate decision to take an extreme choice,” a common euphemism in South Korea for suicide.

Cho said police were still investigating, but acknowledged “the reality that teachers’ legitimate educational activities are not protected,” and urged “special measures” to provide teachers more legal and institutional protections.


Mourners walk past funeral wreaths in front of the main gate of Seoul Seoi Elementary School in Seoul on September 4, 2023. - Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

After launching an investigation, education authorities addressed several rumors that had circulated on social media, including claims that a dispute between two students had played a factor in the teacher’s death.

The parents of both students involved had attended a meeting with the teacher, the education vice minister said in August, when authorities announced their findings. The teacher had received “multiple phone calls” from one parent, and had felt “uncomfortable and anxious about how the parent found out their personal mobile number,” he said.

However, the vice minister added, it was not yet clear whether the teacher had faced any “verbal violence” from the parent.

“Based on the teacher’s diary and results of interviews with their colleagues, the (investigation) found out that the teacher had a problematic student and was having difficulties running the homeroom, and the teacher had a lot of work as it was the beginning of the semester,” he said.

Authorities did not provide further details including the teacher’s cause of death or what led up to it.

Teachers targeted

The death served as a tipping point for many teachers and educational staff across South Korea who have long complained about feeling unable to discipline their students for fear of retribution. Several other recent reports of teacher suicides have fueled that growing anger, with several weeks of ongoing protests before Monday’s strike.

Government data shows 100 public school teachers in South Korea – mostly elementary school teachers – killed themselves from January 2018 to June 2023.

The data does not specify what factors contributed to their deaths, and it is unclear how many of those suicides were linked to the individuals’ jobs. But many in the education community have blamed a controversial child abuse law that was introduced in 2014.

Under the law, anybody who suspects a case of child abuse can report it to the authorities without needing to provide evidence. Authorities may then investigate the claim, including visiting the alleged site of abuse – in this case the schools – and questioning relevant parties.

Teachers say they can be unfairly targeted by parents who feel their child has been slighted – at times endangering their jobs.

In a survey by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, more than 60% of the 6,243 respondents said they had either personally been reported for child abuse or know another teacher who had.


South Korean teachers holding signs that call for "truth," to commemorate the death of a teacher, in Seoul on September 4. - Yoonjung Seo/CNN© Provided by CNN

“The current child abuse prevention act restricts the teaching and guidance of teachers in the classroom,” said one woman participating in the strike on Monday, who CNN is not naming for privacy reasons.

“Of course, the majority of teachers and parents are good, but some parents abuse this law and sue teachers for child abuse,” said the woman, who said she was an elementary school teacher.

Another woman at the strike, who also declined to be named, said she had been teaching for 10 years.

“There are so many difficulties in teaching children in the classroom because teachers are not given authority,” she told CNN. “Although the Child Abuse Prevention Act was created with good intentions to protect children, it is subject to very vague standards.”

She added that many teachers are under heavy stress for fear of being reported by angry parents, even for issuing minor reprimands to students or other disciplinary actions in the classroom.

Authorities have tried to appease teachers, acknowledging their complaints.

Cho, the Seoul education office superintendent, urged teachers not to turn Monday into a “day of chaos.” In an online statement, he proposed establishing a consultation body that can “find out the truth behind the death of the teacher at Seoi elementary school” and protect students’ right to education while “coming together to find a way to commemorate the teacher who unfortunately passed away.”



Participants of a teachers' strike gather in Seoul, South Korea, on September 4. - Yoonjung Seo/CNN© Provided by CNN

Education Minister Lee Joo-ho warned last week that the planned strike was an “illegal collective action” that infringed on students’ right to education. But he adopted a more conciliatory tone in a separate statement on Sunday, saying he had listened to “teachers’ desperate cries,” and that he would not hold any participants responsible during the Monday strike.

The ministry “has prepared a comprehensive plan to restore and strengthen the protection of teaching rights … and to improve the unreasonable system that has caused them,” Lee wrote, adding that the ministry has asked the government to “quickly legislate laws … so that our teachers’ reasonable educational activities could be distinguished from child abuse crimes.”

Even President Yoon Suk Yeol has weighed in, telling his advisors in a meeting on Monday, “We should take the voices raised by teachers last weekend seriously, and make every effort to establish teaching authority and normalize the educational field,” according to a statement from the presidential spokesperson’s office.

Call for change

But protesters and teachers say they won’t be satisfied until the child abuse law is amended. “We will protect (the teachers) and make changes so that not one more teacher chooses to take their life,” said one of the protest groups, Everyone Together As One, according to Reuters.

Outside the school where the teacher died, mourners on Monday placed funeral wreaths and white flowers, and wrote messages on a wall of Post-It notes.

The protests and focus on teacher suicides reflect broader mental health issues in South Korea and longstanding criticisms of its grueling education system.

South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD nations, with that rate increasing among teenagers and young adults in their 20s, according to the country’s health ministry.

Many teenagers cite education as their biggest worry, with most Korean students going straight from regular school to extra tutoring at private cram schools every day, before continuing to study by themselves until late at night.

That stress extends to parents, many of whom start pouring money into their children’s educations from the time they can walk. In 2022, South Koreans spent a total of 26 trillion won (almost $20 billion) on private education, according to the Ministry of Education.

And in a survey this year by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, which included 6,751 respondents working as teachers from kindergarten to universities across the country, only 23.6% expressed satisfaction with their teaching jobs – an all-time low, having fallen from nearly 68% in 2007, the group said.

4 million people enroll in Biden’s SAVE student loan repayment plan ahead of payment restart

Story by By Katie Lobosco, CNN •

More than 4 million people have so far enrolled in President Joe Biden’s new repayment plan, known as SAVE, which promises to lower their monthly bills as student loan payments are set to resume in October after a yearslong pandemic-related pause.

Launched earlier this summer, the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan is available to most people with federal student loans and can provide significant relief to borrowers struggling to pay off their student debt.

The majority of people who already enrolled in SAVE were previously enrolled in a different repayment plan, the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), and automatically transferred.

