Judge denies bail for third suspect in southern Alberta border blockade

A judge has denied bail for a third man charged with conspiracy to commit murder at a border blockade earlier this year in southern Alberta.

Anthony Olienick appeared by video today in Court of Queen's Bench in Lethbridge, Alta., to hear the decision after a hearing last month.

Reasons for the ruling are protected by a publication ban.

Olienick, Chris Carbert, Christopher Lysak and Jerry Morin are accused of conspiring to kill police officers at a blockade near Coutts, Alta., in protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions.

Morin's bail hearing, the only one that hasn't been heard, is scheduled for June 24.

The Crown has already indicated it plans to try the four men together.

The protest near Coutts began in late January and lasted for almost three weeks.

Fourteen people were charged in February after RCMP found a cache of long guns, handguns, body armour, large amounts of ammunition and high-capacity magazines in three trailers.

Police allege a group at the protest was willing to use force if the blockade was disrupted and have described the threat as "very serious."