A jury issued a verdict of not guilty late Friday for two men accused of conspiring to kill Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers at the border blockade in Coutts, Alta.

However, Anthony Olijnik and Chris Carbert were found guilty of other charges related to mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Olijnik was also convicted of possession of a pipe bomb.

The two men were arrested after police found a stash of weapons, ammunition, and body armor near a protest at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in 2022. The protest was one of several demonstrations held across the country against COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

The trial heard statements and text messages from the defendants warning that the blockade was the last stand against the oppressive federal government.

There was loud shouting in the packed courtroom in Lethbridge, Alberta, when the jury announced the acquittal of the most serious charge, conspiracy to commit murder. The men showed no emotion, and the case was adjourned until August 12 to deal with the convictions on the lesser charges.

One supporter later shouted outside the courthouse, "Freedom!", while others hugged and cried.

The jury had been deliberating since Wednesday night.

The verdict capped two months of testimony in a case that included allegations of killer girls in disguise, government conspiracies, bragging in text messages, and satanic symbols.

The trial heard that Carbert referred to police as "losers" and "the enemy". In text messages to his mother, he compared the blockade to war and told her that if the police came and lost the battle in Coutts, he was likely to die in a wider conflict.

Olijnik told undercover officers who posed as protesters that if the blockade failed, the next step could be an invasion by UN forces or Chinese communists.

He said that if police attempted to breach the barricade, they would "cut their throats."

His lawyer accused one of the undercover officers of flirting to gain information, which the officer denied. The officer testified that heart emojis in the text messages between her and Olijnik indicated she liked the messages, not the sender.

Olijnik dismissed the police as sycophantic pawns of "the devil" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He also sent a message to a friend to feed his cat if he could not get out alive.

After his arrest, when he learned the blockade had failed and everyone had left, Olijnik was seen on video stunned in an empty police interrogation room, saying loudly, "I'm sorry, oh God."

The defense did not challenge the derogatory remarks and warnings but argued they did not amount to conspiracy to murder.

Police found weapons, ammunition, and body armor in trailers near the blockade and more weapons and ammunition and two pipe bombs at Olijnik's home in Clairmont, Alta.

Olijnik's lawyer argued that the bombs were for industrial use.

The trial proved to be a challenge for jurors and reflected the heated and emotional public discussion surrounding pandemic rules and freedoms.

After four days of trial in early June, jurors who parked in front of the courthouse received a chalk-written message on the sidewalk: 840 days already, let the Coutts boys out of jail now.

Two similar messages were left on the other side of the courthouse building the day before a man from British Columbia was charged with obstruction of justice and preventing entry to the courthouse.

The judge denied the defense's request for a retrial.

Two other protesters were also charged with conspiracy to commit murder at Coutts. In February, Christopher Lesac and Jerry Morin pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Lesac was sentenced to three years in prison for possessing a restricted firearm in an unauthorized place, and Morin was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for conspiracy to traffic firearms. Both sentences equate to the time the two men had already spent in custody.