Friendly exchanges before alleged fire station assault tell different story, lawyer argues
The lawyer for a former Ottawa firefighter charged with assaulting and choking a non-binary colleague said his client was friendly and respectful toward his accuser, and blamed the complainant for "mischaracterizing" the circumstances surrounding the alleged 2022 attack at a Barrhaven fire station.
Ash Weaver was under cross-examination for the third day Tuesday by Dominic Lamb, co-counsel for former firefighter Eric Einagel.
Einagel is charged with choking, assault causing bodily harm and harassment by threatening conduct in relation to the incident on Sept. 14, 2022, in the kitchen of Station 47 on Greenbank Road. He was fired from Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) as a result.
Greg Wright, a captain at the same station, is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm and threatening to discipline the complainant to prevent them from reporting it. Wright was suspended without pay for three days.
Throughout their testimony and in their statements to police and OFS investigators, Weaver has said they were terrified of Einagel after the alleged assault because they thought he wanted to kill them.
Weaver has also said Einagel routinely — as many as 10 times per shift — questioned or insulted their gender identity after his arrival at Station 47 that August. (Weaver, who was a rookie on a routine one-year probation, began their rotation there a month earlier.)
Ottawa firefighter Ash Weaver, right, walks with Sgt. Ali Toghrol of the Ottawa Police Service's hate and bias crime unit near the Ottawa Courthouse on May 8, 2024. (Patrick Louiseize/CBC)
Fire truck selfie
On Tuesday, Lamb presented text and social media messages between the two that appeared to paint a different picture of their relationship leading up to the alleged assault.
In one text exchange on Aug. 4, 2022, just a few days after Einagel's arrival at Station 47, he sent Weaver a promo code for a discount on Flair Airlines. Weaver had mentioned to Einagel that they were planning a vacation, Lamb said, and Einagel wanted to help them save some money on their flight.
Lamb also presented a selfie taken by Einagel on Aug. 23, 2022, showing Einagel in the passenger seat and Weaver behind the steering wheel of a fire truck.
As a rookie, Weaver needed special permission to drive the truck on maintenance or grocery runs, Lamb explained. Einagel had sought that permission from their captain so Weaver could have a turn behind the wheel, then sent Weaver the selfie to mark the occasion, Lamb said.
In the photo, both firefighters are smiling and Weaver is holding one thumb up.
"He sends it to you because he's being nice to you," Lamb told Weaver.
Former firefighter Eric Einagel, right, walks with co-counsel Dominic Lamb, centre, and Jonathan Nadler, left, outside the Ottawa Courthouse on May 8, 2024. (Patrick Louiseize/CBC)
Friendly messages
Two days later, Einagel texted Weaver to invite them to a weekend training session for the upcoming FireFit Championships, a skills and fitness competition for firefighters.
"Hey Ash. Hope this txt isn't too late and doesn't wake you up," Einagel began before explaining the schedule for the weekend.
"I think Sunday is probably a better day to come and have fun, but either would be great to have you out," he texted.
Weaver told Lamb they were trying to create a different "dialogue" with Einagel by showing interest in FireFit.
"I wanted Eric to see me as a human being and a real person," Weaver said.
"Here's his text seeing you as a real human being because that's how he treated you, isn't that right?" Lamb asked.
"No, I didn't feel that way," Weaver replied.
But Lamb pressed on, suggesting someone who "hated" Weaver for who they are wouldn't have taken the time to send the invitation, or interact in an apparently friendly manner.
"That doesn't make any sense now, does it?" Lamb asked. "You're just having a normal conversation with him. That's what's happening here."
'Everything I've said is true'
The day before the alleged result, Weaver posted a message on Facebook congratulating Einagel on his performance at FireFit.
"Hey congrats on your kick ass racing! Absolute pleasure watching you do your thing!" Weaver wrote.
Einagel wrote back thanking them for the "positive words," an Weaver replied with a heart emoji.
"He was a decent person, he was decent to you, he was respectful of who you are," Lamb told Weaver.
Nor was Einagel, whose sister is a lesbian and who had a Pride sticker on the rear windshield of his own vehicle, prejudiced toward gender-diverse people, Lamb argued.
"Eric Einagel was a supporter of the LGBTQ community," he told Weaver. "That's what he was, including you, right?"
At times, Lamb grew exasperated with Weaver's denials and memory lapses during their cross-examination.
"You've deliberately mischaracterized and misrepresented and failed to remember where it doesn't suit you," Lamb said.
"Everything I've said is true," Weaver replied.
The alleged assault happened Sept. 14, 2022, at Station 47 on Greenbank Road in Barrhaven. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)
Lamb challenged that assertion, too, pointing to Weaver's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claim form they filled out in November 2022. Weaver remains on WSIB and has not returned to work as a firefighter.
According to Lamb, Weaver told an OFS safety officer that they'd been "strangled and taken advantage of" on as many as 10 previous occasions, and has suffered flashbacks after their encounter in the kitchen with Einagel.
Yet on the WSIB form, Weaver ticked a box indicating they had never been injured in a similar manner.
"That's what you checked off on the form, so you lied on the form," Lamb told Weaver.
Weaver testified that if they'd remembered at the time they wouldn't have ticked the box.
Wright's lawyer Joshua Clarke began his cross-examination Tuesday afternoon and will resume Wednesday morning.
