Jury begins deliberation on murder-conspiracy trial tied to Alberta COVID blockade

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.

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

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