Borrowers who were not enrolled in REPAYE must apply for the SAVE plan. More than 1 million people have applied to date, the Department of Education said Tuesday.

Borrowers will be able to apply on an ongoing basis but are encouraged to apply as soon as possible if they want to be enrolled by the time they are required to make a payment in October.

On September 1, interest began accruing on federal student loans for the first time since March 2020. During that time, rates were effectively set to 0% and borrowers were not required to make monthly payments. Borrowers can expect to get a bill from their servicer at least 21 days before their payment is due sometime in October.

Biden proposed canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt for low- and middle-income borrowers before payments restarted, but the program was struck down by the Supreme Court in late June.

Unlike the one-time cancellation proposal, the SAVE plan, can benefit both current and future borrowers. The Biden administration first said it was developing a new repayment plan last August. SAVE is expected to cost $475 billion over 10 years, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

How the SAVE plan works

Like other income-driven repayment plans, SAVE calculates monthly payments based on a borrower’s income and family size, regardless of how much outstanding student debt is owed.

A single borrower earning $32,800 or less or a borrower with a family of four earning $67,500 or less will see their payments set at $0 if enrolled in SAVE, for example.

Borrowers are required to pay a portion of their discretionary income, which under SAVE is equal to the difference between a borrower’s adjusted gross income and 225% of the poverty level. Existing income-driven plans calculate discretionary income as the difference between income and 150% of the poverty level, resulting in higher monthly payments.

Also under SAVE, unpaid interest will not accrue if a borrower makes a full monthly payment.

That means that a borrower’s balance won’t increase even if the monthly payment doesn’t cover the monthly interest. For example: If $50 in interest accumulates each month and a borrower has a $30 payment, the remaining $20 would not be charged.

Next year, additional parts of the SAVE plan will be phased in. Those will cut payments in half for borrowers with loans from undergraduate school and shorten the time to debt forgiveness. After making at least 10 years of payments, a borrower’s remaining balance could be wiped away. Existing income-driven repayment plans usually require a borrower to pay for at least 20 years before seeing any debt cancellation.

How to choose the best repayment plan

A borrower can request to enroll in an income-driven plan online. After submitting some information, a simulator will show how much a borrower’s payments will be under each plan.

Income-driven plans can be a good option for borrowers who are struggling to afford their monthly payments. But note that if a repayment plan lowers monthly payments, it may also increase how much is paid back over time due to interest and extend how long it takes to pay the loan off. It may not be the best option for everyone.

Biden administration officials have said that it takes about four weeks for an application to be processed by a borrower’s student loan servicer after it’s submitted. If a servicer needs more time to process an application by the time a borrower’s October payment is due, they will be placed in a forbearance and won’t be required to make a payment.

Existing student loan forgiveness programs

After the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s separate student loan forgiveness program, the administration began pursuing another pathway to providing some student debt relief, but it’s not clear who would be eligible or how much debt would be canceled.

This pathway requires the Department of Education to undertake a formal rule-making process, which typically takes months or even years – and could still face legal challenges. That means payments will resume in October without a new student loan forgiveness program in place.

The Biden administration has already made it easier for many borrowers to seek federal student loan forgiveness from several existing debt cancellation programs – altogether approving roughly $116 billion in loan discharges for more than 3.4 million people through August.

These programs benefit people who were defrauded by their for-profit college, are permanently disabled or work in the public sector for more than 10 years while making student loan payments.

NYPD agrees to ‘significantly’ change how it handles protests in the city

Story by Gloria Oladipo in New York •

Photograph: John Minchillo/AP© Provided by The Guardian

The New York police department (NYPD) has agreed to ban several controversial policing tactics used on demonstrators – as part of a settlement agreement in response to lawsuits about police behavior during the 2020 racial justice protests.

The New York state attorney general Letitia James, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Legal Aid Society announced the reforms on Tuesday after the parties sued the city’s police department. James issued a statement noting the agreement will “significantly” change how the NYPD responses to mass demonstrations in future.

The NYPD will adopt a four-tiered response system that emphasizes de-escalation versus flooding protests with police officers, James’s office said, as seen in the 2020 racial justice protests that erupted across the US and internationally after the police in Minneapolis murdered George Floyd in May 2020.

The NYPD will also hire a senior executive who will oversee the implementation of the new response system in public demonstrations.

City police tactics such as “kettling”, where officers encircle and press upon a group of demonstrators, will be banned, NYCLU, the New York state affiliate of the ACLU, announced in a post on Twitter, now known as X.

Police will also no longer be allowed to use low-flying helicopters to intimidate protestors in New York City. Officers will only break up protests as a “last resort”, the NYCLU added, and will only make arrests after giving three warnings for crowds to disperse.

“The right to peacefully assemble and protest is sacrosanct and foundational to our democracy. Too often peaceful protesters have been met with force that has harmed innocent New Yorkers simply trying to exercise their rights,” said James in the statement.

“Today’s agreement will meaningfully change how the NYPD engages with and responds to public demonstrations in New York City.”

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, also celebrated the forthcoming changes, calling the reforms balanced.

“Our administration is committed to improving our policies to keep New Yorkers safe and protect their civil liberties,” said Adams in a statement, the New York Times reported. Adams noted the reforms would protect public safety while also safeguarding the first amendment rights of demonstrators to exercise free speech.

The latest agreement comes as New York City paid out record settlement amounts to protestors injured by police while demonstrating for racial justice in 2020.

New York officials announced in July they would pay out a total of $13.7m to protestors who were beaten and arrested by police at a protest for George Floyd in 2020.

In March, New York City already agreed to pay $6m to protesters who were detained, arrested and subjected to excessive force during a racial justice protest in the Bronx borough.

As of May this year, at least 19 US cities had agreed to pay out a total of more than $80m to protestors injured during 2020 demonstrations, a record amount experts say is only likely to increase.

‘I’m starving’: N.W.T. evacuees waiting for government support

Story by Jasmine King •6h

N.W.T. evacuees at the Edmonton Expo Centre.© Global News

Evacuees from the Northwest Territories have been in Edmonton for weeks and have been receiving resources to help them survive.

