(Lethbridge) A second police officer who infiltrated the Coutts border blockade said Anthony (Tony) Olienick displayed a strong dislike for police officers and told her he had guns and ammunition on hand if they these intervened.
“He stood for what he believed in,” the police officer remarked Friday in the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. He was ready to die to defend his ideas. »
She testified that Olienick made it clear to her that he did not like police officers and believed “they should all be hanged.”
The undercover officer was on the witness stand during the trial of Olienick and Chris Carbert. The two men are accused of conspiring to assassinate police officers at this blockade in 2022.
The border blockade by heavy goods vehicles was organized to demonstrate against health rules and the compulsory vaccination of certain Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Protesters had prevented the free movement of vehicles at the Canadian-American border crossing at Coutts for two weeks.
The police officer cannot be publicly identified and was referred to in court as HQ1516.
She was one of two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who testified that they infiltrated the blockade by posing as volunteers.
The first testified that Olienick told her that he considered the police pawns of the “devil,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and swore that if the police tried to break up the blockade, he would “slit their throats “.
The second told the court Friday that Olienick feared the RCMP would try to end the blockade in the middle of the night, catching the protesters by surprise and defenseless.
She said Olienick told her he had guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition if the police intervened — enough to outfit everyone at Smuggler’s Saloon, referring to the local bar that had become the unofficial headquarters Some protestors.
The undercover agent detailed a conversation she and her undercover partner had with Olienick, asking if he needed them to retrieve anything before returning to Coutts.
“I just remember Tony looking pleasantly surprised, and (he) said that actually, he had a package arriving tonight… some stuff that might be difficult to bring in… if we knew what he meant,” she said.
“It would be really heavy and very important. »
The policewoman added that Olienick and Carbert seemed concerned that the package, described as a hockey bag, was too heavy to carry.
The two agents asked them if they were explosives.
“I remember Chris laughing and saying, ‘No explosives,’” the officer said Friday.
Then they asked him if the package was weapons.
“I just remember that Chris and Tony made eye contact and they didn’t deny it,” the policewoman argued. I took this as an acknowledgment that these were firearms. »
HQ1516 was scheduled to be cross-examined by the defense Friday afternoon.
Olienick and Carbert were arrested after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered a cache of firearms, body armor and ammunition in nearby trailers.
The two men are also accused of mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olienick faces another charge of possession of a pipe bomb.
