A ruling from the Alberta Courts has acquitted freedom rally organizer Brad Carrigan of charges laid under the Public Health Act. .Alberta Provincial Court Judge Michael Dinkel dropped charges of disobeying public health orders filed against Carrigan for his participation in the weekly rallies against lockdowns and mandates in Calgary through 2020 and 2021. ."On December 26, 2020, Mr. Carrigan was arrested shortly after one of the rallies and held in police custody overnight," said the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) in a press release. ."He was charged with disobeying public health orders and released until trial.".During Monday's trial, Crown prosecutors argued the freedom rally Carrigan was involved in was a "private social gathering" subject to Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw's public health orders. The orders restricted gatherings at the time Carrigan was arrested. .JCCF lawyer Hatim Kheir, who represented Carrigan, argued protests do not fall under the definition of a private social gathering because they are not private, but rather are open to the public and are an expression of the Charter-protected freedoms of assembly and protest. .“The province ignored the plain and obvious meaning of ‘private social gathering’ and acted as if protesting was illegal when that was never the case," said Kheir.."Many Canadians have been baselessly charged, unfairly vilified, and experienced over a year of stress simply for exercising their Charter rights.".Kinkel agreed with Kheir, and ruled protests were never banned by public health orders. ."After organizing and hosting over fifty freedom rallies, myself and other Albertans were ticketed and criminalized by the media and various government officials,” said Carrigan..“Today’s decision clearly shows our protests were not unlawful private gatherings and our police services should not have been forced to target and ticket innocent attendees for non-compliance of orders made by Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw."."This ruling is a great victory for the people of Alberta and Canada who are standing up for freedom." .Kheir said the decision "will have an impact on anyone charged for protesting in Alberta." ."The public health orders never actually captured the act of publicly gathering to protest. At the time the gathering restrictions were in place, Albertans retained the right and ability to protest, contrary to what the police have said," he said.
