Lawyer offers free legal services to anyone who is arrested at Ottawa’s anti-racism march

Criminal lawyer James Bowie says that if anyone is arrested at Ottawa’s anti-racism march, he would represent them — free of charge.

The lawyer made the promise in a tweet earlier this week, and reiterated that statement on the Rob Snow show Friday, the morning of when the march took place. 

“I wanted to help out in anyway I could,” he said. “I saw this was an issue that particularly affects the legal profession because the rule of law itself appears to be in question — it seems to be a question whether the police are subject to a system of laws at all; it seems to be a question whether the rule of law applies to racialized people and our entire racial politics surrounding criminal law seems to be renegotiating that.”

While Bowie isn’t anticipating arrests in Ottawa, he still wanted to volunteer to help just in case, as he has dealt with police brutality cases in the past. 

“Ottawa certainly has a reputation of being quieter than other places,” Bowie said. “If I was a betting man, I would say (there would be) zero arrests.”

“There’s an appetite to avoid confrontation,” he added. “There’s an appetite to not do the things we’ve seen in America. I think Ottawans are very concerned with their personal safety.”