Anti-mandate demonstrators gather as a truck convoy blocks the highway the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., on Jan. 31.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Police warned of potential traffic congestion in a southern Alberta city as a convoy of vehicles arrived to support three men charged in a blockade at the U.S.-Canadian border.
Lethbridge police said on social media that about 500 supporters gathered around the city’s courthouse, which is downtown, for what appeared to be a peaceful protest.
The three men appeared in court briefly Friday morning.
Marco Van Huigenbos, 32, and Alex Van Herk, 53 – both of Fort Macleod, Alta. – have been charged with mischief over $5,000, as has George Janzen, 43, of Taber, Alta.
Mr. Van Huigenbos, one of the organizers of the border protest against COVID-19 measures, is a councillor in Fort Macleod, a town in southern Alberta.
All three are scheduled to be back in the Court of King’s Bench on Dec. 12 for arraignment. Their lawyers told a provincial court judge Friday that they want to be tried by a judge and jury.
RCMP have said the charges stem from the individuals being key participants at the blockade at the border crossing in Coutts, Alta., that took place for a couple weeks in late January.
A trial before a judge and jury has been scheduled for June of next year for four other men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the blockade.
Chris Carbert, Chris Lysak, Anthony Olienick and Jerry Morin were charged in February after RCMP found a cache of guns, body armour and ammunition in trailers at the protest near Coutts.