Clayton, a trucker and business person, does a good job of explaining his actions (and the actions of others like him).
The class action lawsuit he’s involved in, is limited to people who had their bank accounts frozen.
Alexa does a good job of the interview and write-up. Thank-you to Rebel News. Without them, I don’t think I’d hear of this.
I expect or hope that some Canadian organization will do the research on the numbers of protestors who were charged and then had charges stayed, or dropped, or withdrawn or whatever.
Governments in a free country cannot use the police, prosecutors and courts to prevent criticism of Government policies.
/S
= = = = = = = = = =
VICTORY! Freedom Convoy protester Clayton McAllister has charges withdrawn
Clayton McAllister, the man famously photographed lying in the snow as police advanced during the Freedom Convoy protests, has spoken out about his experience, sharing how his charges were ultimately dropped after a prolonged legal process.
Describing his approach during the police crackdown, McAllister recalled, “I wanted to be the first one that they arrested, and I wanted to do it in the most peaceful way possible with the least resistance, and that was to simply just lay on the ground.” His peaceful stance did not spare him from a harsh arrest, however.
McAllister recounted being “jumped on by about five cops,” taken into custody, and placed in a paddy wagon “no bigger than about two by two with a single bench.” There, he said, he endured six hours of confinement in extreme heat, with “no washroom, no food, no nothing.”
After his release, McAllister faced additional difficulties, as police officers dropped him off at a remote gas station outside Ottawa with a “dead cell phone” and no access to his truck, which had been left on Wellington Street. Stranded and without his bank account access due to a freeze initiated by the government, he managed to contact a friend who eventually came to his aid.
McAllister faced charges including mischief, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace. Although he was initially offered a plea deal, he declined because it imposed restrictions on his right to gather in groups of more than 25 people. “That’s an absolute charter violation,” he said. Eventually, McAllister accepted a peace bond with no restrictions, which required him to write a 100-word essay explaining the difference between protest and mischief.
McAllister criticized what he described as excessive government action, noting that his charges were eventually withdrawn. “I feel it was a massive overreach, a massive exaggeration by the government,” he argued, suggesting that the large number of charges brought against protesters like himself amounted to a “power grab.”
His experiences led him to join a class-action lawsuit against the government, the police, and banks for freezing bank accounts. The lawsuit, he explained, includes only claimants affected by the account freezes. “They also froze my family’s bank accounts, which led to mortgages being missed,” he said, emphasizing the impact on family members who were not involved in the protests.