However, that's not the case for all, with some struggling to get by as they wait for more support. Joshua Bourke, who has reached a boiling point, is among them.

"I've lost weight, I'm stressed out. It's frustrating," Bourke said.

Bourke was working in Hay River when he was forced to flee and says since he arrived in Edmonton three weeks ago, he hasn't received much government aid and he could be here a while.

Yellowknife residents are allowed to return this week but there's no estimate for when other evacuees can go home.

"The (Government of Northwest Territories) said they would be helping me two weeks ago and I haven't gotten anything yet. They gave me a run around for about a week before they got back to me," said Bourke.

A few days after Bourke arrived in Edmonton, he applied for programs that would be given to evacuees. He says he's only been given three days' worth of food vouchers and has had to turn to family for financial support.

"I shouldn't have to. I'm supposed to be working in Hay River right now; I should be making $1,500 a week at least and now I'm here starving."

In a social media post on Friday, Northwest Territories Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek says they've received over 5,000 applications for the Evacuee Income Disruption Program and Travel Support Program.

"We have received an incredibly high volume of emails and applications, and this team will continue to work diligently to respond to the enquiries and process the applications as fast as possible," read the post.

Video: NWT wildfire evacuees worry government may not cover costly evacuation expenses

Evacuee Ryan Heron says he's heard of others having similar payment issues because of registration.

"If you don't have the proper documentation you're going to slip through the cracks and that's where the problems will start," Heron said.

However Heron and his wife have had to deal with a different hurdle. They got their first hotel in Edmonton and are now in hotel number five up in Grande Prairie, after being kicked out of two because of funding issues.

"We were both just lost, we have everything we own in our car and we only have a small SUV," said Heron.

For Bourke, he's spending most of his time in Edmonton in his hotel room, waiting to get financial aid and hoping changes will come soon.

"Fund them, get them food, get them the help they need."

EPA delays new ozone pollution standards until after 2024 election



WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying plans to tighten air quality standards for ground-level ozone — better known as smog — despite a recommendation by a scientific advisory panel to lower air pollution limits to protect public health.

The decision by EPA Administrator Michael Regan means that one of the agency's most important air quality regulations will not be updated until well after the 2024 presidential election.

“I have decided that the best path forward is to initiate a new statutory review of the ozone (standard) and the underlying air quality criteria,'' Regan wrote in a letter to the EPA advisory panel last month. The letter cites “several issues” raised by the panel in a recent report that "warrant additional evaluation and review.''

The review, which will last at least two years, will “ensure that air quality standards reflect the latest science in order to best protect people from pollution,'' Regan said.

Regan's decision avoids a potentially contentious, election-year battle with industry groups and Republicans who have complained about what they consider overly intrusive EPA rules on power plants, refineries, automobiles and other polluters.

The delay marks the second time in 12 years that a Democratic administration has put off a new ozone standard prior to an election year. Former President Barack Obama shut down plans to tighten ozone standards in 2011, leading to four-year delay before the standards were updated in 2015.

Paul Billings, senior vice president of the American Lung Association, called EPA's decision “profoundly disappointing” and a missed opportunity to protect public health and promote environmental justice. A recent report by the lung association showed that minority communities bear a disproportionate burden from ground-level ozone, which occurs when air pollution from cars, power plants and other sources mixes with sunlight. The problem is particularly acute in urban areas.

Billings called the ozone rule “the public health cornerstone of the Clean Air Act,'' adding that "millions of people will breathe dirty air for many more years'' as a result of the delay. An increased number of asthma attacks, sick days and even premature death are likely to occur, he and other public health advocates said.

Raul Garcia, vice president of policy and legislation for Earthjustice, called the delay “shameful” and unjustified. “The science tells us we are long overdue,” Garcia said.

Democratic lawmakers also were disappointed. "Inaction threatens public health and puts those with underlying conditions such as asthma or lung disease, at an elevated risk,'' said Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. He and 51 other Democrats had urged swift action on a new rule

"Unfortunately we’ve seen the process for updating the ozone standards repeatedly swept up in political games that risk lives,'' the lawmakers said in an Aug. 7 letter to EPA.

Conor Bernstein, a spokesman for the National Mining Association, applauded EPA’s decision "not to race ahead with an unnecessary revision of the ozone standards,'' which have not been changed since 2015. The current standard was reaffirmed in December 2020 under then-President Donald Trump.

Bernstein, whose members produce coal and other fossil fuels, urged officials to reconsider other regulations that he said target coal-fired power plants and endanger reliability of the electric grid. “It's clear — and deeply alarming — that EPA (does not) understand the cumulative impact its rules will have on the grid and the nation’s severely stressed power supply,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, the top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, said current ozone limits are among the most stringent in the world. “Any tightening of the standard could impact energy costs, threaten U.S. energy security and impact businesses and American consumers,'' spokeswoman Andrea Woods said in an email.

The EPA's decision comes after two advisory panels — the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council — urged the agency to lower the current ozone standard of 70 parts per billion.

“Based on the scientific evidence currently available, it is concluded that the level of the current standard is not protective with an adequate margin of safety,'' the EPA panel said in a June report. A limit of 55 to 60 parts per billion "is more likely to be protective and to provide an adequate margin of safety,'' the panel said.

Lianne Sheppard, a University of Washington biostatistics professor who chairs the scientific advisory panel, said Regan's decision was “his alone” to make.

“However, I am disappointed, given the robust scientific evidence that ozone is harmful to public health and welfare,” she told E&E News last month.

The White House environmental justice council, meanwhile, cited the “horrible toll of air pollution'' and its disproportionate effect on minority communities. In a letter to the White House, co-chairs Richard Moore and Peggy Shepard said the problem is "compounded by the inadequate monitoring and enforcement in many of our communities.''

Moore is co-director of Los Jardines Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while Sheppard is co-founder and executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice in New York City.

Tomas Carbonell, a top official in EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, said the report by the scientific panel left EPA with little choice but to launch a comprehensive review even though all but one panel member supported a stricter ozone standard.

“When we’re looking at our national air quality standards, there's really no way to cut corners around that process,'' Carbonell said in an interview.

