Four facing conspiracy to commit murder charges, as Coutts, Alta. border blockade ends

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This article was published 14/02/2022 (947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COUTTS, Alta.—Charges against four people of conspiracy to commit murder are among those laid in connection with the Coutts border blockade, after RCMP officers swept through and seized a large assortment of guns and ammunition.

Court records obtained by the Star detail the names, charges and hometowns of the first 11 people arrested Monday — and show that three of those facing the conspiracy charge are Alberta men. The RCMP updated media late Tuesday and indicated that a fourth person is facing that same charge.

RCMP Chief Supt. Trevor Daroux said that the conspiracy to commit murder was directed at police.

Police have said that people involved were willing “to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade.”

The arrests took place at various locations around Coutts, where an anti-vaccine-mandate blockade had snarled cross-border traffic for more than two weeks.

On Tuesday, heavy farm equipment and trucks moved off the location of the blockade and the Canada Border Services Agency said the Coutts crossing was operational again.

One blockade organizer, Marco Van Huigenbos, said the decision to leave had been made after “the infiltration of extreme elements” was made evident by the arrests and that they wanted to “leave peacefully” in what he said was the original spirit of the protest.

Police said they seized 13 long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition as well as high-capacity magazines, all of which werephotographed by the RCMP and distributed to media. It is not clear who owns the items, nor whether they belong to any of the named accused.

There’s been no link drawn by police between those arrested and a specific extremist group. Further, none of the allegations against them have been proven in court.

Extremism experts, however, have begun raising concerns about some of the patches visible on the sets of body armour.

Kurt Phillips with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network said the patches on one vest matched the symbol for the Diagolon movement, which the network says is “an accelerationist movement with members and chapters across Canada.”

The patches are black with a white diagonal line through them.

National security expert Stephanie Carvin summarized accelerationism as a belief that society is ultimately corrupt, on its way to collapse and that violent revolution is the way to achieve that goal faster.

She said she’s wary of the narrative that the blockade was subverted by extremists.

Carvin added that while the broader “Freedom Convoy” movement has successfully framed itself around a populist message in relation to government overreach and mandates, several of the leaders have expressed extremist views.

“This is a movement that is effectively led by anti-government extremists with conspiratorial world views, who have unsurprisingly engaged in extremist tactics … ones that are not necessarily about mandates, but are about mayhem,” Carvin said.

Those charged with conspiracy to commit murder include Jerry Morin, 40, who is also charged with posession of a weapon and mischief, as well as Chris Carbert, 44, of Lethbridge, who is charged with possession of a weapon and mischief.

Anthony Olienick, 39, of Claresholm, Alta., is another facing the conspiracy charge, as well as a charge of possession of a weapon and mischief. Christopher Lysak, 48, of Lethbridge, Alta., is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder, as well as with uttering threats, a possession of a weapon charge and a mischief charge.

Nine others have been charged with possession of a weapon and mischief. They include: Ursula Allred, 22, of Magrath, Alta.; Johnson Chichow Law, 39, of Calgary; Alta., Evan Colenutt, 23, of Raymond, Alta.; Luke Berk, 62, of Red Deer, Alta.; Janx Zaremba, 18, of Raymond, Alta.; Joanne Person, 62, of Coutts, Alta.; Stewart Eastin Oler, 22, of Raymond, Alta.; and Justin Martin, 22, of Raymond, Alta.

And finally, Jaclyne Martin, 39, has been charged with mischief over $5,000.

Yoav Niv, a lawyer who is representing 11 of the accused, said seven have been released on bail and four are still in custody.

Niv said he’s working to secure a bail hearing either this week or next for three named accused charged with conspiracy to commit murder. One other accused did not receive consent from the Crown to be released Tuesday.

Correction — Feb. 25, 2022: This file has been updated to correct charges of one of the accused after clarification from Alberta RCMP.

Kieran Leavitt is an Edmonton-based political reporter for the Toronto Star. Follow him on Twitter: @kieranleavitt

Omar Mosleh is an Edmonton-based reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @OmarMosleh