Crown argues man accused of choking non-binary firefighter ‘escalated’ altercation

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Crown prosecutors argue the man accused of assaulting and choking a non-binary rookie firefighter “escalated” the altercation “at every turn” because he was angry with his colleague.

During a judge-alone trial before Justice Mitchell Hoffman, Crown prosecutor Sonia Beauchamp suggested Tuesday that Eric Einagel “lost control” during horseplay over dish duty with fellow firefighter Ash Weaver at a Barrhaven station on Sept. 14, 2022. Einagel denied ever losing his cool or choking Weaver, saying he believed their physical altercation was all in good fun.

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Einagel, 39, faces charges of assault causing bodily harm and choking against Weaver, a non-binary firefighter and a rookie at the time of the 2022 altercation. The Crown intends to prove the assault was hate-motivated.

Einagel was also previously facing a charge of criminal harassment against Weaver, but the Crown withdrew that charge earlier in the trial.

Capt. Gregory Wright, meanwhile, is on trial for threatening to discipline Weaver if they reported the incident to police, though the Crown withdrew a charge of negligence causing bodily harm against Wright.

READ MORE: Man accused of assaulting non-binary firefighter says he is ally to LGBTQ+ community

Einagel testified he had previously offered to do the crew’s dinner dishes, but Weaver began to do them, and the two began pushing and shoving each other away from the sink, exchanging hip-checks. Einagel said Weaver was going in for a “football-style” tackle when he put his right hand palm-open on their shoulder to shove them away. Einagel denied ever grabbing Weaver’s neck or wrists, or choking them, shaking them, lifting them off the ground or slamming them into the kitchen counter, as Weaver claims happened.

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Crown prosecutor Sonia Beauchamp said Einagel “escalated” the altercation “at every turn,” as he first asked to do the dishes before beginning to hip-check Weaver out of the way.

Einagel disagreed with the Crown’s characterization, saying he and Weaver were equally engaged in the physical battle, which he believed was good-natured.

“At every turn, sir, you chose confrontation with Ash Weaver during this incident,” Beauchamp said. “It wasn’t a confrontation,” Einagel responded. “It was just horseplay.”

“That you started,” Beauchamp said. “Yes,” Einagel replied. He added he was “having fun” during the exchange and denied being the one who escalated things, saying he and Weaver were “mutual participants.”

“But, at some point, it doesn’t become fun anymore, right,” Beauchamp said, “because you see Ash’s face at the end of it?”

Einagel agreed he realized “something was up” at the end, when he saw Weaver looked angry.

Einagel said he regretted what happened that day, but, when asked if he was angry with his colleague when it happened, he said he “respectfully disagreed.”

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When asked if he choked Weaver, Einagel responded he “100 per cent, wholeheartedly disagreed.”

“I’m going to suggest not only were you mad, you lost control that day,” Beauchamp said. “I disagree,” Einagel responded.

Following the altercation between Einagel and Weaver, a third colleague ended up washing the dishes, with Einagel joining in to dry them. Beauchamp suggested Einagel never washed a dish because “it wasn’t about dishes, it was about Ash,” which Einagel denied, along with making any derogatory comments about Weaver’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Ottawa Fire Service’s unofficial practice of rookies roughhousing over duties, in order to show initiative, was scrutinized by the Crown.

Einagel said he first came to understand the expectation in “drill school,” or the preliminary training every firefighter takes when they’re hired to Ottawa’s fire service.

Einagel said he couldn’t pinpoint the exact conversation, but he said he understood it as “standard practice” for junior firefighters to fight and compete over duties like dishes, answering the phone or scrubbing toilets, but not with more senior members of the fire service.

“I wouldn’t be pushing Capt. Gregory out from the dishes,” he said. “But, if I’m at (Station 51) with a bunch of really gung-ho guys, part of the game is that. It’s the game.”

The trial is expected to continue this week.

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