The agency will convene workshops next spring to gather information and will release a review plan for action in late 2024, he said. A final decision could be years away.

Matthew Daly, The Associated Press

POLICE STATE KANGAROO COURT
61 indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges connected to 'Stop Cop City' movement



ATLANTA (AP) — Sixty-one people have been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges following a long-running state investigation into protests against a planned police and firefighter training facility in the Atlanta area that critics call “Cop City.”

In the sweeping indictment released Tuesday, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr alleged the defendants are “militant anarchists” who supported a violent movement that prosecutors trace to the widespread 2020 racial justice protests.

The Aug. 29 indictment is the latest application of the state’s anti-racketeering law, also known as a RICO law, and comes just weeks after the Fulton County prosecutor used the statute to charge former President Donald Trump and 18 other defendants.

The “Stop Cop City” effort has gone on for more than two years and at times veered into vandalism and violence. Opponents fear the training center will lead to greater militarization of the police, and that its construction in an urban forest will exacerbate environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

Most of those indicted have already been charged over their alleged involvement in the movement. RICO charges carry a heavy potential sentence that can be added on top of the penalty for the underlying acts.

Among the defendants: more than three dozen people already facing domestic terrorism charges in connection to violent protests; three leaders of a bail fund previously accused of money laundering; and three activists previously charged with felony intimidation after authorities said they distributed flyers calling a state trooper a “murderer” for his involvement in the fatal shooting of a protester.

“The 61 defendants together have conspired to prevent the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by conducting, coordinating and organizing acts of violence, intimidation and property destruction,” Carr said during a news conference Tuesday.

In linking the defendants to the alleged conspiracy, prosecutors have made a huge series of allegations. Those include everything from possessing fire accelerant and throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers, to being reimbursed for glue and food for activists who spent months camping in the woods near the construction site.

Activists leading an ongoing referendum effort against the project immediately condemned the charges, calling them “anti-democratic.”

“Chris Carr may try to use his prosecutors and power to build his gubernatorial campaign and silence free speech, but his threats will not silence our commitment to standing up for our future, our community, and our city,” the Cop City Vote coalition said in a statement.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, meanwhile, praised the indictment, saying in a statement, “My top priority is and always will be keeping Georgians safe, especially against out-of-state radicals that threaten the safety of our citizens and law enforcement.”

Protests against the training center escalated after the fatal shooting in January of 26-year-old protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said state troopers fired in self-defense after Paez Terán shot at them while they cleared protesters from a wooded area near the proposed facility site. But the troopers involved weren’t wearing body cameras, and activists have questioned the official narrative.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and others say the 85-acre, $90 million facility would replace inadequate training facilities, and would help address difficulties in hiring and retaining police officers.

Prosecutors trace the roots of the “Stop Cop City” movement back to May 25, 2020, the date George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Minneapolis, even though the resulting protests occurred months before officials announced plans for the training center. Long after the racial justice protests died down, “violent anti-police sentiment” persisted among some Atlantans and it remains one of the demonstrators' “core driving motives," according to the indictment.

Since 2021, numerous instances of violence and vandalism have been linked to the movement. Days after the killing of Paez Terán, a police car was set alight at a January protest in downtown Atlanta. In March, more than 150 masked protesters chased off police at the construction site and torched construction equipment before fleeing and blending in with a crowd at a nearby music festival. Those two instances have led to dozens of people being charged with domestic terrorism, although prosecutors previously admitted they’ve had difficulty proving that many of those arrested were in fact those who took part in the violence.

Among those charged with domestic terrorism in March near the music festival and indicted last week is Thomas Jurgens, a Southern Poverty Law Center staff attorney. Jurgens' lawyer has said his client wore a bright green hat — a well-known identifier used by legal observers — and his arrest alarmed many human rights organizations.

The law center called it an example of “heavy-handed law enforcement intervention against protesters." DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, a Democrat, mentioned her concerns about Jurgens' prosecution in announcing her June decision to withdraw from criminal cases connected to the movement, citing disagreements with Carr over how to handle the matters.

In addition to the 61 racketeering indictments, five of the defendants were also indicted on domestic terrorism and first-degree arson charges. Three previously charged leaders of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has provided bail money and helped find attorneys for arrested protesters, were also each indicted on 15 counts of money laundering.

The case was initially assigned to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, the judge overseeing the racketeering case against Trump and 18 others. But McAfee recused himself, saying he'd worked with prosecutors on the case prior to his judicial appointment. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams now oversees the case.

R.j. Rico, The Associated Press

How the ultra-wealthy infiltrated anti-capitalist Burning Man

Story by By Allison Morrow, CNN •10h

Burning Man, the desert confab that descended into chaos over the weekend, isn’t quite the scrappy, free-spirited revelry that it once was.

For many watching the disarray of Burning Man from afar, the rain and mud that left 70,000 people stranded quickly became a symbol of the festival’s departure from its roots.

Or, more simply: how the billionaires ruined Burning Man.

The festival began as a small gathering in 1986 on a San Francisco beach, and eventually grew into a gritty countercultural community of “Burners” who eschew commercialism within their makeshift city, erected annually in a desiccated lake bed known as the playa.

There’s no money trading hands on the playa — that’s core to to the community’s “decommodification” ethos. But there is, increasingly, a lot of money on the playa.

Going to Burning Man is, in some elite circles, akin to having climbed Everest or taken ayuhuasca on a meditation retreat — a spiritually transformative experience, undertaken with a considerable safety net of privilege.

Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, has been a regular at Burning Man, telling Recode in 2014 that “if you haven’t been, you just don’t get it.” Mark Zuckerberg flew in for a day in 2012 to serve up grilled cheese sandwiches and even set up his own tent, according to his friend and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. In 2018, shortly after she was indicted on federal fraud charges, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes retreated to the desert and burned an effigy for her failed startup, she told the New York Times.

One of the 10 pillars of Burning Man is “radical self-reliance,” and in that spirit most revelers haul their own water and shelf-stable food in for the week, and “rely on their inner resources” for survival, according to the organization’s website.

