Tyson “Freedom George” Billings left the Ottawa courthouse on Wednesday, waving the Canadian flag amid a roar of shouts and air horns after pleading guilty to charges in connection with a protest by a convoy that seized the city earlier this year. .
Billings spent 116 days in jail before pleading guilty to misconduct counseling. Other charges, including intimidation, obstruction of police, mischief and disobedience to a court order, were dropped by the Crown.
“I do not regret. I am a freedom fighter, “Billings said in front of the courthouse, minutes after his release, about the jubilation of a crowd of about 50 supporters, including some who took part in the February protests.
Called “George of Freedom” by his fellow protesters, Billings was a key figure in the three-week demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions and the federal government, although Crown Councilor Moiz Karimji was careful to point out that he was not one of the leaders.
Protesters with large platforms and other trucks blocked the streets for weeks, setting up camps, forcing businesses to close and creating a sense of what police and politicians described as “lawlessness” in downtown Ottawa.
According to the agreed statement of facts read aloud in court, Billings was filmed in social media videos that do not obey police checkpoints designed to keep people out of downtown Ottawa during the protest and encourage others to thwart checkpoints.
Billings also said he was militant to police and encouraged other protesters to “hold the line.”
“I was fascinated at the moment, of course, who wouldn’t,” Billings said after leaving court. – I do not regret anything.
Karimji told the court he could have tried to prove the other charges against Billings and ask for a longer prison sentence, but chose not to do so in light of Billings being the first figure in the convoy to take responsibility. for his actions.
Billings was sentenced to time and six months of probation on condition that he keep the peace.
“You should not make the law, regardless of your views on various issues,” Karimji said.
Before he was released, Billings listened to the trial from the prisoner’s box with his arms crossed over his black T-shirt that read, “Fear God, not COVID.”
Billings was initially charged along with prominent protest organizer Pat King. Now that the balance of Billings’ charges has been dropped, King will face these charges on his own, and his trial is expected to continue as planned.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 15, 2022.
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