RICHMOUND – From grain trucks and semis to vehicles, the village of Richmound held protests again Saturday and Sunday trying to drive out cult leader Romana Didulo and her supporters.
Ahead of the protests on Saturday, the village live streamed a press conference calling on the province of Saskatchewan and federal government to help them remove the cult from their community. Joining Richmound Mayor Brad Miller were Mayors Sean Checkley and Aaron Wenzel from Fox Valley and Leader, respectively, as well as Cypress Hills MLA Doug Steele.
"Our focus is to move her out of Richmound and hopefully back into the United States," said Miller.
Didulo, the self-professed "queen of Canada" and her group went to Richmound after being run out of Kamsack last month. The group is camped out in an abandoned school, which is owned by Ricky Manz. Residents say their children are afraid to play in the nearby playground.
VIDEO: Watch Richmound residents protest over the weekend.
On the same day as the protests in Richmound Saturday, Didulo held a live stream on YouTube in what she called “Live from Bilkingham Palace in Richmound, Saskatchewan, it’s the Romana Show.” The live feed included her followers obediently saluting while standing at attention, and some of her entourage performing dancing rituals, as she made her grand entrance.
Saskatchewan RCMP have brought in a temporary mobile RCMP detachment to Richmound that is staffed 24/7 so they can respond faster to any calls. Richmound, with a population of 147, is too tiny for its own police station and is serviced by the Leader RCMP detachment, which is about 71 kilometres away.
RCMP say they have received a number of calls for service including the report of an assault, threats, and suspicious persons. Last week, Ricky Manz, 59, was charged with assault and appears in Leader court Nov. 16.
Didulo and her supporters have allegedly threatened to publicly execute the council at the Village of Richmound, their fire chief and staff, the village administrator and staff, an RCMP officer, EMS, and numerous others.
The threats that were posted to Telegram on Oct. 1 and shared on Twitter, said that failure to “cease and desist,” could result in them being found guilty of treason and facing “publicly broadcast executions.” Didulo and her supporters claim they are being stalked and bullied by village residents.
Didulo's cult is also threatening SASKTODAY.ca reporter Lisa Joy in emails from cult follower Heather Leard, who acts as the group's spokesperson. The first email on Oct. 12, stated that the reporter has been “warned” and the penalty could be “death.” The second email on Oct. 16, said “You are Officially Warned….will not go unpunished.”
Didulo and her followers have also threatened a live streamer from Medicine Hat, Alta. To show Didulo how "ridiculous" she was to threaten public executions, the live streamer set up a make-shift "electric chair" in front of Didulo's fenced off compound in Richmond, Sask., on Saturday. The large wooden, fake electric chair consisted of a metal spaghetti strainer for the head part of the "electric chair."
Didulo leads a conspiracy group. “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 administering 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 shut off or put at risk of losing their homes. Some of her followers have been arrested for making threats against schools and businesses.
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Thanks to Community TV for the photo. You can find more from them at this link: https://www.facebook.com/comtvdotca
