(Lethbridge) An Alberta judge says evidence shows two men convicted of their roles in the 2022 border blockade near Coutts, Alta., were prepared for a possible shootout with police.
Judge David Labrenz said Tuesday that while a jury found Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert not guilty of planning to kill police officers during the blockade, it found both men guilty of mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.
The judge told the court he accepted the verdicts as evidence that the jury believed the two men brought guns, ammunition and body armor to the two-week fight not just to show off or hunt animals, but for a more sinister purpose.
“It was to support the blockade and engage in a war with the police if that eventuality arose,” argued Mr Labrenz.
The men were arrested in February 2022 at the occupation that blocked traffic at the Canada-US border crossing to protest COVID-19 regulations and vaccination mandates.
The jury returned its verdicts on August 2 after a two-month trial. Because the reasons for jury verdicts are secret, the judge must determine the facts he or she believes underlie the verdicts.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue Thursday. On Monday, Crown and defense lawyers presented arguments for how the judge should interpret the verdicts.
Judge Labrenz’s decision reiterates the Crown’s argument that the gun verdict indicates jurors believed the men were prepared to fight police.
The men offered more benign explanations during the trial. Carbert told the court he brought his new rifles to hunt coyotes and to show off. He also played down text messages sent to his mother talking about an upcoming war that he might not survive.
Judge Labrenz argued those statements were implausible, adding that Carbert lied on the stand during preliminary hearings. “Mr. Carbert demonstrated then as now that he is willing to lie under oath when it suits him,” Mr. Labrenz.
“I conclude that Mr. Carbert, like Mr. Olienick, was prepared to engage in a shootout with the police […] It was an extremely dangerous situation. »
The judge said he also accepted Olienick’s comments about female undercover police officers, in which he said he viewed the blockade as a war, that guns were necessary for credibility and that he wanted to cut the throats of police.
Olienick’s attorney, Marilyn Burns, suggested that the evidence was tainted because the undercover agents flirted with Olienick for information.
Me Burns pointed out the heart emojis on some text messages between Olienick and an agent.
Judge Labrenz said heart emojis are often used to support something someone has written.
“I find no basis to conclude that the operators used romance or any other unsavory connection to provoke conversations. »
“Nor do I see how that could encourage anyone to say what he said,” the judge said. I simply find this proposal offensive. »
