Convoy participant Pat King was involved in the planning and logistics of the Freedom Convoy protest despite being denied participation by organizers, according to court documents obtained by CTV News.
Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber and King were in constant contact, texting and calling each other regularly, according to information seized by police from Barber’s phone.
Those messages show Barber initially contacted King on Jan. 14, two weeks before the convoy arrived in Ottawa, where he offered to add King as an administrator on the Take Back Our Freedom Convoy 2022 Facebook page.
According to the documents, organizer Tamara Leach called a meeting with Barber and King on Jan. 18 and asked King directly for his network of contacts involved in the protest.
“Can you set me up with the road captains?” Leach asked on Jan. 18. “Can you give me an idea of how many guides each captain oversees?”
King was also involved in a number of group texts with the convoy organizers outlining strategy and logistics. King’s involvement ranged from spreading the word about the protest on his podcast, providing updates on Facebook and providing food along the way as the convoy made its way through Canada.
As the convoy protest gained more attention, questions about King’s past comments online began to surface. Barber received several messages from supporters of the protest highlighting their concerns.
“Hey Chris, still following you guys, but Twitter is freaking out about Pat King saying things that make him sound violent,” one Barber supporter posted via TikTok on January 25.
A day later, Leach also expressed his concerns about King.
“If he doesn’t stop now and right now, he needs to go home, Chris. I honestly hate doing it. I believe part of his heart is in it for the right reasons, but he’s going to screw this whole thing up.”
In a video sent to Barber, King is heard saying, “the only way this is going to be solved is with bullets.”
King also expressed support for the “White Replacement Theory,” a conspiracy theory that promoted fears that Caucasians were being replaced in several ways.
As the convoy protest progressed in Ottawa, Barber began to express his own concerns about his relationship with King and the need to distance the movement from him.
“Pat King needs to go home,” Barber wrote in a Feb. 2 message to local Alberta convoy organizer Glen Carritt.
On the morning of February 10, King and other supporters slowed vehicles around Ottawa International Airport, restricting access. Barber sent a message to King, telling him the airport was “too congested, we want a presence but not a shutdown.” King responded by saying the slow roll was complete, but wondered why Barber was texting him since “I thought I had nothing to do with you guys.”
There have been several missed calls from King to Barber during the last week of the protest in Ottawa. However, the two men remained in touch until Barber was arrested on February 17.
Barber is currently out on bail in Saskatchewan. He is charged with counseling mischief, intimidation, counseling to intimidate, counseling to obstruct police and obstructing police.
Since his arrest on February 18, King has remained behind bars in Ottawa and faces charges of mischief, counseling to commit mischief, counseling to commit the crime of disobeying a court order and counseling to obstruct police
Leach returned to jail in Ottawa after the Crown alleged she violated her bail conditions by communicating with Convoy spokesman Tom Marrazzo at an event in Toronto. She faces a new charge of breach of recognizance as well as previous charges of mischief, counseling mischief, obstructing police, counseling to obstruct police, counseling to intimidate, and intimidation by blocking and obstructing one or more highways in connection with the protest .
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