Undercover officers, wire taps were part of Coutts border protest investigation

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.

Newly unsealed court documents have revealed more details about the RCMP investigation that led to criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, during the border blockade in Coutts, Alta. in February.

The most serious charges were laid against four Alberta men: Christopher Lysak, 48, of Lethbridge; Anthony Olienick, 39, of Claresholm; Chris Carbert, 44, of Lethbridge; and Jerry Morin, 40, of Olds.

Four lengthy applications for search warrants, submitted by police, show that investigators believed that three of them, Olienick, Carbert and Morin, brought guns to the protest and were prepared to use them against officers.

The documents include notes and information from uniformed RCMP, as well as undercover officers who infiltrated a saloon in Coutts, where protesters gathered daily and nightly.

The two operatives had a goal of learning the hierarchy of the group.

In their notes, they wrote about meeting with Olienick, one of the accused, who was not in the leadership group but called himself “security” for the protesters.

The undercover officers also noted that they saw a delivery of a hockey bag, believed to be filled with guns.

"I believe the sub-group was arming themselves for a standoff against police," wrote the officer applying for one of the search warrants.

“I believe Morin provided firearms to Olienick and Carbert for the purpose of using those firearms to shoot at and kill police officers, conspiring to commit murder against police officers,” they later wrote.

The notes also show RCMP used wire taps, but what investigators heard or read is redacted.

All four men were arrested on Feb. 13 and 14.

On Feb. 14, officers searched a home and property in Coutts and seized 15 guns, ammunition and body armour.

The application also includes observations from police that the protesters seemed to have a finance committee and governance structure. They spoke to people they believed to be leaders of the protest, but those names are redacted from the court documents.

The documents were sealed by a court when they were filed. Lawyers for several media outlets, including CTV News, argued in court to have them unsealed. Lawyers for the accused argued against that application.