Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich was denied bail on Tuesday after spending after spending nearly a week in jail.
Lich started the now-defunct GoFundMe campaign that raised over $10 million to support the protest against Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa.
She was arrested and charged Thursday with counselling to commit mischief. Fellow organizer Chris Barber, a truck driver from Saskatchewan, was arrested on the same day. Barber was reportedly released on bail Friday, even though he has been charged with more offenses: counselling to commit mischief, obstruction, counselling to commit obstruction, and mischief that interferes with the use and enjoyment of property.
The night before her arrest, Lich posted a video message to social media indicating that she knew what was about to happen to her.
“There’s a pretty good chance—well I think it’s inevitable at this point—but, uh, I’ll probably be going somewhere tomorrow where I’ll be getting three square meals a day. And that’s OK,’ Lich said.
“I’m OK with that. And I want you to know that I am not afraid,” she added tearfully. “I’ll probably get some sleep finally.”
Lich also noted that the Trudeau government had frozen her bank account.
On Tuesday, the peaceful organizer faced a left-wing Ontario court judge who said she believes Lich is a threat to the public.
Justice Julie Bourgeois said the convoy had had an immense effect on the community and that Lich had been “obstinate and disingenuous in her responses to the court during her bail hearing on Saturday, despite promising to give up her advocacy of the protest and return to Alberta,” the CDC reported.
“I cannot be reassured that if I release you into the community that you will not reoffend,” Bourgeois said. “Your detention is necessary for the protection and safety of the public.”
Lich was required to wear a face mask in court, one of the mandates the Freedom Convoy had fought against.
Bourgeois ran for office in 2011 as a liberal candidate in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Rebel News noted.
“In addition to keeping Lich in custody, Bourgeois ordered Lich to have no contact with Pat King, Benjamin Dichter, Christopher Barber, and Daniel Bulford — other organizers and leading voices tied to the Freedom Convoy protest,” Rebel News reported.
Having been denied bail, Lich is expected to be kept behind bars until trial.