For the one-percenters in attendance, however, self-reliance can be outsourced.

The ultra-wealthy have been known to fly in personal chefs for the week, and pay as much as $50,000 to camp in luxurious tents, as the New York Post reported in 2019. A Business Insider reporter, similarly, wrote about so-called fancy camps around the playa that came with chandeliers, party rooms and outdoor showers.

“Burning Man is the perfect example of how many rich White people recreationally manufacture hardship because they are immune from it systematically,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter, this weekend.

The infiltration of the jet set is the driving force behind the schadenfreude emanating from social media in response to video footage of Burners — some of whom paid $2,750 for a single ticket — tromping through ankle-deep mud, unable to drive out of the camp following unusually heavy rain.

“It’s a tiny violin emoji for me,” wrote one TikTok user.

While some festival-goers found the situation scary — a “Lord of the Flies” vibe, as one attendee described it — many seasoned Burners were taking the weather and road closures in stride, offering food and shelter to those who need it. While one person died at the festival, the death was “unrelated to the weather.”

One attendee, Andrew Hyde, told CNN the rain and mud have taken the meaning of the event back to its roots.

“You come out here to be in a harsh climate, and you prepare for that.”

— Nouran Salahieh and Holly Yan contributed to this article.


Burning Man costs most people a minimum of $800 for just a ticket and a parking spot. All the other expenses can easily push the total cost into the thousands.

Story by sjackson@insider.com (Sarah Jackson) •8h

Nevada's nine-day Burning Man festival can cost Burners hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars to attend. JULIE JAMMOT/Getty Images© Provided by Business Insider
Burning Man may be "decommodified" but it's still pretty expensive to attend.
The 9-day festival cost most Burners at least $800 this year, just for a ticket and a vehicle pass.
Transportation, food, and other survival-related supplies can easily push the cost into the thousands.


1 of 9 Photos in Gallery©Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
See the mass exodus of vehicles inching through the Nevada desert as people clamor to escape Burning Man's soggy Black Rock City playa
Burning Man 2023's Exodus — when all its attendees depart — officially began on Monday.
Festivalgoers had been trapped as desert roads became waterlogged from torrential rains.
Photos show hundreds of vehicles making their escape from muddy festival as it draws to a close.

Festivalgoers could finally depart Burning Man on Monday after being trapped for days by heavy rains that swamped event's makeshift desert town in thick mud.

The nine-day party event turned into a soggy disaster when a downpour turned the desert into a massive mud pit. Attendees were told to hunker down and ration food and water, and organizers rebooted their guidelines page, called a "survival guide," into a "Wet Playa Survival Guide."

A driving ban was lifted at 2 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday as roads out of the festival site began to dry, allowing a remaining 64,000 attendees to leave.

Hundreds of trucks, buses, and other vehicles poured out of Black Rock City on Monday, with attendees being asked to consider postponing their exit to avoid a traffic build-up.

Here's a look at the exodus from Burning Man 2023 as the beleaguered event draws to a close.See More


Burning Man only sells ice on site, but don't let that fool you: Burners still shell out a small fortune to be there.

The typically nine-day event in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, roughly 120 miles north of Reno, draws tens of thousands of attendees each year, and sets them all back at least $630 for a ticket including its taxes and fee — with total costs easily ballooning into the thousands.

The survival supplies aren't anything to scoff at either. This year, a storm put a damper on the festivities, turning much of the famous playa into mud and resulting in stranded attendees.

Here's a closer look at the expenses you're on the hook for as a Burner.

Tickets alone aren't cheap

Most tickets sold directly from Burning Man cost $575 each this year, according to the event's website. (There are 5,000 tickets available at a discounted $225 for people with financial hardships, and "FOMO" tickets priced at $1,500 and $2,750 for Burners who want to secure their spots two months before the main sale opens.) Vehicle passes, which are required for every vehicle driving into Black Rock City, cost $150 each; for Burners who qualified for discounted rates due to financial hardships, vehicle passes are $75 each.

All tickets are subject to the 9% Nevada Live Entertainment Tax; on the $575 tickets, this tax comes out $51.75 each. Both tickets and vehicle passes are subject to a $4 fee each. There's also a 3.4% credit card processing fee on purchase subtotals.

All told, this means Burners are shelling out at least $800 between tickets, vehicle passes, fees, and taxes if they're attending solo. Lots of people carpool, however, which means you can share the cost of the vehicle pass, but the ticket and its taxes and fees alone will set you back around $630.

Transportation and lodging can easily cost thousands

Lots of Burning Man attendees opt for an RV — which can be costly to rent. Matt Mills McKnight/REUTERS© Matt Mills McKnight/REUTERS

Don't forget you have to actually get to the playa. And you also have to figure out where you're going to sleep for 9 days.

CNN

Huge exodus of people getting out of the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

Duration 0:37  View on Watch

Related video: Man stuck at Burning Man tells Channel 13 about festival conditions (KTNV Las Vegas, NV)

Duration 2:25  View on Watch

The Wall Street Journal Burning Man Revelers Describe ‘Disaster Like Never Been Seen’

1:31

NBC News  Burning Man attendees makes the best of muddy festival: ‘The best burn ever!’

1:08

Daily Mail  Enormous lines of Burning Man attendees make painfully slow departure

2:05

Burners coming from other parts of the country will likely have to cover airfare or the cost of other transportation to Reno, and then take additional transportation from the Reno airport to Black Rock City. Some attendees of the festival, which is popular with influencers and the wealthy tech elite, even fly in on private jets, which were the subject of protests at this year's Burning Man.

Once you've arrived, there's also the matter of food, water, and lodging. One Burning Man veteran recommends budgeting $10 a day for food, water, and supplies when cooked in a communal kitchen for a group, which would come out to another $90. In keeping with the festival's emphasis on "radical self-reliance," Burners should also be budgeting for supplies like shade structures, sleeping gear, and toiletries. A list of recommended survival supplies on Burning Man's website could easily add up to $100 or more.


A screenshot from Burning Man's website of items "you should probably bring." Burning Man© Burning Man

As for lodging, many people pitch tents, rent RVs, or even stay in yurts.

