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. Lawyers began final arguments Tuesday in the case of two men accused of conspiring to murder police at the Coutts blockade in 2022. (Photo: Canadian Press)

By Canadian Press

Murder-conspiracy trial tied to Coutts, Alta., COVID-19 blockade set to go to jury

Jul 31, 2024 | 8:44 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A jury is set to begin deliberating today the fate of two men accused of conspiring to kill police at the Coutts, Alta., blockade in 2022.

The panel has been hearing testimony for seven weeks in Court of King’s Bench in the case of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.

The two were charged after police seized guns, ammunition and body armour at the blockade, which tied up traffic for two weeks at the U.S.-Alberta border to protest COVID-19 rules.

The Crown has presented evidence of guns near the blockade site and statements and text messages from the accused warning the blockade was a last stand against a tyrannical government.

The defence has argued the two went to Coutts to make a statement that individual freedoms must be protected.

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Court has heard comments from the two disparaging police, but the defence says that doesn’t equate to a conspiracy to commit murder.

In Wednesday’s testimony, Carbert’s own defence lawyer Katherin Beyak referred to her client as “a bit of a wing nut” who fell down a conspiracy rabbit hole at the blockade in Coutts, but that doesn’t make him guilty of conspiring to kill police.

“He is guilty of mischief. The same cannot be said for the two other counts,” Beyak said. “That Chris agreed to murder police officers while in Coutts, I urge you to find he’s not guilty.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2024.

The Canadian Press

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