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When police raided the man’s rural property near Evansburg in 2016, they found a variety of improperly stored firearms, including 24 registered restricted firearms and 15,000 rounds of ammunition. According to the agreed facts, the man was “heavily involved” in weapons training and military tactics, and trained his children to use guns as part of a homeschooling program.

On Monday, Benedict Richards testified that he witnessed the man being beaten at the Edmonton Remand Centre in July 2017.

Richards, who is in custody at the remand centre, appeared in court in shackles and orange and black correctional coveralls. He said he was housed one tier below the man at the time of the beating and witnessed what happened through the window of his cell.

Richards claims the man was being moved into a new cell when the prisoner already housed there attacked him in the entryway, punching him multiple times.

The same day, he said the man was “s— bombed” with a bag of human feces.

A correctional officer “code” team arrived to break up the attack, but they appeared to pause at the tier door for longer than usual, Richard said. In all, he said the attack lasted about one minute.

When correctional officers arrived, Richards said they tightly shackled the man, causing him to nearly fall on his face. He added that he heard the officers laughing about the man’s situation.

“They weren’t worried about his safety,” Richards said.

The application argues the man suffered cruel and unusual punishment — citing at least 11 instances of alleged mistreatment by remand guards and other inmates between July and September 2017. His counsel also alleges that the remand centre failed to preserve CCTV footage of all but four incidents, which they argue is a breach of their client’s Section 7 Charter rights.