MOOSE JAW — Police had a “pleasant conversation” with when they found her protesting outside Prairie 麻豆传媒AV School Division’s office but arrested her hours later because her behaviour had become too much.
Const. Willem (Jacques) Geyer was one of three officers to testify during Brideau’s three-day trial in late August. He told the court that he and Const. Jay Sills visited PSSD’s board office on Nov. 6, 2023, because the education director had called, saying Brideau was yelling at staff.
The two officers arrived around 8 a.m. and found Brideau a block south of the office on Ninth Avenue Northwest, holding a sign that spoke against pandemic measures. They told her she could peacefully protest but could not do so on the property because the courts had banned her.
The activist agreed with their request, while the men went to speak with the director of education.
Geyer and Sills returned around 12:30 p.m. that same day after learning that Brideau had caused another problem at the division office, the trial heard. They arrested her for causing a disturbance there and for harassing staff at Golden West radio station several weeks earlier.
The officers took her to the police station and put her in cells for a couple of hours before releasing her on an undertaking with conditions, including not contacting or visiting PSSD’s office.
Geyer said he put her on those conditions and was responsible for the release document. He told the trial that he consulted with his superiors about the document before releasing the activist on the conditions.
During cross-examination, Brideau attempted to undermine Geyer’s testimony by suggesting that a young officer had no authority to release anyone on an undertaking. However, the Crown prosecutor objected and pointed out that the Criminal Code empowers officers to put alleged offenders on conditions. Moreover, the Crown reprimanded the activist for insulting the young constable.
“What they’ve done to me is ungodly … ,” Brideau said at one point, accusing the police of bullying her.
Brideau also accused the police of “stealing” her vehicle, but the Crown and officers pointed out that that was untrue since she had parked her red PT-Cruiser in a no-parking zone near PSSD’s office. That was why they had her vehicle towed.
Geyer added that he also responded to a call from
The officer spoke with the GM, gathered audio recordings of the activist’s phone calls and acquired pages of documents cataloguing the number of times the woman harassed staff.
Because of a city bylaw, he also had Brideau’s vehicle towed because she had parked it partially on city property and partially on a sidewalk.
Taking the stand, Sills confirmed everything that Geyer said, including the conversation with Brideau about demonstrating peacefully. Meanwhile, he recalled the education director telling the officers that Brideau may have been on previous conditions to not trespass on the school division’s property or have contact with staff.
Sills told Brideau during cross-examination that the police did not arrest her because of those alleged conditions but because she had caused a disturbance at the board office.
Const. Jim Biniaris also testified and said that when officers spoke with Brideau the first time that day, it was a “pleasant conversation” where they told her not to yell at people.
“We said that if she wanted people to listen, she should take a different approach so that people did not fear her,” he said.
Brideau’s trial continues.
