“Criminalizing Dissent”

LETHBRIDGE – A jury returned a verdict of not guilty late Friday for two men accused of conspiring to kill RCMP officers at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta.
But Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert were both convicted on other charges of mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.

The two were arrested after police found a cache of weapons, ammunition and body armour near the blockade at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in 2022. The blockade was one of several held across the country to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

The English Defence League (EDL) could be proscribed as a terror organisation in the wake of riots in Southport, Angela Rayner has suggested.

Supporters of the EDL were blamed for the violence on Tuesday night, in which police officers were attacked with rocks and a police van set on fire.

Demonstrations following the stabbing of three girls turned violent after misinformation about the suspect was spread online.

@fancypants_s https://t.co/dbq6OmK3sv

— Patti Jo (@TheSupeHero) July 31, 2024

The threat from international and domestic terror presents a “breadth of challenge greater than it has ever been”, according to senior US and UK police officers who oversaw the successful prosecution of Anjem Choudary.

The Islamist preacher from east London is starting a life sentence for directing a group banned under UK terror law, and encouraging support for it online.

The officers say his case highlights the continuing danger posed by radicalisers – and the violent groups they support.

“People fascinated by violence” should probably be read as criminalizing dissent.

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – A story of femmes fatales, government conspiracies, the devil, and an armed invasion leading to a dystopian future has been playing out for seven weeks in a Lethbridge courtroom.

This week, jurors in Lethbridge, Alta., are slated to begin deliberating the fate of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.

The two are on trial in Court of King’s Bench, charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the Coutts, Alta., blockade in early 2022.

What undercover officers deemed to be “pipe bombs” during the Coutts protest in 2022 have been verified as firecrackers for the purpose of unearthing sandstone for construction work.

The trial continues for the remaining two of the “Coutts Four,” a group accused of conspiracy to commit murder against a police officer at the border blockage in Coutts, AB. Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert are currently on trial in Lethbridge to address charges stemming from the pandemic-era blockade at the Canada-US border crossing.

An RCMP officer has told a murder-conspiracy trial that several weapons were discovered inside a travel trailer parked near the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta.

Sgt. Gary MacLaren testified he spotted an assault rifle on a bed, a shotgun on a kitchen bench, another rifle under a mattress and several boxes of ammunition.

An undercover RCMP officer has told court that two Edmonton police officers showed up to support the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta.

The Mountie says one Edmonton officer was there with his wife, who was a nurse, and there was a lineup of people wanting to shake their hands.

The undercover officer, who cannot be identified, is testifying in the trial of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert.