A controversial Aylmer pastor is no longer facing charges for taking part in a Chatham pandemic rule defying anti-lockdown rally two years ago.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announced the Crown dropped the charges against Henry Hildebrant because there was not enough evidence to prove the Church of God pastor was in attendance at the protest.
The April 26, 2021 rally drew roughly 300 people, all against restrictions put in place by the Ontario government that were aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. It was alleged Hildebrant was not only at the rally, but also spoke to the crowd.
At a pre-trial conference, Hildebrant’s defence lawyer argued there were significant gaps in evidence. His counsel pointed out the police officer who was observing the protest left part way through, watching the rest of the event through a livestream offered online. The Crown was unable to produce video evidence or anyone who saw Hildebrandt at the rally. As a result, it withdrew the charges on the grounds that there was no reasonable chance of conviction.
“While it is unfortunate that it took two years to get to this point, this is an excellent outcome for Pastor Hildebrandt,” Lawyer Christopher Fleury said in a statement. “My client and I are very pleased the prosecution finally made a realistic assessment of the strength of its case.”
Throughout the thick of the pandemic Hildebrandt was one of the loudest voices against lockdowns. He became notorious for holding in-person, in-door church services in direct violation of provincial pandemic rules. The repeated violations eventually led to a Superior Court order to lock the exterior doors of the John Street church in May 2021. Hildebrandt himself was repeatedly fined, ticketed, and eventually deemed in contempt of court for violating COVID related gathering rules over several weeks in 2021.
Former MPP Randy Hillier was also alleged to have addressed the crowd at the Chatham rally. Charges against him in Chatham and other jurisdictions remain outstanding. Hillier has launched a Charter challenge against the regulations that banned all outdoor protests, arguing they were an unjustifiable infringement of his rights, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
A hearing for that case is scheduled for July 27 and 28.
