Charge dropped against man Windsor police accused of organizing Ambassador Bridge blockade

Although a charge against a Windsor, Ont., man ac‐ cused of organizing the Ambassador Bridge block‐ ade in February 2022 has been dropped, William Laframboise tells CBC News he would have pre‐ ferred to go to trial to prove his innocence.

A single charge of mis‐ chief to property against Laframboise was withdrawn on March 6. It's the end of a nearly two-year legal battle for the 42-year-old.

"I'm a little let down I did‐ n't get my day in court," said Laframboise. "But in reality, I'm just happy it's done and dealt with."

In July 2022, Windsor police charged both Lafram‐ boise and Nycole Dicredico with mischief and said in a news release that the two were organizers of the Am‐ bassador Bridge blockade. Both denied those allega‐ tions from the beginning.

Dicredico's charges were dropped in November of 2023.

In August of 2023, two others charged in connection to the blockade in Windsor also had those matters with‐ drawn.

Laframboise wonders why it took 20 months for the Crown Attorney's office to drop his charge.

"There was no new evi‐ dence for them to change their mind, so it was all there from the very beginning. So if they realized it now that I did‐ n't play the part, right at the very beginning they already knew that as well. So they just wasted court time," said Laframboise, who estimates he attended upwards of 20 court appearances.

"The whole thing was a joke. They knew they didn't have the evidence. I kept pointing it out," he said.

Back on Feb. 7, 2022, large numbers of people ar‐ rived in Windsor and blocked traffic around the Ambas‐ sador Bridge as a way to protest government COVID19 measures in place at the time.

Police from across Canada mobilized and moved people out on Feb. 13. The six-day blockade stopped the move‐ ment of goods and people at North America's busiest land border crossing.

Transport Canada said the blockade halted $3.9 billion in trade activity at the Am‐ bassador Bridge, a public in‐ quiry heard in November of 2022.

Now that Laframboise's charges have been with‐ drawn, he said it doesn't nec‐ essarily mean the legal issues are done.

He estimates he spent thousands of dollars defend‐ ing himself throughout this process and is searching for a lawyer to help recoup those losses. Laframboise al‐ so said the ordeal has taken a toll on him mentally.

Laframboise worries about crossing the border even though charges are dropped

But the trucker also wor‐ ries about how it will affect his employment and his abil‐ ity to cross the border with his name being attached to this ever since the charge from Windsor police.

"Even though I'm not charged now, it still shows up [on Google.] At any point in time now, when I go to cross the border, I could be turned around at any time," said Laframboise. "So for my fu‐ ture as a truck driver, I risk never able to cross the bor‐ der again."

The Windsor Police Ser‐ vice didn't respond to ques‐ tions about the charges being dropped.

Laframboise said he re‐ cently reached out to the Democracy Fund to help with his case. The charity helps defend peoples' constitution‐ al rights and assisted Lafram‐ boise in getting his case thrown out.

"As soon as they came on to the case, within three days, they called me saying you're charges are going to be dropped," Laframboise. "Which just tells me the court system is so rigged because the whole time I'm telling them you have no chance of conviction, you have no evi‐ dence, I was proving them wrong the whole way."