A B.C. ostrich farm fighting an order to kill its 400 birds has become a flashpoint for the far right and people skeptical of both mainstream science and the regulatory powers of governments.

A volunteer researcher with a grassroots group called Unmask the Right says he’s concerned about the involvement of high-profile convoy protesters and people who have threatened violence. Even U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has attacked the cull.

The researcher sent The Tyee a Facebook post by James Sowery, an Alberta man convicted of assault with a weapon related to his actions at the Coutts border protest in 2022, when he drove his truck at an RCMP officer.

In response to Sowery’s AI-generated picture of an army-helmeted ostrich with the tag line “Save our ostriches,” B.C. commenters have called a federal judge “evil” for ruling Tuesday that the CFIA’s cull of the ostrich flock could go ahead. One called for “the gallows” to be brought back so people could watch the government officials who made the decision “draw their last breaths.”