RCMP search of rural residence finds pipe bomb in home of murder-conspiracy accused

Anti-mandate demonstrators gather as a truck convoy blocks the highway the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. A second RCMP officer who went undercover as a supporter at the Coutts, Alta., blockade in 2022 has testified that one of two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder said all police officers at the blockade "should be hung." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The RCMP says it had to call in bomb specialists while searching the home of one of two men now on trial on charges of conspiring to murder Mounties at the Coutts blockade in 2022.

RCMP Cpl. Megan Evans testified that when they searched the home of Anthony Olienick they found two black pipes with wires sticking out of one end.

Evans says the discovery prompted them to call in the explosive device unit to make sure there was no danger.

Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial in Court of King’s Bench for their actions at the Coutts blockade, which tied up traffic for two weeks at the busy Canada-U.S. border crossing in a protest of COVID measures and vaccine mandates.

Olienick also faces a charge of being in possession of a pipe bomb.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2024.