David Lindsay, a well-known anti-vaccine and anti-mandate protest leader, has been charged with two counts of assault.
The charges stem from an incident that took place outside of Interior Health’s building in downtown Kelowna during the summer of 2021.
“On Aug. 19, 2021, the Kelowna RCMP community safety unit were called to support public safety and to keep the peace. That was in relation to a protest that was occurring outside of there,” Insp. Adam MacIntosh told Global News on Thursday.
“At the time, there had been an incident that occurred. We conducted an investigation and as a result an individual, who is a member of the protest, has been charged with assault.”
According to a source, one of the assault victims is an Interior Health employee and the other, a security employee.
Lindsay, a known organizer of the many anti-restriction protests in Kelowna, has also been ticketed several times by the City of Kelowna for his role at these protests.
It is not Lindsay’s first run-in with the law, as he has served jail time for failing to file his tax returns.
Kelowna RCMP officials say the detachment will continue to serve the public at these anti-restriction protests, both for the safety of the public and those attending.
They say the large majority of these protests have been peaceful.
“We aren’t running into situations where we are having to break up fights and these types of things,” said MacIntosh.
“For the most part, they’ve been extremely peaceful and people have been allowed to express their thoughts and opinions.”
Lindsay is scheduled to make his first appearance in February for the two assault charges in Kelowna.