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. Jurors at the trial of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the Coutts, Alta., border blockade two years ago will get to hear their first full day of evidence today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Jurors at the trial of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the Coutts, Alta., border blockade two years ago will get to hear their first full day of evidence today.
Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the protest in early 2022.
They were arrested after RCMP found a cache of guns, body armour and ammunition in trailers.
The blockade paralyzed traffic at the busy Canada-United States border crossing for two weeks amid broader protests at what some perceived as unfair and unnecessary government restrictions and vaccine mandates in the fight against COVID-19.
In his opening statements, a Crown prosecutor told the five-man, nine-woman jury that the two men conspired to kill police officers and were planning for what they believed was an inevitable and violent event.
RCMP Sgt. Greg Tulloch, who acted as a liaison with the protesters, will continue his testimony when court resumes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2024.
