Accused defense disputes Alberta took the lead in the border blockade

Content of the article

An attorney for one of the three men on trial for their roles in the border blockade in Coats, Alta., insisted Thursday that his client was more than just an informant.

Crown prosecutors have told jurors they intend to prove the trio led a protest that tied up traffic for two weeks at a Canada-United States border crossing in early 2022 in protest of COVID-19 pandemic regulations and restrictions.

Content of the article

Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huygenbos and Gerhard Jantzen each pleaded not guilty to charges of mischief over $5,000.

RCMP Sgt. Greg Tulloch said he worked to establish a dialogue with the protesters and identified Van Huygenbos as a key contact.

During cross-examination, Van Huygenbosch's lawyer asked whether his client was really a leader or just a conduit, like an officer, delivering messages to those in charge.

“Have you ever heard the saying 'Don't shoot the messenger'?” I suggest that Marco was really there. He was a messenger, a communicator, a representative of the group, not a leader,” Ryan Durran told the jury.

Tulloch replied: “It's a lot more relaxed than the impression I got. Because as things were happening, they happened right after Marco said he was going to do something or send a message.

“Most of the time there's no lag, and I have a lag time before something happens.”

Durran said he did not consider Van Huygenbos to be an “agitator” and that there was no semi-trailer truck parked at the protest.

Content of the article

He said his client and others want the protest to leave Coates and move to Edmonton. The operation failed.

Tulloch said he considered Van Huygenbos to be at the top of the protest inner circle, followed by Janzen and, to a lesser extent, Van Herck.

Officer Van Huygenbos said he appeared to be a leader, referring to the defendant's “ability to create a situation with his actions, the way he talked about it and what his role was … that does it for me. does not represent a messenger,” Tulloch said.

“We continued to talk to him because he can make a decision because he seems to want to deal with us as well.”

Tulloch, who further examined the crown, said that his duty was to continue to communicate with the protestors, and that the best way was to find a leader.

“Continuously meeting and talking with other people was really an opportunity to present us as approachable rather than Gestapo,” the officer said, referring to the police in Nazi Germany.

According to him, Van Huygenbos has grown into a leadership role.

“I'm not sure if he orchestrated anything in the beginning or was the cause of all of this,” Tulloch said. “But of course he took on the role of leader when no one else was.”

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 11, 2024.

Share this article on social media