A lawyer for considered one of three males on trial for his or her roles within the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., argued Thursday his consumer was nothing greater than a messenger.
Crown prosecutors have informed jurors they intend to show the trio spearheaded the protest that tied up site visitors on the Canada-United States border crossing for 2 weeks in early 2022 to protest COVID-19 pandemic guidelines and restrictions.
Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huigenbos and Gerhard Janzen have every pleaded not responsible to a cost of mischief over $5,000.
RCMP Sgt. Greg Tulloch has testified he labored to ascertain a dialogue with the protesters and recognized Van Huigenbos as the primary contact.
Throughout his cross-examination of Tulloch, a lawyer for Van Huigenbos questioned whether or not his consumer actually was a frontrunner or if, just like the officer, he was merely a conduit delivering messages to these in cost.
“Have you ever ever heard the phrase, ‘Don’t shoot the messenger?’ I’m going to counsel that’s actually what Marco was right here. He was a messenger, a communicator, a spokesperson for the group — not a frontrunner,” lawyer Ryan Durran informed the jury trial.
Tulloch replied: “That’s far too simplified from the impression I used to be left with, as a result of when issues have been taking place, they occurred instantly after Marco mentioned he would do one thing or transmit a message.”
Durran mentioned Van Huigenbos was not thought-about an “agitator” and didn’t have a semi-trailer truck parked on the protest.
The e-mail you want for the day’s
prime information tales from Canada and world wide.
He mentioned his consumer and others wished the protest to go away Coutts and transfer as much as Edmonton. The try failed.
Tulloch maintained that he thought-about Van Huigenbos to be on the prime of the internal circle of the protest, adopted by Janzen and, to a lesser diploma, Van Herk.
The officer mentioned Van Huigenbos seemed to be a frontrunner, citing the accused’s “means to make issues occur in the best way that he did, the best way he spoke about it and the best way he informed us what his function was … That, to me, doesn’t signify messenger,” Tulloch mentioned.
“We continued to speak to him as a result of he might make selections, as a result of he appeared to need to additionally cope with us.”
Beneath additional examination by the Crown, Tulloch mentioned his job was to proceed to speak with the protesters, and discovering a frontrunner is one of the best ways to go.
“The continual assembly and talking with different individuals was actually simply a chance to point out us as being approachable and never the Gestapo we have been being made out to be,” mentioned the officer, referring to police in Nazi Germany.
He mentioned Van Huigenbos grew into the function of chief.
“I’m unsure that at first that he orchestrated something or that he brought on all of this to begin up,” Tulloch mentioned. “However actually he assumed the function of chief when there was no person else to take action.”
The ultimate prosecution witness, RCMP Supt. Gordon Corbett, described arriving at Coutts on Jan. 31. Aside from sooner or later, he was there till the protest ended.
Corbett mentioned the preliminary plan was to tow the protest automobiles, however police weren’t in a position to acquire sufficient vehicles to make that occur.
He mentioned the tone started to vary the second week.
“The general public security danger had elevated. There was new info that there was a menace to public security, a menace to police, simply primarily based on the presence of firearms on the website,” Corbett mentioned.
He mentioned the weapons had nothing to do with the three accused. However the reality that there have been weapons on the blockade delayed plans to start enforcement in opposition to these on the protests, together with tickets or arrests.
Corbett grew to become emotional when discussing two totally different occasions.
In a single occasion, the driving force of huge tractor with an hooked up blade superior towards a police officer at a checkpoint. The tractor driver demanded the officer depart.
A second occasion occurred on Feb. 13, when a big farm tractor and a semi truck, each concerned within the blockade, tried to ram a police car.
“It was an escalation in my thoughts. It was totally different. There’s no motive to do it and now you’re driving massive automobiles at cops which will or might not have any thought of what the car might do to a smaller car,” Corbett mentioned.
“It was simply extra exercise that was suggesting to me this protest wanted to resolve.”
The protesters left two days later after RCMP seized a cache of weapons and made a collection of arrests.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
