UPDATED – The Hamilton Spectator has published the first story based on quotes from Christie Blatchford’s book, Helpless.
(Note that the date of the meeting with Inspector Getty described in paragraph 3 was actually April 28/06, not Feb 28th as shown. The meeting occurred eight days after the disastrous raid of April 20/06):
CALEDONIA It was a bizarre display of self-congratulation for an OPP commander whose elite squad had been publicly humiliated by a group of crudely armed native protesters only eight days before.
Instead of removing protesters from Douglas Creek Estates (DCE), members of the OPP tactical team were themselves pelted with rocks, attacked with clubs and other makeshift weapons and driven off the occupation site as television cameras rolled.
But on Feb. 28, 2006, two months after the protesters took over the subdivision, Inspector Mel Getty held a meeting to praise his troops for their handling of the volatile situation.
He declared the operation a smashing success and defied anybody to disagree with him. “If anyone doesn’t agree, you can leave the door right now,” he stated while pointing to the exits.
According to Globe and Mail columnist Christie Blatchford’s new book, Helpless, Getty then said something even more astonishing. The new mission, he stated, was for the OPP to protect “natives from non-natives.” It was the first time a superior officer had told them they should be treating people differently because of their racial background. […]
- Oct 15/10: Hamilton Spectator: A nightmare of fear and anarchy
CBC News coverage of April 20/06 failed OPP raid
Note how occupiers complain of police use of force, but are proud to say they resisted arrest.
- CBC News, April 20/06: Failed OPP Raid on Douglas Creek Estates
OPP testimony about the violence by native occupiers
- Journalist’s Quick Reference Evidence Guide re OPP testimony [PDF, 9p] (see Officer Jeff Bird, p5)
- related: VoiceofCanada, Dec 22/09: Brown-Chatwell trial: crimes against democracy
Photos from raid
Canadian citizens forced to carry ‘passports’
After the abortive April 20, 2006 raid the protesters had set up checkpoints around the 40-hectare residential subdivision, issued passports to residents and imposed curfews. Debbie Thomson, who was forced to go through the checkpoints, told Blatchford the protesters had even threatened to body search her. But they backed off when she told them to get lost.
- Oct 15/10: Hamilton Spectator: A nightmare of fear and anarchy
When CANACE co-founders Merlyn Kinrade and Mark Vandermaas visited another traumatized Sixth Line Family – the Dudychs – they were shown a sample of the pass native protesters forced them to carry.
- Caledonia Victims Project, April 13/10: Caledonia’s youngest hero: 14 year old Pam ‘Dancer’ Dudych
A new mission begins April 28/06: protect criminals from their victims
The photos of broken windows and body damage to OPP vehicles provide a hint of the violence by native protesters that chased officers from the site.
The Spectator article contains the merest hint at the many other shocking details about the OPP’s racial policing policies exposed in Helpless, including that the OPP – after being attacked by hundreds of native protesters with weapons – now had a new mission:
“According to Globe and Mail columnist Christie Blatchford’s new book, Helpless, Getty then said something even more astonishing. The new mission, he stated, was for the OPP to protect “natives from non-natives.”
- Oct 15/10: Hamilton Spectator: A nightmare of fear and anarchy
Resources
- ‘HelplessByBlatchford’: News & Reviews
- Caledonia Victims Project: www.CaledoniaVictimsProject.ca
- CANACE feature: Race-Based Policing
POSTED BY: Mark Vandermaas, info@caledoniavictimsproject.ca
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