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July 18, 2022 • 10 hours ago • 3 minutes read OTTAWA – July 18, 2022 Freedom Convoy organizer Pat King was granted bail and left an Ottawa court Monday afternoon. Photo by Tony Caldwell/Postmedia
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Patrick King, one of the leaders of the Freedom Convoy protest in downtown Ottawa last winter, has been released from jail pending trial.
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Superior Court Judge Ann London-Weinstein granted King bail Monday morning on conditions that include returning him to Alberta as soon as possible.
King appeared in person in an Ottawa courtroom on Monday.
Supporters wearing “Free Pat King” T-shirts brought tissues to their eyes as the judge delivered his ruling.
King was arrested on February 18 and has been in custody since then.
He faces charges related to his involvement in the three-week protest that jammed downtown Ottawa with trucks, vehicles and demonstrators. The federal government invoked the Emergency Act and police from multiple forces were called in to clear the streets.
Charges against King include mischief, intimidation, disobeying a court order, counseling to commit mischief, counseling to commit intimidation, counseling to obstruct police, resisting and obstructing a peace officer and interfering with the lawful use of City of Ottawa property.
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King also faces perjury charges brought after a bail hearing in April.
Judge London-Weinstein placed a number of conditions on his release.
King must return to Alberta to live on court-approved bail within 24 hours, pending flight availability. He will be hired by another guarantor. King will be under curfew from 6pm to 10am
King cannot use social media or allow others to post on his behalf. King’s lawyer agreed in court that he would ensure his website, Facebook and other accounts were disabled.
King cannot participate in any protests or illegal assemblies related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the “freedom convoy” or anti-government demonstrations, the justice ruled.
King was prohibited from possessing arms or ammunition.
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He has been denied contact with a list of convoy supporters and organizers, including Tamara Leach, Christopher Barber, Daniel Bulford, Benjamin Dichter, James Bauder, Tyson Billings and Tom Marazzo, Owen Swiderski and Brian Carr.
Alberta’s Leach crowdfunded the convoy protest and helped organize it. She faces charges of abuse, obstructing police, counseling others to do evil and intimidation. Leach is currently in jail after a judge ruled earlier this month that she breached her bail conditions.
Barber, a truck driver from Swift Current, Saskatchewan who helped organize the convoy, also faces charges and is out on bond.
Billings, an associate of King’s from High Prairie, Alberta, who was known as “Freedom George” during the convoy protest, pleaded guilty last month to one count of counseling to commit an evil act and was sentenced to six months’ probation.
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Bauder, of Calgary, is the founder of a group called Canadian Unity, which is promoting the convoy. He was charged and released pending the resolution of his case on conditions that included not going near the Parliament Hill area.
Dichter, who helped promote and raise money for the convoy, is a former Conservative Party election candidate who spoke at the founding convention of the People’s Party of Canada. Bulford is a former RCMP officer who is an activist against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Marazzo is a key member of Veterans4Freedom, an anti-mandate group, and ran in the last provincial election for the Ontario Party. Dichter, Bulford and Marrazzo spoke on behalf of the protest convoy last winter at media conferences.
Swiderski is linked to a social media site that is promoting the convoy protest.
London-Weinstein’s reasons for the decision and testimony during Monday’s hearing and retrial are under a publication ban requested by King. This is common in bail hearings and is done to prevent future jurors from hearing evidence that may be part of the trial.
With file from Canadian Press
jmiller@postmedia.com
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