[IPSM] CP: 7 of 19 Mohawks convicted over 2004 Kanehsatake unrest

[Jaggi Singh]

Mohawks convicted over 2004 Kanesatake unrest

Canadian Press

Updated: Sat. Oct. 29 2005 11:46 PM ET
SAINT-JEROME, Que.

Seven Mohawks were found guilty Saturday of rioting at an embattled 
native community near Montreal in 2004.

Nineteen suspects stood trial for violence at Kanesatake, west of 
Montreal, the same community that was at the centre of the 1990 Oka 
crisis.

The jury of also found the seven suspects guilty of forcible confinement.
Another six were found guilty of a lesser charge of taking part in an 
illegal protest, while six more were cleared of all charges.

Sentencing arguments will take place on Dec. 13.

The rioters were upset at Grand Chief James Gabriel's attempted crackdown 
on the community's drug trade.

About 50 aboriginal police officers were held hostage in the police 
station and Gabriel's house was later burned to the ground.
Gabriel was forced to flee the community over concerns about his safety, 
while the police officers had to be escorted out of the station three days 
later.

The standoff led to a political and policing crisis that lasted over a 
year and a half.

Two of the 19 suspects will later be tried separately for burning down 
Gabriel's house.

During the trial, jurors watched dramatic videotapes which recorded 
insults and racial taunts being hurled at the confined officers.
They watched as a backhoe and a bulldozer were used to block the police 
station's exits, and as protesters smashed the windshields of several 
squad cars.

The trial lasted five weeks.