Pat King, who was involved early on with the Freedom Convoy, testified on Wednesday before the Public Order Emergency Commission and had to defend his social media posts that referred to violence or were racist in nature.
“I’m kind of a hot head,” King said while explaining why he made certain comments.
Asked to address his video in which he said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would “catch a bullet one day,” King said he was upset at the time because he had been denied a flight due to being unvaccinated.
King at first said some people being pushed into a corner due to government policies could have a mental breakdown and commit violence, but he later said his comments had been “inappropriate.”
“I absolutely regret saying that,” King said.
On one of his videos being inappropriate towards Chinese people, he said the context was that CSIS had released a report about Beijing’s influence in Canada.
There at the Start
King recounted how he got involved with the Freedom Convoy, first reaching out to initial organizers Chris Barber and Brigitte Belton and telling them he would help with his social media reach and previous experience with a similar protest in 2019.King was involved in United We Roll in 2019 to protest the Liberal government’s energy policies.
Similar to the Freedom Convoy of last winter, that protest involved a truck convoy that had left western Canada and made its way to Ottawa in February. But protesters didn’t stay.
“We left because the politicians acknowledged why we were there,” said King.
“They came out and said ‘We hear you. We’re here to support you, and we will back you and we will do everything we can to try and get your issues heard.’”
King’s videos on social media became an issue for some Freedom Convoy organizers who tried to distance themselves from him.
But on the stand, King disputed evidence presented to him about such efforts, saying that some conversations asking him not to go to Ottawa had never taken place or some things were never said.
On another occasion King said he approved of the main convoy organizers trying to create distance from him.
King was presented with a Feb. 17 statement from the Freedom Convoy organizers.
“We have heard about inappropriate comments being made by Pat King. Pat King does not speak for us. We expressly condemn any talk of violence from him or others. Pat King has the right like every other Canadian citizen to protest peacefully,” the statement read.
King said he had not read it but had heard about it.
“They had to push me out ... [and say] ‘We don’t want anything to do with Pat King,” he said.
“I actually absolutely encouraged it, 100 percent. Put it out there that I don’t have anything to do with this.”
He said the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe would not release the funds to the organizers because of his involvement.
Barber said there had been discussions to send King home, but there were also concerns his supporters would go with him.
King’s time on the stand at the commission was the shortest so far, with almost every party choosing not to question him after the commission counsel concluded his examination.
He used time at the end to repeat that his social media videos had been taken out of context and to say that no one showed positive aspects about the protest.
“To Ottawans, to people who live here, to the city council members, to the police and all that: we weren’t bad people, sir. We were Canadian citizens who were showing Canadian pride, and we’re nice and we are good people,” King told Commissioner Rouleau.
Other organizers are set to testify on Nov. 3, including Benjamin Dichter, James Bauder, and Tamara Lich.
