The sentencing of a high-profile “freedom rally” organizer who assaulted two security guards at an Interior Health building during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue this summer.
David Lindsay’s sentencing for an Aug. 21, 2021 assault began Friday, but as has been the case throughout the long and winding trial, it didn’t come to a swift conclusion.
On Monday it was scheduled for a continuation July 25.
At that point, Lindsay is expected to resume his sentencing submission, which will counter the Crown’s argument that Lindsay should be in prison for at least one year.
The difference with this gathering, however, is that there’s a very real possibility that it will end in Lindsay’s incarceration.
“I would submit that this offender, Mr. Lindsay, falls into the worst category of offenders,” Crown Counsel David Grabavac said of the assault that left nobody physically injured.
The court heard that on Aug. 19, 2021 Lindsay had told the guards he planned to enter the building despite having been banned just eight days earlier. He was told by RCMP officers that he would be arrested if he tried to go into the building but he still went on to tell the guards he had the right to access the building.
He then stepped forward and lightly pushed his chest into two of the guards blocking the doorway.
Lindsay argued that not only had he not assaulted the guards, but they had committed assault against him by pushing forward into his chest when he stepped forward. This line of defence didn’t have much sway.
“It’s hard to compare assaults … you’re not counting three axe wounds, not counting four punches, we’re looking at all the circumstances and pushing a doctor or pushing the health-care worker can be more significant than punching somebody and dropping them to the ground,” Grabavac said.
Grabavac painted a picture of a man who has no regard for the law, and whose anti-establishment and, at times, criminal behaviour has escalated over several decades.