One of the charges against Windsor Pastor Aaron Rock will soon be dropped.
The pastor at Harvest Bible Church in west-Windsor was charged under the Reopening Ontario Act for allegedly participating in a protest against COVID-19 restrictions on Jan. 10.
Rock's lawyer Lisa Bildy says Windsor Police Service notified her that the charges will be dropped due to, "mistaken identity."
She says her client will still need to attend court to have the charges officially withdrawn.
"He was not participating in the protest that day and was watching from above and wasn't actively involved in it," she says. "Apparently at the court appearance scheduled for later in March they're going to be dropped."
Bildy says Rock is relieved.
"He was not involved in that particular one and, unfortunately, he's taken a fair bit of abuse from people online who want to condemn people who actually value civil liberties," she added.
While her client wasn't actively participating on Jan. 10, she says he supports those who feel like their rights are being violated.
"To peacefully protest, to gather for worship and other such things," she says. "Denying that for 10-months with no end in sight is something that we should at least be able to have a conversation about, but unfortunately, that's not the environment we find ourselves in."
Rock still has to face a charge for holding an indoor service in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions from December 20, 2020.
Bildy says her office has yet to receive paperwork on that charge, but her client still plans to fight it.