These 3 were part of the leadership group of a blockade of a rural Alberta/Montana highway with farm equipment back in 2022 during the COVID trucker protest in Canada.
It was in solidarity with the bigger protest in Ottawa, but also sort of coincidental as the two groups weren't officially affiliated at all. This one seemed local and organic, with all the participants being relatively local blue collar types.
They set up a highway blockade at Coutts, Alberta, running their operation at the border out of a tiny saloon. The RCMP in turn set up their own roadblock north of the protesters, effectively preventing anyone from joining or leaving. And blocking supplies from coming in.
The standoff lasted about 2 1/2 weeks. On Feb 13th, the RCMP "claimed" they seized a whole cache of weapons and body armor located at a farm a few kms from the blockade where some protesters were staying.
The feds charged 4 protesters "the Coutts 4" with conspiracy to commit murder against some of the RCMP officers. That isn't the 3 guys sentenced today. The RCMP had also apparently had some of their glowies infiltrate the protest leadership to collect evidence.
The planted gun bust by the RCMP really scared all the farmers who were protesting. They feared the RCMP would imminently roll up guns blazing Waco style. Within 24 hours, they voluntarily dismantled their blockade and returned home.
These "Coutts 3" are leaders from the protest who had nothing to do with the gun bust but ended up getting mischief federal charges anyway for their organizer role.
The "Coutts 4" guys involved in the gun psyop were held for two plus years without bail or trial, much like the Jan 6th prisoners.
Two of them eventually fundraised enough to get new lawyers. The new legal team negotiated a plea deal dropping the murder charges in exchange for pleading guilty to some gun possession charges for time served.
The other two of the "Coutts 4" gun charges were found guilty by jury last year for possessing explosive materials and I believe were sentenced to more years in jail.
These recently sentenced non-violent "Coutts 3" individuals are similarly being prosecuted as political dissidents. The "mischief" federal charge is vague and complete BS. It's essentially being guilty of doing anything the police and government don't like and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
These 3 organizers never did anything directly illegal. They didn't even have trucks at the blockade.
These Coutts 3 have already been found guilty. The judge read off a whole bunch of Greenpeace-type blockades for comparison where those responsible rarely ever served time.
The 3 seem to have been out on bail since 2022, as opposed to the gun 4 who rotted in prison without bail the whole time.
The judge sentenced the two who "showed remorse" to 4 months in jail and 3 months probation respectively.
The 3rd leader, Alex Van Herk, refused to admit that the protest is wrong and is expected to get a harsher sentence because he won't bend the knee. His sentencing was delayed because he recently fired his counsel and hadn't hired a new one.
He was interviewed outside the courthouse arguing that he won't admit he was wrong because he wants to ask the judge "what else can be done to protest Charter violations and tyranny when democracy fails".
Can I get a TLDR
These 3 were part of the leadership group of a blockade of a rural Alberta/Montana highway with farm equipment back in 2022 during the COVID trucker protest in Canada.
It was in solidarity with the bigger protest in Ottawa, but also sort of coincidental as the two groups weren't officially affiliated at all. This one seemed local and organic, with all the participants being relatively local blue collar types.
They set up a highway blockade at Coutts, Alberta, running their operation at the border out of a tiny saloon. The RCMP in turn set up their own roadblock north of the protesters, effectively preventing anyone from joining or leaving. And blocking supplies from coming in.
The standoff lasted about 2 1/2 weeks. On Feb 13th, the RCMP "claimed" they seized a whole cache of weapons and body armor located at a farm a few kms from the blockade where some protesters were staying.
The feds charged 4 protesters "the Coutts 4" with conspiracy to commit murder against some of the RCMP officers. That isn't the 3 guys sentenced today. The RCMP had also apparently had some of their glowies infiltrate the protest leadership to collect evidence.
The planted gun bust by the RCMP really scared all the farmers who were protesting. They feared the RCMP would imminently roll up guns blazing Waco style. Within 24 hours, they voluntarily dismantled their blockade and returned home.
These "Coutts 3" are leaders from the protest who had nothing to do with the gun bust but ended up getting mischief federal charges anyway for their organizer role.
The "Coutts 4" guys involved in the gun psyop were held for two plus years without bail or trial, much like the Jan 6th prisoners. Two of them eventually fundraised enough to get new lawyers. The new legal team negotiated a plea deal dropping the murder charges in exchange for pleading guilty to some gun possession charges for time served.
The other two of the "Coutts 4" gun charges were found guilty by jury last year for possessing explosive materials and I believe were sentenced to more years in jail.
These recently sentenced non-violent "Coutts 3" individuals are similarly being prosecuted as political dissidents. The "mischief" federal charge is vague and complete BS. It's essentially being guilty of doing anything the police and government don't like and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
These 3 organizers never did anything directly illegal. They didn't even have trucks at the blockade.
These Coutts 3 have already been found guilty. The judge read off a whole bunch of Greenpeace-type blockades for comparison where those responsible rarely ever served time.
The 3 seem to have been out on bail since 2022, as opposed to the gun 4 who rotted in prison without bail the whole time.
The judge sentenced the two who "showed remorse" to 4 months in jail and 3 months probation respectively.
The 3rd leader, Alex Van Herk, refused to admit that the protest is wrong and is expected to get a harsher sentence because he won't bend the knee. His sentencing was delayed because he recently fired his counsel and hadn't hired a new one.
He was interviewed outside the courthouse arguing that he won't admit he was wrong because he wants to ask the judge "what else can be done to protest Charter violations and tyranny when democracy fails".