Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski faces jail after defying court orders to keep his church open during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, throwing out health officials and armed police.
Now under scrutiny over allegations that he contributed to $400 million in damages by holding a church service during last year’s truck driver blockade at the US-Canada border, he faces up to 10 years behind bars. can
“We’ve never seen anything like this before in our beloved Canada,” he told Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday.
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Pastor Artur Pawlowski maintained that Canada’s response to the pandemic was “an attempt to destroy the middle class.” (Artur Pawlowski)
“It was truly the test of the century. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion…”
Pawlowski said he was asked by truck drivers to provide a church service at the roadblock, protesting the country’s strict COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“We did the Lord’s dipper, Holy Communion, we were singing hymns together, and I told them, ‘Stand up for your rights,'” she said. “I was wearing a hoodie. [a message of] Solidarity on this. The prosecutor at the trial said that because I had that hoodie on, I was inciting people.
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A sign calls for the freedom of pastor Artur Pawlowski in Times Square in March 2022 in New York City, New York. (Firebrand Action and Media)
“He compared me to someone who was inciting murder. He compared me to the Rwandan genocide. I’m telling you, this nation has gone mad. We are truly ironclad right now. Living behind the scenes…” he added.
Pawlowski said freedom of expression and freedom of religion is at stake as he awaits the judge’s final decision in the case, which is expected in mid-March.
He also told Ingraham that he was the “first and only Canadian” to face such serious charges simply for speaking at an event.
Canadian pastor jailed over repeated Covid protocol to face final trial: ‘crazy stuff’
Lines of trucks block the US-Canada border during a demonstration in Coutts, Alberta, on February 2, 2022, the day pastor Artur Pawlowski gave a speech that landed him in jail. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Everything is upside down, but that’s what you get when you have communism or fascism or socialism,” he said of the Canadian government’s crackdown on churchgoers during the pandemic. We are being attacked left and right.”
Pawlowski said the government chose him as an example of those who challenge their authority and urge others to distinguish between right and wrong.
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