(RepublicanInformer.com)- During the Ottawa Police’s crackdown on the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, convoy organizer Tamara Lich was among those arrested. And last Tuesday, a judge in Ottawa denied her bail, claiming she wasn’t convinced Lich would stay home.
Lich, a resident of Alberta, Canada, was behind the $10 million crowdfunding project halted by GoFundMe two weeks ago. She was arrested the previous Thursday and charged with “counseling to commit mischief” and her bank account was frozen.
She appeared before Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois fully expecting to post bail and return home to Alberta. Instead, Lich’s bail request was denied.
Judge Bourgeois told Lich that there was a “substantial risk” that Lich would “continue these actions and not abide by an order.” She said Lich’s “recent history in our city” was enough reason to keep her detained “for the safety and protection of the public.”
The judge accused Lich of having an “almost” obstructive attitude and said her testimony was “guarded.”
Tamara Lich has no criminal record and she was prepared to adhere to whatever conditions the judge set for her release. But, as was the case for many of the January 6 detainees charged with misdemeanors, the Judge’s denying bail does not match Lich’s supposed “crime.”
Lich is scheduled to be back in court on Wednesday, March 2. If found guilty of “mischief,” she could face as much as ten years in prison.
On the same day that Lich was denied bail, Chris Barber, another organizer of the Freedom Convoy was released on a $100,000 bond.
Last Monday, the Ottawa Police Department said in a statement that officers made 196 arrests during the crackdown and 110 of those are facing “a variety of charges.” The police also towed 115 vehicles involved in the Ottawa protest.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lifted the Emergencies Act nine days after it was invoked. Trudeau said at a news conference on Wednesday that the “situation is no longer an emergency.”
The situation was never an emergency.
