LETHBRIDGE, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) –– In a shocking court ruling Tuesday afternoon, a judge found Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski guilty of two charges linked to a sermon he gave during a Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.
“I am satisfied Mr. Pawlowski intended to incite the audience to continue the blockade intended to incite protesters to commit mischief,” Court of King’s Bench of Alberta Justice Gordon Krinke ruled.
Krinke found Pawlowski guilty of mischief and breaching a release order.
Pawlowski is also facing a serious criminal charge of “willfully damaging and destroying essential infrastructure,” which will be ruled upon once a constitutional case brought by his lawyers is heard.
Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-premier Jason Kenney.
The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.
Krinke said his decision focuses on “whether the Crown has proved beyond a reasonable doubt the actus reus (the guilty action) and mens rea (the guilty mind) to the offences which Mr. Pawlowski is charged.”
“If it has, I must convict,” he added.
Of note is that when Krinke released his verdict, Crown attorney Steve Johnson noted that he wanted Pawlowski’s CIDA charge to be stayed.
Pawlowski’s lawyer, Chad Haggerty, shot back and accused Johnson of asking for the charges to be stayed because he does not want CIDA to be overturned.
“My friend is on shaky ground,” Haggerty noted. “It’s a bit too late to drop a charge after a judge renders a decision.”
Pawlowski now faces severe penalties for each charge, which will come about when sentencing is announced, but this will not occur until after the CIDA constitutionality case has been decided.
Pawlowski’s conviction stems largely from a sermon he gave in Coutts on February 3, 2022 to a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana.
He told the large crowd of protesters who had gathered in support of the trucker strike to peacefully “hold the line.”
Pawlowski’s lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade.
Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.
He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months, which he has said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.
Kenney argued at the time that Pawlowski was detained “by the police because of multiple breaches of terms of release court orders, as well as an incitement to an alleged incitement to violence at the Coutts Border Crossing blockade.”
Pawlowski’s son, Nathaniel, has since called Kenney’s characterization of the events a lie.
Pawlowski blasts Alberta premier after verdict
Reaction to the charges came swiftly from both Pawlowski and others, who were quick to take shots at the Alberta government under Premier Danielle Smith.
“If I was able to give a message to our Premier, I would say, shame on you for not standing for the little man. That’s great. Shame on you for not keeping your promise. Do you know that I am the first Canadian citizen in the history of this country to be convicted in inciting mischief?” Pawlowski said.
“And what did I do? When I came to Coutts, the roads were open. Not once I said block the roads. When I left, the roads were open. I simply said to the Canadians, stand for your rights. God instilled human rights. Paralyze the system. It didn’t mean block the streets. I meant, do it the solidarity style. That’s what I said.”
Rebel News head Ezra Levant also took a shot at the Smith government for seemingly throwing endless amounts of resources to go after Christian pastors.
“You know, there’s a crime wave in Alberta. The big cities are becoming crime havens like San Francisco and L.A., but apparently the prosecutorial priority of this government is to go after a Christian pastor for a speech he gave to some truckers a year ago,” Levant said.
Of note is that Smith was not premier when Pawlowski was charged, and Smith won the leadership of the United Conservative Party (UCP) on a platform that was against COVID mandates, after Kenney stepped down due to poor approval ratings.
However, despite saying she would investigate pardoning pastors jailed for breaking COVID rules, she recently caved to political pressure and said this would no longer be the case.
Moreover, since Smith has taken over from Kenney as premier, at least one pastor, James Reimer, has been arrested.