[IPSM] OPP Weaponry and Escalation: Update on the Struggle for the Culbertson Tract

[stef at tao.ca]

** please circulate far and wide **

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OPP Weaponry and Escalation:
Update on the Struggle for the Culbertson Tract
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Update from the Tyendinaga Support Committee
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While the quarry site, part of the disputed Culbertson Tract, has
remained under Mohawk reclamation since March 2007, the Mohawks of
Tyendinaga recently successfully halted another non-Native development
effort on the Tract – this successful action led to a series of
alarming and serious events.

In late April, a Kingston realtor, Emile Nibourg, made loud public
plans to begin construction on the Culbertson Tract, culminating in a
written commitment to bring a crew of "25 to 30 guys" to the site.
The Mohawks of Tyendinaga responded by closing roads immediately
adjacent to the proposed site, which they held for several days.
While the OPP swat team was eventually brought in to remove the
Mohawks from the roads, no confrontation ensued, and Nibourg backed
away from his plans to build on stolen land.

Several days later, after the roads had been reopened, Mohawk
spokesperson Shawn Brant was arrested during an interview he was
conducting with APTN. Shawn's final words during his arrest on Friday
were "This is it, justice for first nations communities: lock us up.
Anybody who speaks out, lock-em up. KI6, Bob Lovelace: lock-em
up...Don't fix the problems, lock-em up."

Despite the reporting in mainstream press, Shawn Brant's arrest on
Friday, April 25th stemmed from an incident that took place days
before. Specifically, Shawn Brant has been charged for his role in
preventing further attacks on two Mohawk woman and a young child by
racist rednecks from the town of Deseronto (see below for more on
Shawn's arrest).

Supporters rushed to the quarry after watching or hearing of Shawn's
arrest.  His arrest sparked off police actions that led to the jailing
of four other Mohawks, the OPP pulling their weapons on community
members at the reclaimed quarry site, and a weekend of tense
stand-offs and road blockades.  Psychological warfare on the part of
the police resulted in a tense face-off between the OPP and community
members that lasted for days.

The same weekend, Six Nations community members erected a blockade of
the Highway 6 bypass, near Caledonia, in support of the Tyendinaga
Mohawks. This blockade was not removed until Six Nations received
confirmation that the OPP had withdrawn from the Mohawks of
Tyendinaga.

Following Shawn's arrest, Matt Kunkel, Clint Brant, Dan Doreen, and
Steve Chartrand were charged and jailed.  Dan, spokesperson for the
earlier Mohawk road closures on Highway 2, and Steve have since been
released with strict conditions. A couple from the community who were
also arrested by the OPP were later were released unconditionally.
Matt and Clint, along with Shawn, remain in maximum-security pre-trial
custody in Quinte Regional Detention Centre in Napanee, until trial.

Ontario has opted for the incarceration of First Nations people over
the resolution of outstanding land issues as their status quo.  As for
the Ontario Provincial Police, it appears the adoption of Justice
Linden's Ipperwash Inquiry recommendations is experiencing some delay.
During the road closures in Deseronto, an OPP officer on the scene
audibly commented to her colleagues, "We should just shoot them
(Mohawks) all."  Following the arrests of the 5 Mohawks, the OPP
claimed to have seen 'one long gun' at the quarry site, prompting the
officers on the scene to pull their weapons out.  The Mohawks at the
quarry were not armed.  The memories of Dudley George have not faded.
And while in custody at the Napanee OPP Detachment, several different
officers repeatedly informed Shawn Brant that they were going to "slit
his throat".

Once again, for his role as a spokesperson in the community, Shawn
Brant is facing trumped-up charges. These new charges were laid less
than two weeks after Shawn Brant was acquitted of charges alleging
that he threatened Canadian Forces soldiers during a demonstration to
prevent development of the Culbertson Tract in 2006. Shawn is now
forced to remain in jail at least until his trial on these latest
charges, which is to take place in mid-June.  Further updates on those
charged will be coming soon.

As well as dealing with five of their community members now facing
charges, the people of Tyendinaga are also facing another serious
challenge. The OPP has struck a deal with the Band Council to build a
new police station on Tyendinaga territory, ostensibly for the
Tyendinaga Reserve Police force (employed by the OPP). Community
members have questioned why the four-man force needs a bullet-proof,
5,000-square-foot facility. An identical structure on Mohawk land the
Akwesasne Reserve in Quebec is now home not only to the local Reserve
cops, but also to the OPP and the RCMP.   The deal between the Band
Council and the OPP, in which the Band will spend $1.2 million on the
new station, with an additional $1 million contributed by the Province
of Ontario and Stockwell Day's Federal Ministry of Public Safety, was
made without proper consultation with the community. The Men's and
Youth Councils, who meet at the recently constructed community
longhouse, have openly voiced their opposition to the station, saying
the money is needed more urgently elsewhere on the reserve.
Meanwhile, construction on the new station has, as of printing time,
now begun.

The Province of Ontario refuses to take responsibility for the actions
of its police force, the OPP, while also continuing to abdicate
responsibility for their role in the licensing of the non-Native
quarry operations.  The quarry itself now sits partially flooded,
while the Mohawks continue their reclamation of the site until
government acts to return it to them.  The federal government
continues to languish at the negotiation table, while making noise in
the mainstream press about crackdowns on the Native cigarette
industry, and the land – long acknowledged as belonging to the Mohawks
– remains unreturned.

