LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – 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 trial heard statements and text messages from the accused warning that the blockade was a last stand against a tyrannical federal government.

There was a loud gasp in the packed courtroom in Lethbridge, Alta., as the jury announced the acquittal of the most serious charge, conspiracy to commit murder. The men showed little emotion, and the case was put over to Aug. 12 to deal with the convictions on the lesser charges.

“Freedom!” a supporter later said outside the courthouse, and others hugged and cried.

The jury had been deliberating since Wednesday night.

The verdicts capped two months of testimony in a case that involved accusations of undercover femmes fatales, government conspiracies, text message bravado and satanic references.

The trial heard that Carbert called police “losers” and “the enemy.” In texts to his mother, he equated the blockade to a war, telling her if police came in and they lost the fight at Coutts, he would likely die in a wider conflict.

Olienick told undercover officers posing as protest volunteers that if the blockade was lost, the next step might be an invasion from United Nations troops or Chinese communists.

He said if police tried to storm the barricade, he would “slit their throats.”

His lawyer accused one of the undercover female officers of flirting to get information, which the officer denied. The officer testified heart emojis on texts between her and Olienick indicated she liked the messages, not the messenger.

Olienick dismissed police as compliant toadies of “devil” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He also messaged a friend to feed his cat, if he didn’t make it out alive.

After his arrest, when he learned the blockade failed and everyone had left, Olienick was seen on video distraught in an empty police interrogation room, saying aloud, “I’m sorry, God.”

The defence didn’t contest the epithets and warnings but argued they didn’t equate to a conspiracy to kill.

Police found the guns, ammunition and body armour in trailers near the blockade and more guns, ammunition and two pipe bombs at Olienick’s home in Claresholm, Alta.

Olienick’s lawyer argued the bombs were for industrial use.

The trial proved a challenge for jurors and reflected the tense, emotional public debate over pandemic rules and freedoms.

Four days into the trial in early June, jurors parking their cars in front of the courthouse were greeted with a message scrawled in chalk on a sidewalk: 840 Days Plus Already, Let the Coutts Boys Out of Jail Now.

Two similar messages had been left on the other side of the courthouse the day before a British Columbia man was charged with obstruction of justice and banned from the courthouse.

The judge rejected a defence request for a mistrial.

Two other protesters were also charged with conspiracy to commit murder at Coutts. In February, Christopher Lysak and Jerry Morin pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Lysak was sentenced to three years for possession of a restricted firearm in an unauthorized place, and Morin was sentenced to 3 1/2 years for conspiracy to traffic firearms. Both sentences amounted to time the men had already served in pretrial custody.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.

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HAMILTON – Caleb Evans threw a touchdown pass and ran for another as the Montreal Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-16 on Friday night.

Evans cemented the win with a 39-yard TD pass to David Dallaire in the fourth quarter that put Montreal (7-1) ahead 27-8. Evans’s strike came on his first play in place of starter Davis Alexander after he was hit hard by Hamilton defensive lineman Casey Sayles, who received a 25-yard penalty on the play.

Alexander returned on Montreal’s next possession and won in his first CFL start. He finished 19-of-27 passing for 262 yards with a TD and interception as Montreal earned a club record-tying seventh straight road victory.

But Evans left the game with a knee injury following a seven-yard run to the Hamilton five-yard line with 2:06 remaining.

With the victory Friday, the Alouettes also won their eighth consecutive contest over the Ticats (six regular season, two playoff games).

Alexander got a helping hand from a Montreal defence that forced three turnovers, including two interceptions.

Hamilton (2-6) suffered its first loss in three games. It was attempting to win three straight for the first time since 2022.

Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was 29-of-42 passing for 240 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions before 20,426 spectators at Tim Hortons Field. Mitchell connected with Tim White on a 26-yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter, then found Shemar Bridges for the two-point convert to cut Montreal’s lead to 27-16.

Montreal’s Walter Fletcher rounded out the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run in the game’s final minutes. Jose Maltos’ 31-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter had moved the Alouettes ahead 20-8.

The two teams will complete their home-and-home series in Montreal next week on Aug. 10.

Alouettes receiver Charleston Rambo also tallied Friday for Montreal, and Maltos booted three converts and two field goals.

Ticats defensive back Kenneth George Jr. registered Hamilton’s other touchdown, picking off Alexander and running it back 18 yards early in the second quarter. Marc Liegghio added the converts while punter Nik Constantinou had a single.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Denied a spot in Paris because the Dutch Olympic committee didn’t think she was good enough to contend, Dewi Weber shot a 10-under 62 on Friday to take the second-round lead in the Portland Classic.

Only one of the three Canadians in the tournament, Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., finished above the projected cut of minus-5. Grewal shot a 2-under 70 on Friday, placing her at minus-5 for the tournament.

Fellow Canadians Maude-Aimee Leblanc, who shot a 4-under 68 to finish at minus-2, and Maddie Szeryk, with a 3-under 69 to finish at minus-1, did not make the cut.

Weber qualified for the Olympics under International Golf Federation standards, but was left out because of the country’s separate standards for all sports to meet a realistic chance of a top-eight finish.

“We’re two rounds in, so we’ll see how this all unfolds and if I can really make a statement,” Weber said. “Of course it’s in the back of my mind because it’s the week before the Olympics. It was something that I was looking forward to. …

“It sucks, but all we can do is like try to prove why those standards were so silly, and I really hope to do that on Sunday.”

Playing only her second LPGA Tour event of the year, Weber had nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch in her afternoon round at Columbia Edgewater, making seven birdies in a row on Nos. 5-11. She closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th for a two-shot lead over first-round leader Polly Mack and past champion Andrea Lee.

“Very easy, very relaxing, not really putting my pressure on myself,” Weber said. “Just like roll that ball as well as I can and see what happens.”

The 28-year-old former Miami player also had seven straight birdies Thursday in an opening 66. She the final eight holes Thursday and the first 13 Friday in 16 under — and was 16 under overall for 36 holes in pursuit of her first LPGA Tour title.

“I did a really good job both days of just going shot for shot, which I know is such a cliché but I’ve never been able to really do that,” said Weber, who has four top-seven finishes in 11 starts this year on the Epson Tour.

Mack followed her opening 63 with a 67 in the afternoon. The 25-year-old German also is winless on the LPGA Tour. She eagled the par-5 seventh, and dropped back with a bogey on the par-4 15th.

“You obviously want to do well after that round, but it’s still not the easiest golf course,” Macks said. “It’s still a golf course. It’s still 18 holes to get through it. I think I did pretty well.”

Lee shot 63 in the morning, running off six straight birdies of her own in a back-nine burst. The 25-year-old American won the 2022 event for her lone LPGA Tour title.

“I love Portland, Columbia Edgewater,” Lee said. “It’s always great to come back here. I always find the course conditions to be perfect. It’s a great golf course. Obviously, a lot of the low scores out here, but I feel really comfortable.”

Jenny Shin (65) and Grace Kim (65) were 13 under, with Alexa Pano (64) and Emma Talley (67) another stroke back.

Lauren Coughlin, the CPKC Women’s Open winner Sunday in Calgary, Alberta, for her first LPGA Tour title, was 9 under after a 69.

With the Olympics next week, no one from the top 30 in the world ranking is in the field. The lone Olympian in the field is Aditi Ashok of India. She was 7 under after a 67.

Defending champion Chanettee Wannasaen shot a 70 to get to 6 under. She won the Dana Open two weeks ago in Ohio for her second LPGA Tour title.

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AP golf:

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