RICHMOUND – Ricky Manz, 59, of Richmound has been charged with assault. Manz owns the abandoned school where QAnon’s Romana Didulo and her supporters are camped out. He is scheduled to appear in court in Leader on Nov. 16.
On Oct. 7, Leader RCMP received a report of an assault in Richmound. The police investigation determined there was an altercation between two men and one man assaulted the other one. No injuries were reported.
The tiny village’s mayor Brad Miller took to Facebook Wednesday saying everyone is invited to their peaceful protest from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Richmound has a population of about 147. It is about 445 kilometres west of Regina, and about 80 kilometres from Medicine Hat, Alta.
Didulo and her group have taken over an abandoned school. On Miller’s Facebook post he identifies Rick Manz as the owner of the property. Miller urges protesters, however, not to trespass on the property, which is fenced off.
Saskatchewan RCMP have brought in a temporary mobile RCMP detachment that is staffed 24/7.
“The safety and security of the communities we police is our top priority,” said C/Supt. Tyler Bates, commander of Saskatchewan RCMP’s South District in a statement to media last week.
“We are aware of the presence of a group, sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Canada, in Richmound, SK. We’ve received a number of calls for service related to this group’s presence in the community over the past two weeks or so. Today, we will be bringing a mobile temporary RCMP detachment to Richmound, which will be staffed 24/7 and will allow our officers to quickly respond to any potential calls for service in the area. We will also be conducting regular patrols in the community.”
RCMP say the calls for service received from Richmound include the report of an assault, of threats, and of suspicious persons. All are under active investigation and they are unable to provide additional details at this time.
Didulo posted on Telegram on Oct. 11 that Rick Manz was missing. She then posted on Oct. 12 that she received a text message from "His Excellency Rick Manz" and the Swift Current RCMP were driving him home to Richmound. SASKTODAY.ca called Manz Thursday morning and he answered and identified himself as Rick Manz. When SASKTODAY.ca identified themselves as media, Manz hung up.
Didulo – who leads a conspiracy group – calls herself the queen of Canada.
“Romana Didulo is a Canadian QAnon figure who falsely claims to be the ‘Queen of Canada,’” said a report from the Anti-Defamation League.
She has called for violent action against people administrating COVID-19 vaccines to children. Didulo has issued ‘decrees’ cancelling various debts and outlawing government actions. She also encouraged her followers to use psuedo-legal documents to avoid paying debts, leading to some followers having their water or electricity shutoff or put at risk of losing their homes. Some of her followers have been arrested for making threats against schools and businesses.
In September, more than 200 residents from Kamsack and nearby Cote and Keeseekoose First Nations escorted the group out of their community.
Premier Scott Moe and his government are saying the province's Justice ministry is the right venue to deal with the evolving situation in Richmound involving the so-called "Queen of Canada."
Premier Moe told reporters he was not aware of details of the situation in Richmound, but said "a meeting with justice officials is exactly the correct place for that to occur, maybe even with some of our policing officials within one of the police organizations that we have -- which I suspect in this case to be the RCMP given the rural community."
With files from John Cairns and from Kamsack Times
Thanks to Community TV for the photo. You can find more from them at this link: https://www.facebook.com/comtvdotca
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