Convoy leader Pat King to hear bail decision Friday as woman puts up $50K in support
King, a leader in so-called Freedom Convoy, remains in jail until bail decision
One of the leaders of the three-week occupation in Ottawa will remain in jail until at least Friday when a judge will decide whether he will be released on bail.
Alberta resident Pat King sat through his first bail hearing all day Tuesday that focused, for the most part, on his proposed surety who pledged $50,000 to ensure King won't violate his bail conditions.
King faces four charges related to his involvement in the occupation including mischief, counselling to commit the offence of mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobey court order, and counselling to commit the offence of obstruct police.
His arrest last Friday night was captured on a livestream and broadcast to thousands of people.
Ottawa police had previously warned protesters they would face charges or fines if they did not stop blocking streets or assisting others in blocking streets.
At Tuesday's bail hearing, fellow Albertan Kerry Komix was put forward as King's proposed surety, which means she would put money forward on behalf of King and encourage him to maintain conditions of bail.
Met King 4 weeks ago
She pledged $50,000 of equity on her home, roughly half its value, against King's bail despite the fact she has only known him for about four weeks, Komix told the court.
Komix, a retired bus driver who has worked with children with special needs, says she joined King and others to travel to Ottawa for the so-called Freedom Convoy, which became a three-week occupation of downtown Ottawa.
She told court she would assist in administering justice against King, and was willing to monitor his digital and day-to-day activity.
"My home is where he's going to be. It's kind of a jail for him if you want to call it that," said Komix, who also committed to ensuring King attends court hearings in Ontario while serving bail in Alberta.
King's lawyer, Cal Rosemond, argued King would be best placed in Komix's care. He argued it would lower the risk of spreading COVID-19 because the accused would be with one person as opposed to hundreds of others in custody.
Crown lawyer Moiz Karimjee argued Komix was an active supporter of King's and giving him surety would be like "one thief being tasked to supervise another burglar."
Videos shown of King's racist remarks
Throughout the hearing, King sat in a prisoner's box wearing a grey hoodie and sweatpants. Prior to cross-examination of Komix, the court requested King put his mask on properly. He apologized, and told court he had been drinking water and forgot to slide his mask back on.
Crown lawyer Moiz Karimjee showed court some of King's videos posted online where he makes disparaging remarks about certain races and encourages protesters to come to Ottawa, including the occupation "red zone."
"You are allowed to be up on [Parliament] Hill," he told supporters, while encouraging them to use Uber to avoid police checkpoints set up to keep protesters out of downtown.
In one video, King is seen mocking specific ethnicities. In another, he talks about the Anglo-Saxon race "being the one with the strongest bloodlines."
King also said in another video shown in court: "Trudeau, someone is going to make you catch a bullet one day."
Komix told court she was not aware of King's criminal record, which includes convictions for possession of narcotics and possession of the proceeds from crime, until a few days ago.
"I do know that's not the person that I know," Komix said of the videos. "I know he loves everyone and does not discriminate, that's the person I know."
Before breaking for lunch Tuesday, much of the debate between lawyers centred on Komix's understanding of the protest's legality.
"My knowledge is, when we were coming down here there was communication with police to give us streets that we could go down," she said.
'At war with city of Ottawa'
Karimjee said there was "substantial likelihood" King would re-offend before citing video footage of King mocking Ottawa citizens and claiming the horn sounds from the trucks were being used to get the attention of the federal government.
"He was at war with the city of Ottawa. Noise was a form of torture that was implemented on the citizens of Ottawa by Mr. King," Karimjee told the court. "This was a clear, clear commission of a criminal offence."
Rosemond said while King laughing at Ottawa residents may be "mean-spirited," it was not illegal.
Earlier Tuesday, protest co-organizer Tamara Lich was denied bail, while late last week fellow organizer Chris Barber was released on bail and was ordered to leave Ottawa.