An Ontario court has denied bail for Pat King, a vocal protester who took part in the large-scale protest dubbed “Freedom Convoy” in downtown Ottawa in recent weeks in opposition to federal COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.
King, who was arrested in Ottawa on Feb. 18, is facing charges of mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobeying a court order, and counselling to obstruct police.
He is often referred to in the media as one of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy protest and has over 350,000 followers on his Facebook page.
On Feb. 25, Justice of the Peace Andrew Seymour said he wasn’t satisfied that King, if released, wouldn’t commit offences similar to those he’s accused of.
In delivering his ruling, Seymour said the evidence submitted by the Crown “paints a portrait of an individual who has clear intention to continue his protest and is indifferent to the consequences.”
Seymour also said he lacked confidence in King’s proposed surety, Kerry Komix, an Alberta woman who has known King for about four weeks and had come to Ottawa to be part of the convoy protest.
The justice of peace said there was some evidence that Komix may have held an organizer role in the convoy, noting her link to a convoy crypto token aimed at raising funds for protesters who stayed in the capital’s core.
King was ordered not to have contact with certain other individuals associated with the convoy, including Chris Barber, Tamara Lich, and Daniel Bulford.
Barber, arrested on the same day as Lich, was granted bail on Feb. 19 after being charged for his role in the protest in downtown Ottawa.
Bulford, a former RCMP member working on logistics, security, and safety issues on the ground in Ottawa in support of the Freedom Convoy, was arrested on Feb. 18 and released 12 hours later with no charges.
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