The mayor of Richmound says he’s been shaking with happiness ever since Romana Didulo and her associates were arrested on Wednesday.
After two years of Didulo and her ‘Kingdom of Canada’ affiliates occupying the former Richmound School, Brad Miller is relieved that the nightmare seems to be coming to a close.
“I can’t even put it into words,” said Miller. “It just felt so surreal after these last two years. It’s hard to explain without having feelings overwhelm you.”
Over the last two years, Miller says he, the village council, and residents of the community have endured death threats. Didulo and her co-conspirators have been a constant source of angst for the community.
“But we fought through,” said Miller. “I have to give my council credit. I think we stood up and we showed our leadership and our strength.”
Miller says that the local population in Richmound is, by and large, happy with the arrests made. However, Miller says that, as with every community, there are a few who have gone against the grain.
“I’m getting texts every once in a while from certain people that have shown no leadership,” said Miller. “Why they’re still here is beyond me. It’s sad, actually.”
The mayor addressed the minority in the community that had remarked to him that the RCMP was overkill, or that they had no problem with Didulo.
“Just remember that the (RCMP) are here to serve and protect,” said Miller. “Imagine if they had sent out three or four RCMP, and this cult wanted Waco, Texas. This could have gone sideways.
“I and the Richmound ratepayers, the RM ratepayers, would like to give a huge thank you to the Leader RCMP Detachment for having our backs over the last two years, as we fought back against these extremists. Also, thank you to all the teams who, on September 3, executed precise procedures. I thank you on behalf of the majority.”
“I am still getting weird texts and Facebook comments from some people. We know who you are. Our last council before the town election was bombarded by some of these people harassing us. They assaulted one of my council members. There were community members who could have shut this down, but instead stood on the sidelines and did nothing. They did nothing as Didulo defamed our characters and sent out execution letters to council members.
“I needed help badly. We, being council, needed help badly. Even so, we fought through it.”
Miller says for now, they are waiting to see how Didulo is handled in court, as well as waiting for how Ricky Manz, owner of the former Richmound School, will be processed in court as well.
Before any decisions regarding the school can be made, the village must wait for the Saskatchewan Safety Agency to finish its investigations.
“It’s more up to them for what we can do with the school,” said Miller. “I would like to see if we can get (Didulo) to leave Richmound.”
He noted that while the firearms recovered by investigators were listed as replicas, the kind of ammunition recovered was not identified.
“We’ll have to wait for further investigation on that,” said Miller.
He noted that if Didulo and her associates do end up leaving, whether that be by court mandate or of their own volition, there will be a celebration in Richmound.
“When you see this kind of stuff happening in your village or town, don’t just sit there and talk the talk,” warned Miller. “You have to walk the walk. You need to stand up and do the work for the sake of your kids and grandkids.”
Miller noted that with some additional funding, he believes they could have resolved this issue much sooner. He does not condone vigilantism.
“You have to do this right, and you can’t take it too far,” said Miller. “But a precedent will hopefully be set today in court on the consequences people like this face.”