Online streamer Pat King has been granted bail by an Ottawa judge after spending five months in jail following his arrest during the Freedom Convoy crackdown.
King was arrested on Feb. 18 on four charges: mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobeying a court order and counselling to obstruct police. He faces additional charges of obstructing justice and perjury.
Justice Anne London-Weinstein announced the conditions of King’s release on Monday:
- To vacate Ottawa as soon as possible, and no later than 24 hours.
- To reside with a surety under supervision until he can take a flight to Edmonton.
- Ottawa Police Service can check the surety’s residence if required.
- To reside with a surety in Alberta.
- To be in employment under a surety.
- To have no contact or communication with other Freedom Convoy leaders and stakeholders: Chris Barber, Tamara Lich, Daniel Bulford, Benjamin Dichter, James Bauder, Tyson Billings, Owen Swiderski, Tom Marrazzo, and Brian Carr. (Unless it’s through counsel, or for his preparations for defence for his criminal charges.)
- No protesting or public assembly, specifically related to Covid-19 pandemic, the Freedom Convoy and anti-government demonstration.
- No social media in any form, no posting messages or having others post on his behalf.
- To abide by a curfew of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., unless he’s with sureties.
- King must post a $25,000 cash bond, to guarantee his next court appearance.
- No possession of weapons or ammunition.
King is often cited as an organizer of the Freedom Convoy by the legacy media, despite official organizers distancing themselves from him early on.
Leaders of the Freedom Convoy, including Lich, have repeatedly stated that King is not an organizer of the convoy and have stated that King speaks only for himself and that those with extremist views would not be welcome to join them.
In the new book The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World, True North’s Andrew Lawton reports that Lich told King to return home during a tense conversation during the convoy’s journey to Ottawa, though King did not do so.
King made headlines in May when a video resurfaced in which he discussed “anglo-saxon replacement.”
In a video from August 2019, King can be heard claiming, “there’s an endgame – it’s called depopulation of the Caucasian race, or the Anglo-Saxon. And that’s what the goal is – is to depopulate the Anglo-Saxon race because they are the ones with the strongest bloodlines.”
Lich was released on bail in May but was arrested in June after being accused of violating her previous bail conditions, specifically one preventing her from communicating with other convoy organizers including Benjamin Dichter, Chris Barber and Tom Marzzo except in the presence of counsel.
The breach charge relies on a photo taken at a dinner hosted by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms where Lich posed with Tom Marazzo. Lich’s defense relied on the fact that her lawyers were present at the event and her bail conditions permit contact “in the presence of counsel.”
