Coutts Blockades Collected Firearms To Use Against Police, RCMP Documents Claim
A faction that blocked the Canada-US border in Alberta last winter to protest COVID-19 health measures was stockpiling weapons to use against police, according to allegations disclosed Wednesday.
The RCMP claimed in search warrants filed with the court that protesters gathered against vaccines were required to gather coutts, Alt. six months ago were “arming for a stalemate against the police”.
The allegations were based in part on information gathered by police through wiretaps and undercover officers who infiltrated a meeting place where a group of protesters gathered in a basement.
According to the RCMP allegations, Tony Olienick, Jerry Morin and Chris Carbert “were part of a group that participated in the Coutts blockade and brought firearms into the Coutts blockade area with the intent of using those firearms against the police.”
“I further believe that this group was organized and planned their involvement in the Coutts blockade, including obtaining supplies,” the police claimed, adding that Olienick had “imported pistol accessories despite not having any pistols to his name.” stood.”
The RCMP submitted the report of its investigation to the Alberta District Court when it requested a warrant in the case. The warrants were sealed at the time, but parts have now been released at the request of news outlets.
Important parts of the warrant applications cannot be reported due to a publication ban imposed by the court. The police’s allegations have not been proven in court.
Olienick, Morin, Carbert and Chris Lysak are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, gun offenses and mischief.
A trial was scheduled to begin in June 2023.
The Coutts blockade coincided with similar events against COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa, Windsor and elsewhere. Federal authorities, in particular, seemed concerned about Coutts over the suspected presence of firearms.
In the days before the government imposed the Emergency Act on February 14, officials warned the cabinet of an increased risk to public security and the police due to the presence of weapons at the Coutts blockade.
The protest at Alberta’s busiest border crossing ended after 18 days when police made arrests and seized more than a dozen rifles, pistols, a machete, ammunition and large-capacity magazines.
Newly released arrest warrant applications show that police believed the organizers of the Coutts protest gathered in the Smuggler’s Saloon, sending undercover officers to “learn the group’s hierarchy.”
One of the undercover agents (UCOs) spoke to a woman named Serana, who said she had been asked to serve on the “financial committee.”
The UCO also spoke to Olienick, police claimed.
Olienick, who brought a dump truck to the blockade, said he was involved with security and discussed having “access to hundreds of firearms and ammunition within Coutts,” the documents claimed.
He showed the undercovers how he kept tabs on the police with a live surveillance feed, introducing them to another figure who “said that of all the wars he’s fought, this was the most important one for the people of this country.” . [Canada].”
Olienick said that “he would have a delivery that evening” and asked if they could help. Key parts of the delivery discussion remain under a court-imposed seal order. But the documents claim that “neither Carbert nor Olienick denied that there were weapons in the bag”.
Police said they “believed that Olienick, Morin and Carbert were a subgroup with loose ties to the group’s leaders. I also believed that they were organized and planned.”
The undercovers were advised by police not to be involved in an arms swap and have not seen the hockey bag allegedly containing weapons, according to police allegations.
The documents show that the police were looking for a warrant to seize papers related to the financing of the blockade. An undercover allegedly saw a man with an estimated 500 pages of documents described as financial records.
“Undercover Operators (UCOs) have spoken to protesters at the Smuggler’s Saloon and learned that the protest organization has a finance committee and, as a result, a governance structure,” police wrote.
“I believe that financial records will provide evidence of the protest group’s organization and administration by showing how finances and resources are allocated and the person involved in managing the finances and resources.”
Police also wrote that financial records will also provide evidence of individuals’ direct involvement in the blockade, as well as individuals who provided money and resources to facilitate and enforce the blockade, making them parties to the said crime.