RV rentals can easily set you back thousands of dollars: Multiple RV rental websites estimate even a basic rental will cost anywhere between $5,500 and $7,000, and if you're staying with other attendees, the biggest RVs start at around $10,000.



Yurts at a past Burning Man. Aly Weisman/Business Insider© Aly Weisman/Business InsiderOne website advertising yurts for Burning Man lists structures ranging in price from $3,000 to $11,500. Many attendees often camp together, sometimes paying a hefty price to do so: One luxury camp infamously charged up to $100,000 for accommodations, private chef included, before Burning Man shut it down.

Smaller, optional expenses can add up

Black Rock City, the temporary city constructed once a year, is enormous and can take a while to traverse by foot — so many people opt to bring or rent a bicycle to get around, as driving is prohibited on the playa except when arriving or departing the festival. Burning Man's approved bike shops offer rentals from $80 to $125 and up for the duration of the festival.

Then, there's also the freewheeling fashion of Burning Man. Another one of the festival's central tenets is self-expression, and attendees are known to sport flamboyant outfits and costumes, with people dressing up in steampunk or sci-fi outfits. It's entirely optional and you can always cobble together something unique from what you already own, but if you're starting from scratch or want a more elaborate costume, it's yet another expense to consider.

The Burning Man disaster is ‘a teachable moment’ about climate change

Story by Dino Grandoni, Kim Bellware •
The Washington Post
Burning Man Topper

Burning Man is supposed to arrive and disappear like the desert breeze.

Near the end of every summer, attendees of the multiday mega-festival venture to the Nevada wilderness. Their motto: “Leave no trace.”

This year, thousands got stuck in the mud instead after about a half an inch of rain hit what is normally the driest state in the nation. Instead of leaving no trace, many self-described “burners” abandoned bicycles and vehicles on the drenched, muddy Black Rock Desert.

Once an underground carnival for free spirits, Burning Man today is famous as a party spot for Hollywood stars, Silicon Valley tech bros and other jet-set elites. The latest event offers a glimpse at how extreme weather can — and more frequently will — dramatically transform the environment in a moment’s notice.


The Burning Man disaster is ‘a teachable moment’ about climate change

“It’s a teachable moment, as far as climate disasters and extreme weather” go, said Anya Kamenetz, a Burning Man attendee forced to flee the festival. “This is very much just a trial run under really, really easy conditions for what a lot of people go through.”

No single storm can be attributed to climate change. But flooding in Nevada is expected to become more frequent as storms intensify and snow shifts to rain due to higher temperatures, according to state officials.

On Aug. 27, as the festival was getting started, climate activists blockaded a road into Burning Man in protest of its environmental footprint.

This year’s event is only expected to fuel critics who have long charged the festival for leaving trash in surrounding communities and not living up to its eco-conscious goals as crowds rush away from the encampment. As festivalgoers made the long trek to the exits, they left more behind than usual, including cars, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said.

“This behavior definitely does not fall within the 10 principles of Burning Man,” he said. The neglect, he added, is “a societal issue” and not necessarily the fault of the Burning Man Project, the group behind the festival.

Burning Man gets rained out

At first, a sprinkling of rain helped settle some of the dust swirling through the encampment. But by Friday evening, the rain didn’t stop — and it didn’t take much precipitation to turn the playa into a muddy mess.

“By the time we went to bed that night, it was really clear that this is going to be something that would shut down the city,” said Kamenetz, who writes a Substack newsletter about climate change.

By Saturday morning, the burners were trapped. Those who remained held a camp meeting, Kamenetz said. No more showers, no more dishwashing. No more portable toilet use except for solid waste.

Unsure of when attendees would be able to leave, organizers urged those who remained to conserve food, water and fuel. The gates and airport in and out of what was supposed to be a desert oasis were closed.

So, burners sheltered in place. Festivalgoers covered their tents in tarps to keep the rain out. The mud was so thick and sticky that many abandoned their hiking boots, trekking through the encampment barefoot or slipping plastic bags over their socks.

To dig mud out of a portable toilet, Kamenetz unbolted a gold-colored decorative shovel attached to a zebra-striped, safari-themed vehicle brought to Burning Man as an “art car.”

“It was gold,” she said of the shovel. “It’s not gold anymore.”


Sept. 3 | Black Rock City, Nev. A portable toilet covered in mud.

© Instagram @martinposc/Reuters

Revelers tried to make the best out of a bad situation. During the day, the group sculpted a statue of an elephant out of mud. At night, they played music. As a sign, perhaps, that things would be okay, a rainbow arched across the playa Saturday.

“People really didn’t miss a beat,” Kamenetz said.

‘Better prepared than the average Joe Schmo’

This year’s Burning Man brought some of the most extreme weather Christine Lee had seen in the eight years she’s attended the festival.

But many burners, particularly veterans of the festival, are resourceful and well-prepared for the week-plus of off-the-grid survival, said the 39-year-old circus performer. Lee traveled with friends in a built-out conversion van, so they were equipped with heat, air conditioning and power — as well as stacks upon stacks of foil-wrapped packs of tuna.

“I did have enough tuna for an extra week,” Lee said. While there were moments of panic over the sight of overflowing toilets and calls to reserve food and water, people coming to Burning Man follow the principles of self-reliance and community, she said.

“They’re going to be prepared better than the average Joe Schmo,” Lee added.

The social contract Burning Man is known for largely held up, though Lee noticed human waste outside one trailer, and more forks and litter — sights she hadn’t seen in past year. Lee chalked it up to a small percent of attendees behaving selfishly.

The broader community stepped up to clean the grounds and shelter, and to feed burners who were struggling as resources dwindled, she said. Burning Man is famously “commerce-free” — or at least strives to be — which means everything including meals and bicycle repair is barter and community-based.

“It totally worked — there’s nowhere else I’d rather be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse,” Lee said. “I’d see people walking around with trash bags, offering water, handing out food. You see someone clearly struggling because they look hungry and doesn’t have a poncho and you help them.”

