Court docs show RCMP eyeing unidentified outside leadership group in Coutts border blockade

RCMP believes others giving orders at Coutts Court documents show RCMP investigating a suspected group of leaders thought to have issued orders from outside the Coutts border blockade.

LETHBRIDGE — Newly released court documents show the Alberta RCMP are still investigating multiple people in connection to the Coutts border blockade, including a suspected group of leaders issuing orders from elsewhere.

According to the unsealed documents, the RCMP believes the four men accused of plotting to kill Mounties at the Coutts border blockade – Anthony Olienick, Chris Lysak, Jerry Morin and Chris Carbert – were being given orders by an outside leadership group.

The names of the people in that group have been redacted from the report as they are part of an active investigation.

The newly released records involve transcriptions of phone calls between Olienick, Lysak, Morin and Carbert, and the unidentified leadership group.

The documents state the leadership wanted more than just vaccine mandates lifted, but also the "elimination of the professional political class."

It also alleges Olienick, Lysak, Morin and Carbert trained for months and stockpiled firearms at Olienick's property near Claresholm, Alta., while taking orders from the unidentified group.

The documents reveal that in February, Mounties seized more than 36,000 rounds of ammunition, two pipe bombs, gas masks, camouflage and tactical gear from the property.

Other intercepted calls from the four men's cellphones refer to more potential weapons coming from a second stockpile in Nanton, Alta.

They also point toward a growing tension between those protesting in Coutts and the leadership group due to lack of representation at the blockade.

In February, Olienick, Lysak, Morin, Carbert and nine others were arrested after RCMP uncovered a cache of weapons in Coutts.

Olienick is also charged with making and possessing an explosive device while Lysak faces a charge of uttering threats.

Once remanded, phone records show the four men contacted the bosses either directly or, allegedly, through family members, according to police.

All four men have a trial set for June 2023 while the investigation into the suspected leadership team is still ongoing.

These portions of the police documents are being unsealed after a legal challenge by a group of news organizations including CTV News.

None of the details alleged in the released documents have been tested in court.