COVID-19 charges against Church of God pastor Henry Hildebrandt for allegedly attending a protest in Chatham, ON, have been withdrawn by the Crown attorney. .“While it is unfortunate it took two years to get to this point, this is an excellent outcome for Pastor Hildebrandt,” said Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF)-funded lawyer Christopher Fleury in a Wednesday press release. .“My client and I are very pleased the prosecution finally made a realistic assessment of the strength of its case.” .The release said Hildebrandt allegedly attended an anti-lockdown protest in 2021. At the time, Ontario had banned almost all outdoor gatherings. .About 200 people attended the protest. He was alleged to have attended and spoken to the crowd. .At a pre-trial conference, the release said Fleury noted the significant evidentiary gaps required to prove Hildebrandt was in attendance. It said the officer who observed the protest left midway through and watched the rest of the event on a livestream. .The Crown was unable to produce the livestream video evidence. Without this evidence and a witness who did not observe him at the event, the Crown withdrew the charge on the ground there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. .Fines against Hildebrandt, his wife Martha, and his son Herbert for gathering at a public protest two years ago when COVID-19 gathering limits were in effect were dropped in March. .READ MORE: COVID charges dropped against Hildebrandts.Henry, Martha, and Herbert participated in a No More Lockdowns rally in Brantford, ON. Henry spoke to about 1,000 attendees about their freedom of religion and peaceful assembly guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, while Martha and Herbert attended as onlookers. .Each were ticketed $880 for contravening COVID-19 restrictions limiting the size of gatherings..The JCCF initiated a lawsuit against the Ontario government for various COVID-19 restrictions in 2022. .READ MORE: Justice Centre takes legal action against Ontario lockdown measures.“The people of Ontario have suffered as a result of these arbitrary lockdowns — some of the worst in Canada for more than two years,” said JCCF lawyer Chris Naimi. .Naimi and JCCF lawyers Sayeh Hassan and Henna Parmar are representing former Ontario independent MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston), who was charged for participating in anti-lockdown protests.