The rain arrived as Reno, the largest nearby city, is in the middle of its second-wettest year on record, according to Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The area has entered a “boom-or-bust” mode when it comes to rain, oscillating between wet and drought years. “We swing on this pendulum,” McGuire said.

Rainstorms like the one over Labor Day weekend are unusual but not unprecedented for the region, he added.

The Southwest United States has seen more rain than normal this year, both because of an active monsoon as well as the passage of Tropical Storm Hilary. Around the same time downpours drenched Burning Man, torrential rain also brought flooding to Las Vegas, which has received 2.55 inches of rain during the monsoon season, the 11th-most on record.

On Friday, the Weather Service’s forecast had predicted isolated thunderstorms and scattered showers for the area over the weekend.
A muddy exodus

Burning Man Project chief executive Marian Goodell told NBC News that the group was “prepared for the whole spectrum” of weather scenarios.

“We’ve chosen a dry lake bed” for the event, she said. “The environment is always a survival environment.”

Yet by Sunday, an exodus was underway even as roads remained closed. Over Labor Day, people pushed RVs and kicked mud out from under wheels to get them to move. Others hoofed it by foot. Kamenetz walked more than three miles through mud to catch a bus.

Every year, large piles of trash are left in Reno and other spots outside the desert, said Allen, the Pershing County sheriff.

“This year is a little different in that there are numerous vehicles strewn all throughout the playa for several miles,” he added. “Some participants were unwilling to wait or use the beaten path to attempt to leave the desert and have had to abandon their vehicles and personal property wherever their vehicle came to rest.”

The Burning Man Project, Allen added, is responsible for cleaning up the trash in the desert. The project did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.

By Tuesday morning, the departure was “going smoothly” despite the heavy volume of travelers, Pershing County Sheriff Sgt. Nathan Carmichael said. The only major incident from Burning Man that the sheriff’s office was actively investigating Monday was the death of Leon Reece, a 32-year-old attendee who was found unresponsive at the festival Friday.

At the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, operations were returning to “business as usual” after a double dose of traffic from Labor Day travelers and the influx of burners headed home, according to spokesperson Stacey Sunday.

The airport on Monday tallied around 7,000 passengers, Sunday said, citing TSA data — compared with 4,000 to 6,000 travelers on a typical day.

Among the ways airport officials typically prepare for Burning Man travelers is to have plastic bags on hand to wrap their dust-covered luggage so that baggage machines don’t get clogged. This year, the airport provided travelers with disposable booties to cover their mud-caked shoes.

“[It’s] our biggest thing because there’s construction going outside, there isn’t the curb for burners to sit on, make flight arrangements,” Sunday said. “They’re either inside or out, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal.”

This year’s experience hasn’t deterred Lee from Burning Man, though she plans to pack more boots and ponchos in case of rough weather next year. Even the hard rain, she said, created a joyful, art-filled memory. During a brief period when the rain slowed this past weekend, people started walking the streets and creating mud art: clay Minions and Buddhas and snowmen.

But Kamenetz, a nine-time attendee, said this would be her last Burning Man, a decision she had considered even before the rain.

“Is this really how I want to be spending my leisure time?”

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.

The Washington Post
Rain falls during Burning Man

Duration 0:23
View on Watch

Burning Man mud after rainfall
Duration 0:23
View on Watch

Burning Man attendees create mud statue
Duration 0:17
View on Watch

Burning Man attendees become trapped in mud
Duration 0:21
View on Watch

Burning Man effigy ignites
Duration 0:20
View on Watch

A Burning Man attendee and their costume in front of dozens of bikes on the playa. Aly Weisman/Business Insider© Aly Weisman/Business Insider

It's not mandatory, but since gift-giving is one of Burning Man's 10 core principles, it's common for attendees to also factor into their budgeting equations gifts to bring and share with one another.

Add it all up, and Burning Man can easily set you back at least $1,000 to $2,000 unless you've gotten really creative and figured out a way to pinch pennies and carpool — and even then you're looking at the high hundreds of dollars.

Let's just hope next year's Burners get more for their money than a giant mud pit.

Chevron, unions begin mediation talks to avert Australia LNG strike

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Chevron Australia and unions representing workers at two of the U.S. energy major's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Australia began talks on Monday aimed at averting strikes scheduled for Thursday should the parties fail to reach a deal.

A senior member of the Fair Work Commission (FWC), Australia's industrial umpire, is hosting talks in the Western Australia state capital of Perth every day this week, as first reported by Reuters on Friday.

Chevron Australia hoped to "narrow points of difference" through the mediated bargaining sessions, a spokesperson said.

"The discussions are continuing. There are mediated negotiations going on, which I think is positive," Freeman Shaheen, head of global gas at Chevron told reporters at the Gastech conference in Singapore.

Shaheen said everybody has the right to industrial action, but he does not think it's needed. "So we’re hopeful and they’ll continue the negotiated mediation and that we will get to the right spot."

Employees last week almost unanimously rejected a pay and conditions deal put to them directly by Chevron, bypassing unions.

The Offshore Alliance, a coalition of two unions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of the talks, which are not open to the public or media.

Related video: Chevron's Parfitt On LNG Market Outlook (Bloomberg)   

Duration 6:09  View on Watch

Industrial action will begin at 6.00 am local time on Thursday (2200 GMT on Wednesday) at Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone projects, which account for more than 5% of global LNG production capacity, if parties cannot find a resolution.

Employees plan work stoppages of up to 11 hours in several time blocks and will stop performing certain tasks until at least Sept. 14.

The union group has said the stoppages could cost Chevron "billions of dollars".

Prolonged industrial action could disrupt LNG exports and increase competition for the super-chilled fuel, forcing Asian buyers to outbid European buyers to attract LNG cargo. China and Japan are the top two lifters of Australian LNG, followed by South Korea and Taiwan.

"We have in place business continuity plans... We do plan to be a reliable supplier. We talk to our customers all the time," Chevron's Shaheen said.

Gorgon, Australia's second-largest LNG plant, has an export capacity of 15.6 million tonnes a year and Wheatstone 8.9 million.

Australia is the world's biggest LNG exporter and the dispute has stoked volatility in natural gas markets with players nervous about the risk of long-term disruption.

