Good morning. Wendy Cox here again. Mark Iype will be back next week.
The atmosphere outside the Lethbridge courtroom where jurors were determining the fate of two men who took part in the Coutts border blockade at times felt like a revival meeting.
When word went out late last Friday evening that the jurors had reached a verdict, two days after they began their deliberations, about two dozen supporters of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert held hands and prayed outside. Then they filed into the courtroom, waving and flashing thumbs-up signs to the two men.
Justice David Labrenz cautioned those in the gallery to maintain decorum.
“I understand that, for many of you, this is quite the emotional moment, and I understand for the accused it’s a very emotional moment,” he said. “Whatever your feelings are about the verdict, you can express them. But not here.”
The crowd ignored the judge: When both men were declared not guilty of the most serious charge – conspiring to murder police officers – gallery spectators erupted into loud cheers. Later, outside, they could be seen hugging and crying.
The men were found guilty of other charges, including mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Mr. Olienick was also found guilty of possession of an explosive substance, described as pipe bombs, during the two-month trial.
The emotional demonstration of support in the courtroom underlined how divisive the charges were in the first place – and long after.
The Coutts border blockade in January, 2022, was a protest against COVID-19 restrictions. Demonstrators blocked the Canada-U.S. border for two weeks, snarling the province’s main border crossing.
Several people were arrested, but the United Conservative Party always maintained the charges were politically motivated.
Last year, a leaked cellphone conversation between Premier Danielle Smith and a supporter of the blockade was made public. In the call, obtained by the Opposition NDP, Ms. Smith said she regularly asked Alberta Justice officials whether the cases were still winnable or in the public interest to pursue.
“It was a political decision that initiated this,” she said on the call. “Why can’t it be a political decision to end it? That’s what I’m finding very frustrating about the whole thing.”
In May, 2023, Alberta’s Ethics Commissioner, Marguerite Trussler, concluded the Premier had tried to influence the Minister of Justice in a way that would benefit a street preacher, Artur Pawlowski, who had been charged for his role in the blockade. Mr. Pawlowski was found guilty of criminal mischief and other charges.
“It is a threat to democracy to interfere with the administration of justice,” Ms. Trussler said in the report.
The charges against Mr. Olienick and Mr. Carbert for conspiracy to commit murder were the most serious.
Justice Labrenz instructed the jurors that they should not find the pair guilty based on evidence of “bad character.”
The jurors heard an undercover officer testify that Mr. Olienick told her he would “slit the throats” of police if they raided the blockade. Furthermore, during an interview with police, he said he wanted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hung for treason.
Mr. Carbert, in a text to his mother, wrote: “If they start the violence, I am just telling you there will be war and casualties of war.”
Lawyers for the two men argued their clients were not involved in a violent plot but rather swept up in a flawed police investigation.
The pair, who remain in custody, are to appear in court again Aug. 12.
This is the weekly Alberta newsletter written by Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.