The Tyendinaga Support Committee
May 13, 2008

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Letters to Prison:

Please send letters to the men in jail:

Shawn Brant
Clint Brant
Matt Kunkel
c/o
Quinte Detention Centre
89 Richmond Blvd
Napanee, ON K7R 3S1

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Shawn Brant's Arrest – Statement by Sue Collis, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

(May 4th, 2008) Eight days ago, on Friday, April 25th, 2008, my
husband, Shawn Brant, was arrested and detained on assault and weapons
charges.  Since that time, Commissioner Julian Fantino and the Ontario
Provincial Police have issued public statements that have, it seems,
misstated the events leading to my husband's arrest.

I believe it is important to the public good for people to understand
the circumstances that have lead to Shawn's incarceration at this
time. Those circumstances are as follows:

On Sunday, April 20th, 2008, the community of Tyendinaga responded to
threats from a Kingston developer to bring "a crew of 25 to 30 guys",
in order to begin development on a property which falls within in the
Culbertson Tract land claim.  Mohawks from Tyendinaga did peaceful
road closures on Highway 2, adjacent to this proposed development site
on Mohawk land.

My husband Shawn has been living and complied with very strict
conditions imposed when he was charged in relation to community rail
and highway blockades on the June 2007 Aboriginal Day of Action. One
of his conditions is not to attend protests. During the evening of
Monday, April 21st, 2008, my husband was some distance away from the
road closures erected in response to the Kingston developer, talking
to a Tyendinaga community member, while he also checked a nearby creek
for fish.

During this conversation, Shawn became aware of some commotion down
the road, and made his way towards the commotion, parking his car some
50 feet away from where a small group of people was gathered on one
side of the road.  The first thing Shawn saw a 10-year-old girl
shaking and crying uncontrollably.  He had no idea what was going on.
As he approached the scene, someone yelled "Shawn help us!" The little
girl screamed, "They hurt my Mommy! They're gonna hurt my Mommy."
Someone else yelled, "He has a ball bat!"  At this time, Shawn noticed
two trucks were parked facing the people who were in obvious distress.
 Shawn returned to his car and retrieved his fishing spear.  By the
time Shawn returned to where the people were gathered, the occupants
of the trucks were back inside their vehicles.  Shawn shouted at the
occupants of the trucks to leave.  The windows were so tinted that he
could not make out their faces.  The drivers of the trucks sped away
with such force that one of their truck tires was raised in the air,
spraying much gravel and stone at the women and the child, some of
which they later discovered was imbedded in their skin.

Shawn turned his head to avoid catching stones in the face, and held
out his spear in an effort to create some distance between the group
of Mohawks and the trucks, out of concern that those in the vehicles
would strike those on the road with their vehicles.  The trucks then
sped away. That is the extent of Shawn's interaction with the
individuals he is now charged with assaulting. To be clear, he is
charged with assaulting the men in the trucks.

A 911 call was made during this incident on April 21st, 2008, in which
the trucks' licence plates were recorded.  Shortly thereafter, the
women made statements to the police, identifying the men driving the
trucks as known Deseronto inhabitants, subsequently identified as
Jamie Lalonde and Mike Lalonde. The women also testified in police
statements that one of the men swung a club at them, drove one of the
trucks into them, and threatened further violence. The women also
described being injured by flying stones, and described the trauma
endured by the young girl. No one but Shawn has been charged.

The men from Deseronto sought out this group of people, deliberately
caused them injury and issued threats of further violence.  They were
targeted for assault and abuse for no other reason than that they are
Native.  The actions taken by the men from Deseronto were driven by
bigotry and racial hatred.  By definition, these were hate crimes.
Again, no one but Shawn has been charged.

The men are presumed to have filed a complaint against my husband,
resulting in a police search of his car on Friday, April 25th, when
his fishing spear was taken from his car, and charges of assault and
possession of a weapon – the spear – were laid.  My husband remains in
prison, in maximum security, as a result.

It is our understanding that the prosecution is seeking yet another
publication ban on all future court proceedings in this matter.  A
pattern has emerged with respect to my husband, Shawn Brant. The
police and prosecution make sensational and vilifying statements about
Shawn in the media, and then seek a publication ban during court
proceedings, when the actual evidence is introduced. The starkly
different narrative of events that emerges in court is withheld and
the public forbidden from hearing it. The version of events I have
just presented will all but disappear.

Less than a month ago, my husband was acquitted of charges he carried
for more than 18 months.  When issuing the ruling in this acquittal,
the judge described the investigative practice and evidence employed
and presented by the cops and the Crown as "problematic" and
"troubling," as they related to Shawn.  During this same period, CBC
Radio aired a documentary in which several Mohawk people recounted
conversations with OPP Commissioner Fantino that occurred during the
2007 Aboriginal Day of Action, in which they say he threatened to
"ruin" Shawn.  During Shawn's detention at the Napanee OPP detachment
last week, several different police officers threatened to "slit his
throat" and "cut off his head."

As I deal with the tears of young children who have been robbed of
their father once again, Commissioner Fantino claims the OPP is an
apolitical and professional organization, dedicated to upholding the
rule of law.  The events of the past week indicate it is anything but.

- Sue Collis
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

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For more information and to find out what you can do, please visit:
http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

Tyendinaga Support Committee
support.tmt at gmail.com
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