Energy analyst Saul Kavonic said last week the planned work disruption would "add inefficiency" to Chevron's operations and may keep the projects from sustaining full production "but it is unlikely to impact production to an extent it will move the dial for global markets".

A similar dispute between the union alliance and Woodside-operated North West Shelf LNG facility, Australia's biggest, was resolved last month after workers approved a deal.

(Reporting by Renju Jose and Lewis Jackson in Sydney and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Sharon Singleton)

Trial for 'Freedom Convoy' organizers not about their political beliefs, Crown says

ANTI-VAX/ANTI-MASK/ANTI-TRUDEAU/

WHITE GRIEVANCE/EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN

Story by The Canadian Press •


OTTAWA — Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are not on trial for their political beliefs against COVID-19 public health orders, but for the means the two "Freedom Convoy" organizers used in trying to end them, a Crown prosecutor argued Tuesday.

Tim Radcliffe used his opening remarks at the start of the 16-day trial to paint a picture of Lich and Barber as the heart of the protest that gridlocked downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill for three weeks in January and February 2022, until police moved in to clear the streets.

"This occupation was anything but peaceful," Radcliffe told the court.

Lich, who hails from Medicine Hat, Alta., and Barber, who is from Swift Current., Sask., were part of the original group that mobilized a convoy of big rigs and other vehicles to drive to Ottawa to protest COVID-19 public health orders and, more broadly, the federal Liberal government.

Together they are charged with mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, intimidation and obstructing police. Barber, who owns a trucking company in Saskatchewan, is also charged with counselling others to disobey a court order that banned loud honking in the city's downtown core.

In a signed admission to the court, Lich and Barber acknowledged the actions of "certain individuals" interfered with the lawful use, enjoyment and operation of property and businesses in downtown Ottawa during the protest.

In a separate document signed by Lich and Barber, Lich admitted that she was a leader, organizer and authorized spokesperson for the "Freedom Convoy."

Both appeared in court and sat quietly on a front bench as the Crown presented its opening arguments.

Radcliffe told the court that Lich and Barber not only counselled people to come to Ottawa but to remain there, using what the lawyer called their "infamous 'hold the line' rallying call."

He told the court Lich and Barber did not just "hold the line" during those three weeks in Ottawa, but they "crossed the line, and in so doing they committed multiple crimes."

The pair "pressured decision-makers" and exerted "control and influence" when it came to where vehicles were parked, all in the name of achieving the political purpose of ending pandemic health orders, such as vaccine mandates, Radcliffe said.

"This case is not about their political views," Radcliffe told the court. "What's at issue … is the means they employed, not the ends."

The Crown hopes to establish that Barber and Lich worked together in lockstep, so that evidence against one of them will apply to both.

About 50 people, including roughly 20 who were there to support Lich and Barber, filled the Ottawa courtroom on Tuesday.

Related video: Freedom Convoy Truckers Trial Sparks Calls For 'Uprising' (Newsweek)

Duration 0:47  View on Watch

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said she requested the largest courtroom to allow as many people as possible to watch, given the public interest in the case. She also took a moment during the Crown's opening remarks to remind the members of the public in the room that the Crown's opening remarks are not considered evidence, but only its perspective of the case.

At the heart of the Crown's case is whether Lich and Barber encouraged people to come to Ottawa and stay there, even as police ordered protesters to leave. The other question is whether doing so is considered illegal.

Before the trial got underway, Radcliffe told the court the Crown plans to submit more than 100 pieces of evidence and call 22 witnesses, including top Ottawa police and city officials. Former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson appeared at the courthouse Tuesday believing he would be called to testify but he is not on the Crown's list of witnesses.

Lich and Barber's defence lawyers said they hope that by admitting the protest was disruptive, they can avoid having to hear from nine witnesses, including Ottawa residents, business owners and an employee who works for the city's transit operator.

The Crown said it intends to use 50 videos, including some filmed by Lich and Barber themselves, to show they were key organizers of the movement that led to an "occupation" around downtown Ottawa.

Immediately, each of their lawyers jumped in to dispute the use of the word "occupation," calling it "inflammatory, inaccurate and insensitive."

"In a world where the trite, the mundane and the trivial are called 'awesome' and 'amazing,' it is no surprise, but nevertheless disappointing, that the demonstration of Jan. 26 to Feb. 19 in the downtown of Ottawa would be referred to as an occupation," Lawrence Greenspon, who is representing Lich, said Tuesday.

The word has far more serious connotations for people around the world who are truly victims of an occupation, he said.

The court was introduced to life in Ottawa during the protests with a 12-minute video of scenes recorded by police from the protest compiled by the first witness in the case, Const. Craig Barlow with the Ottawa police cyber crimes unit.

The sound of revving engines, air horns, chants of "freedom" and "we're not leaving" filled the Ottawa courtroom as scenes of blocked intersections, large crowds, open fires and Canadian flags played on a large TV screen.

The video also showed a sea of protesters pushing back against police during a massive operation to put an end to the protest.

In her cross-examination, Diane Magas, who is representing Barber, asked Barlow whether he reviewed video of people hugging, games of pickup street hockey, a bouncy castle, and other scenes from the convoy that weren't included in the compilation video.

He said he did, but wasn't asked by the Crown to include them.

The Crown also filed videos that showed protesters yelling "hold the line" as police officers in riot gear attempted to push demonstrators off the street.

In one clip, a protester says "we're not going anywhere."

Magas then showed another series of video clips showing police using force against protesters. She asked for a copy of all pieces of video Barlow viewed but opted not to include in his compilation for the court.

He said he has watched "months" worth of footage of the "Freedom Convoy" recorded by police, protesters and media outlets since March 2022.

"I pressed play and watched video after video," he said. He joked that he retires in five years, and it'll probably take him longer than that to track down and download all the videos he's witnessed.

Perkins-McVey suggested he start with police body-camera footage and the court would go from there. His evidence is scheduled to resume next week.

In the meantime, the Crown expects to call other senior police officers to the stand when court resumes Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2023.

Laura Osman and Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press