From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The Freedom Convoy leader reflected on how the mandates ripped families apart after ‘people were forced to take a ‘med’ to keep their jobs, homes, family, and social circles.’

Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich reflected at the end of her months-long court trial on how she was “targeted” by the federal government because she and others stood up for Canadians’ freedoms in protest of COVID shots that she said “people were forced to take” to keep their jobs.

In a X post last Friday, Lich observed that COVID mandates and rules tore families “apart,” adding that the rules led to “kids on outdoor rinks (were threatened with tasers). Playgrounds were taped off with caution tape. Kids were ostracized in school and sports.”

“People were forced to take a ‘med’ to keep their jobs, homes, family, and social circles. They arrested pastors!” she wrote.

Lich said she was not happy with the Freedom Convoy being referred to as a “weekend party” by the Crown’s legal team.

The trial for Lich and Freedom Convoy leader Chris Barber, which was supposed to have been only 16 days, concluded last Friday after more than a year, with the presiding judge observing that determining a verdict, which could take up to six months, will be “daunting” task.

The trial had been ongoing for more than one year after beginning on September 3, 2023. As reported by LifeSiteNews, Lich and Barber face a possible 10-year prison sentence for their role in the 2022 Freedom Convoy.

Lich and Barber face multiple charges from the 2022 protests, including mischief, counseling mischief, counseling intimidation, and obstructing police. In Canada, anyone charged with mischief faces a potential jail sentence of up to 10 years.

Lich, in another X post last Friday, said that when it came to the those who stood up to COVID mandates, they indeed were the “target” of the federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“We were the targeted and traumatized by our own government and, shockingly, our own military who saw the pandemic as an excellent way to test out psychological operations on Canadians,” she wrote.

“It’s difficult to reflect back on the many tactics used to demoralize, deflate, and divide us, the lengths to which they went to enforce mandates and an untested and experimental therapy, which have all been proven utterly useless. However, the implications and consequences of these will have repercussions on humanity for generations to come because it was inhumane.”

Despite her plight, Lich took the time to thank her supporters for standing with her during her trial.

“As the trial portion of our criminal trial comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect on how lucky and grateful I am for the love and support I’ve received from Canadians and from around the world,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

In concluding statements last Friday in an Ottawa courthouse, presiding judge Heather Perkins-McVey said that she does “not know” when she will “be in a position to give my decision,” adding that producing a verdict will be “a little daunting.”

The judge has promised that on November 26 she will provide an update on to expect a decision.

The Crown prosecution has held steadfast to the notion that Lich and Barber somehow influenced the protesters’ actions through their words as part of a co-conspiracy. This claim has been rejected by the defense as weak.

It has also been asserted “that the absence of violence or peaceful nature of the protest didn’t make it lawful, emphasizing that the onus was on the Crown to prove the protest’s unlawfulness.”

The reality is that Lich and Barber collaborated with police on many occasions so that the protesters remained law abiding.

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Originally charged with conspiracy to commit murder, Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert were convicted of mischief and weapons offences during the Coutts blockade in 2022. They’ve already spent more than two years in prison awaiting their trial.

The Crown recommended nine years in prison for two men linked to the 2022 Freedom Convoy-inspired border blockade protest in Coutts, Alberta.

On August 29th, Crown prosecutor Steven Johnston declared that Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert, who were convicted of mischief and weapons offences at the 2022 Freedom Convoy, should receive nine years in jail despite already spending more than two years in prison awaiting their trial.

“Mr. Carbert and Mr. Olienick believed they were at war. They were prepared to die for their cause. The very real risk is that a firefight would have occurred,” Johnston claimed.

Olienick and Carbert have already spent more than two years in prison after they were charged with conspiracy to commit murder during 2022 Freedom Convoy-inspired border blockade protest in Coutts that protested COVID mandates.

Earlier in August, they were finally acquitted of that charge and instead found guilty of the lesser charges of unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose and mischief over $5,000. Olienick was also found guilty of unlawful possession of an explosive device.

Olienick and Carbert have been jailed since 2022 when, at the same time the Freedom Convoy descended on Ottawa to protest COVID restrictions, they joined an anti-COVID mandate blockade protest at the Alberta-Montana border crossing near Coutts. The men were denied bail and kept in solitary confinement before their trial.

At the time, police said they had discovered firearms, 36,000 rounds of ammunition, and industrial explosives at Olienick’s home. However, the guns were legally obtained and the ammunition was typical of those used by rural Albertans. Similarly, Olienick explained that the explosives were used for mining gravel.

Now, they are being recommended to spend nine more years in prison despite their lawyer pointing out that they have already spent 929 days in jail, which equates to nearly four years given the accepted valuation of granting extra credit for time served while awaiting trial.

Justice David Labrenz is set to give his decision on September 9th.

The men were arrested alongside Christopher Lysak and Jerry Morin, and all four were charged with conspiracy to murder. At the time, the “Coutts Four” were painted as dangerous terrorists and their arrest was used as justification for the Emergencies Act, which allowed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use draconian measures to end both the Coutts blockade and the much larger Freedom Convoy occurring thousands of kilometers away in Ottawa.

Under the EA, the Trudeau government froze the bank accounts of Canadians who donated to the protest. Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23 after the protesters had been cleared out. At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed Trudeau’s use of the EA.

Recently, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled that Trudeau was “not justified” in invoking the Emergencies Act.

Many are pointing out that the two were being unjustly held as political prisoners similar to those in communist countries.

It’s unclear why the two Alberta men are denied bail while dangerous criminals are allowed to roam free thanks to Trudeau’s catch and release policy.

Indeed, this policy has put many Canadians in danger, as was the case last month when a Brampton man charged with sexually assaulting a 3-year-old was reportedly out on bail for an October 2022 incident in which he was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a dangerous weapon.