Freedom Convoy organizer Pat King has been banned from a music festival in central Alberta which he had been promoting for weeks, alongside other fundraisers for his legal defence in Ottawa.
King has been urging his 336,000 online followers to buy tickets for the “Rock the Track” music festival, which features Nazareth, the Headstones, Bif Naked, the Northern Pikes and other rock acts.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to show you, don’t forget August 8th, 9th and 10th. We are putting on Rock the Track 2024,” King announced in June during a livestream event.
“Give it a shot guys, really want to see everybody out there. It is going to a great cause.”
But organizers of the three-day event in Rimbey, Alta., which kicks off today, say King will not be permitted onsite.
“It appears Pat knows somebody that is in our volunteer group and was planning to volunteer himself,” promoter Courtney Yuchtman wrote in an email to CBC News on behalf of Rock the Track.
“He was using this connection to promote the event and give the impression that he was more involved than just a volunteer. It seems he was using this to increase his popularity, potentially. I don’t know for sure.”
King promoted event during trial
King is currently jailed in Ottawa for violating his bail conditions while awaiting judgment in a recent criminal trial that ended in July.
The Red Deer, Alta. man, who turned 47 last Friday, pleaded not guilty to mischief, intimidation and other charges related to what became known as the Freedom Convoy in early 2022, when thousands of individuals took their vehicles into downtown Ottawa and protested for nearly a month against government vaccine mandates.
King was unable to afford his legal defence after being abandoned by the broader anti-mandate movement, which is now backed by libertarian and other groups. King was granted permission by an Ontario court to raise funds online to pay his lawyer.
In his videos and posts, King never explicitly stated the Rock the Track event was meant to raise money for him. But he often cited fundraisers of his own while discussing the Rimbey event, used “we” to describe the event and thanked people for their “support.”
“You guys know that we do have coming up in t-minus two weeks Rock the Track 2024, ladies and gentlemen. We have Nazareth, we have Headstones, we have Bif Naked,” he said in one such video.
“And you can purchase your tickets there,” King added in the video, listing the event’s web addresses. He then immediately pointed out he’s still soliciting funds for his court case.
“My bank accounts are still frozen … This is for fundraising purposes. All donations can be made to my lawyer,” he said in the video.
King’s lawyer did not return a request for comment.
Nazareth member never heard of ‘this guy King’
When reached by CBC, Pete Agnew, a founding member of the Scottish band Nazareth, said that as far as the band is concerned, this is “just another gig on our coast-to-coast tour.”
Agnew said in an email he had just come offstage in Chilliwack, B.C. and was caught off-guard.
“None of us have ever heard of either this Freedom Convoy or this guy King,” Agnew wrote.
The official website of the festival makes no mention of King, but he is affiliated with at least one of the event’s sponsors — a company whose founder has appeared on King’s livestreams and written music in support of the 2022 protests.
King is expected in court on Friday and will appear before a judge in an attempt to be released on bail.
A decision in his trial is scheduled for Oct. 4.
