A truck convoy of anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators block the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. The trial of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the 2022 blockade at Coutts, Alta., resumes today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – An undercover RCMP officer has told court that two Edmonton police officers showed up to support the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta.
The Mountie says one Edmonton officer was there with his wife, who was a nurse, and there was a lineup of people wanting to shake their hands.
The undercover officer, who cannot be identified, is testifying in the trial of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.
The men were charged with conspiring to commit murder at the blockade, after Mounties found a cache of guns, body armour and ammunition in trailers in the area.
The blockade of vehicles paralyzed traffic at the busy Canada-U.S. border crossing for two weeks and was among several nationwide protests against COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.
Olienick and Carbert are also charged with mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick faces a further charge of being in possession of a pipe bomb.
The trial previously heard from two other undercover Mounties, who testified that Olienick considered the blockade a war, and expressed a hatred of police and a desire to kill officers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2024.
