Kelowna 'Freedom Rally' organizer convicted of 2 counts of assault during 2021 protest

A B.C. provincial court judge has determined one of the leaders of a movement protesting public health orders assaulted two security guards when he tried to enter an Interior Health building in Kelowna during a August 2021 demonstration.

Judge Cathaline Heinrichs announced the verdict at a hearing on Wednesday in a Kelowna provincial courtroom after a trial that saw David Lindsay act as his own lawyer.

The "Freedom Rally" movement began in summer 2020, with weekly protests in downtown Kelowna, mostly against public health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing anywhere from dozens to several hundred people.

The incident that brought Lindsay to court happened during a weekday demonstration outside of the health authority's main administrative building on Doyle Avenue in Kelowna on Aug. 19, 2021.

During the trial, Lindsay presented two cellphone videos as evidence that showed the interactions between him and security guards who were blocking the building's entrance.

The court heard that on the date of the incident Lindsay had earlier indicated to the guards he planned to enter the building despite being previously banned from the premises and instructed by RCMP officers that he would be arrested if he tried to go into the building.

In the video Lindsay is heard telling the guards he had the right to access the building before he steps forward and lightly pushes his chest into two of the guards blocking the doorway. 

Lindsay argued that not only had he not assaulted the guards, they had committed assault against him by pushing forward into his chest when he stepped forward. 

When announcing the guilty verdict, Heinrichs told the court Lindsay's behaviour had created a risk to the public interest and could have been a catalyst to more violent behaviour during the protest.

Heinrichs also found Lindsay in contempt of court for comments he made to the judge during a hearing in June. 

Lindsay was presented with the option to purge the contempt by providing a letter of apology to the court, according to the Crown. 

Heinrichs dismissed two applications Lindsay brought forward during his trial — a constitutional application challenging Canada's RCMP Act and an application to have Crown prosecutor David Grabavac found in contempt of court for what Lindsay argued were repeated lies and misrepresentations. 

Grabavac told the court the maximum sentence for assault is two years in prison and he intends to argue that a prison sentence is warranted in this case.

Lindsay is no stranger to the courtroom. He told CBC News earlier this year that he's participated in more than 350 court cases in several provinces.

He has a long history of court dealings, making pseudo-legal arguments to challenge various aspects of tax legislation and the authority of the Canadian state and the courts.