An RCMP officer has described the tenuous, and sometimes fraught, relationship police cast with protesters as they tried to finish the COVID-era border blockade in Coutts, Alta.
Sgt. Greg Tulloch continued his testimony Wednesday on the trial of Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huigenbos and Gerhard (George) Janzen, who’re charged with mischief over $5,000.
Crown prosecutors have advised jurors they intend to show the trio spearheaded the protest that tied up cross-border site visitors between Alberta and Montana for 2 weeks in early 2022 in protest of pandemic restrictions.
Tulloch stated efforts had been made to persuade the truckers to tug up stakes and depart when he first arrived on Feb. 1. He stated the three accused had been recognized as leaders and he had most of his dealings with Van Huigenbos.
At one level, Van Huigenbos knowledgeable police numerous people driving logging vehicles had been decided to make their well past a police checkpoint to affix these already in Coutts, and that if the request wasn’t granted “issues may go south in a rush.”
“There was additionally concern about security, that if different actors are launched the state of affairs may turn into problematic,” Tulloch stated.
“Oftentimes, we see that teams equivalent to that appeal to individuals not notably involved about what the message of the protest is. They simply come to trigger chaos, both by way of violence or by introducing all kinds of different messages that aren’t the identical as what the group is intending to speak.”
Police agreed to let the vehicles are available in. However on the final second, Van Huigenbos advised Tulloch to delay the motion as a result of the freeway had been closed once more.
Tulloch described driving into Coutts and having a semi pull in entrance of him and his accomplice. That led to a heated trade with the driving force, as different individuals gathered close by.
“Ultimately Marco and George got here to the scene as effectively and intervened, permitting for that automobile to maneuver again out of the way in which and for us to proceed on,” he stated.
Tulloch stated the freeway was locked down and “completely impassable.” He stated Van Huigenbos requested if the logging vehicles could be allowed in if the freeway reopened, and he replied they wouldn’t.
“He made it very clear that he’s the face of the group and he put it on the market to the individuals who depend on him that in the event that they’re not going to take heed to him, he’s going to stroll away from the state of affairs totally and not have something to do with it,” Tulloch advised the jury.
“He stated, ‘if we don’t get these vehicles by way of quick, I’ll lose the belief of my individuals. That may put us again 4 days.’”
Tulloch stated he returned for a second tour in Coutts on Feb. 9 and the state of affairs had worsened.
“It was not porous. It was fully sealed.”
He stated there seemed to be some new individuals on the scene.
Tulloch advised court docket they seemed totally different and had been carrying camouflage and vests. He stated Smuggler’s Saloon, a gathering level for the protesters, felt extra like a army set up.
Tulloch stated Van Huigenbos disregarded his considerations, saying they had been solely dressing for the climate.
One other drawback popped up on Feb. 12, when police observed two giant excavators had been dropped off close to the freeway, halfway between Coutts and Milk River.
Tulloch stated the 2 males had been advised to take away each machines however, after making a name, they solely moved them a brief distance away.
“Both they had been to be parked up the freeway, thus changing into a lot much less movable than the tractors or semis that had been already blocking additional south, or they is perhaps used to really dig up the freeway,” Tulloch stated.
“Both means, that needed to be prevented.”
Tulloch stated he tried to succeed in Van Huigenbos to get the excavators eliminated, however didn’t hear again from him instantly. Throughout that point, police determined to disable each machines.
“It’s all accomplished now,” Tulloch stated in a textual content.
Van Huigenbos replied he hoped the RCMP knew how to try this with out wrecking the tools.
