Pat King, an alleged leader of the Freedom Convoy civil liberties protest, is facing new charges. He is accused of organizing the protest, in which truckers took to the streets of Canada’s capital Ottawa in protest of the COVID-19 measures.
On Thursday, prosecutors brought 10 charges against King and Tyson George Billings, who is also accused of organizing the protest. King, who was arrested on February 18 and is still in custody because he was denied bail, initially faced four charges.
As reported by CTV News Ottawa, King and Billings “are charged with two counts each of intimidation and obstructing police,” as well as “one count each of mischief, counseling to commit mischief, counseling to obstruct police, counseling to intimidation, disobeying a court order and counseling to disobey a court order.”
King has been in court several times but his case has been postponed because he does not have legal representation. The court was told that potential attorneys are not being able to reach him at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Center.
The lawyer who represented him during the bail hearing, Cal Rosemond, said, “I understand that there’s been some extreme difficulties in being able to contact Mr. King at the detention center.”
During the hearing on Thursday, King apologized for the delay in securing legal representation. I apologize for all this nonsense,” he said.
He will appear in court again on April 4.
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, the other leaders of the protests are also facing additional charges.
It is estimated that the three-week protest cost the city of Ottawa $36.6 million.
