|
Some of you may remember
Dudley George, native activist
who was machine gunned down by the OPP several years ago while defending
his land (he was unarmed). His
brother Pierre George has been working for justice on this
issue ever since. This, unfortunately has drawn the OPP's attention to
him.
Below is:
No
Justice no peace...
Please distribute
widely.
Chronological
account of recent incidents with the OPP
Spring 1996
While on the way home from the movies in Sarnia, Ontario, we were stopped
by a Forest Ontario Provincial Police officer just after turning from
London Line onto Forest Road. Pierre was driving. He was not speeding,
swerving, there were no problems with the vehicle. The cop said that he
stopped us because it was after 1am when all the drunks are out. He drove
past us on London Line as we were making the turn, and turned around to
come after us & pull us over. We did not give this incident much thought
at the time, we just took it at face value for what the cop said it was.
Saturday, April
13, 2002
We were on the way home from a Anti-G8 meeting in London, Ontario when
we were stopped by OPP officers from the Petrolia Detachment. It was an
extremely foggy night around 11pm when Pierre, who was driving turned
off of London Line onto the Arkona Road. There were no other cars in sight.
After traveling a short distance northbound on Arkona Road, Pierre noticed
headlights approaching behind us at a very high rate of speed. Pierre
said, “Watch, that’ll be the cops.” Sure enough, the flashing lights came
on to pull us over.
Two cops got out of the cruiser, one approached on each side of our car.
The cop on the passenger side of the car shone his flashlight into the
backseat and commented that the whole family was in the vehicle. The cop
on Pierre’s side asked for his drivers license. Pierre said that he didn’t
have to give him anything, and refused to. He gave the cop his name, and
told him to get the rest of the info from the plates. He came back asking
for Pierre’s date of birth because they couldn’t find any “Pierre” George
in their system. He asked whose car it was since the plates came up in
Carolyn’s name. After perhaps 15 minutes or so we left.
Sunday, May 5, 2002
While driving home from a Mayday Conference in Kitchener, Ontario where
Pierre had spoken about police brutality on Saturday, May 4, 2002, we
were stopped in a dark, unlit area of Highway 7 between Ailsa Craig and
Parkhill, Ontario.
We were near the Parkhill Conservation Area and traffic was sparse. There
were no lights behind us, then suddenly headlights appeared in the rearview
mirror and flashing lights came on to pull us over. It was 12:10 am. Pierre
was driving, Carolyn was dosing in the passenger side, and Lakota was
sleeping soundly in the back seat.
The cop came up to driver’s side window which Pierre had rolled down an
inch or so, to be able to talk to the cop. The cop asked how he was today?
Pierre replied fine, until he’d seen the cop. The cop asked why’s that
and Pierre replied that he didn’t like them and showed him his T-shirt
with Dudley’s picture on it. The cop immediately raised his voice and
asked for Pierre’s driver’s license.
Pierre said no, he wouldn’t show him anything. The cop leaned down real
close and yelled, “I can arrest you, Sir!” The cop also sneered that Pierre
was “not on the reserve now!” and that he was obligated to show him his
drivers license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. (This was
the one and only time that the officer requested to see the insurance
or registration.)
As soon as the officer said the word “arrest”, Pierre decided definitely
not to hand anything over. Carolyn got the cell phone out and started
dialing numbers. We contacted legal assistance from the place where we
had been for the conference, placed some calls to media and finally ended
up on the phone with Pierre’s cousin in London, Ontario.
When the cop went back to the rear of our car, Pierre rolled his window
up and opened the sunroof. Carolyn could hear the Cop talking on his radio,
saying, “I think it Pierre George”. Within seconds, there was a second
cruiser that arrived from behind, spun around and pulled right up infront,
boxing the car in and shining his bright headlights into the car. (Pierre
had the interior lights on from the beginning, so that the cop could see
inside.)
Cop #2 got out of his car and approached the passenger side, tapped on
the window and asked Carolyn to roll the window down. Carolyn looked at
him, made eye contact, and looked away. He then moved to the front corner
of the car and looked in at Pierre, saying, “Yeah, that’s him!”. (We learned
at a later date the name of Cop #2 is Officer Gruschovnik.
One has to wonder at his ability to stand there and so quickly make a
definite identification of Pierre. Perhaps this Gruschovnik was a participant
in the events that took place at Stoney Point (Ipperwash) in 1995.)
From there, they
really escalated the situation! One officer on each side of the car, yelling
at us to open the windows, and threatening to smash the windshield if
we didn’t. Cop #2 began to bang on the passenger window near the back.
Lakota, already awakened by the cops’ yelling, was scared. When the policemen
began hitting the windows, Carolyn told Lakota to put his coat over his
head, he was terrified. He began to cry, and when Cop #1 threatened to
come in through the sunroof, Lakota cried loudly. Carolyn climbed into
the backseat to comfort Lakota and to cover his head and face with a sweatshirt.
Cop #1 said something about Pierre being a suspended driver. Pierre informed
him that he was not suspended and eventually showed him his license by
holding it up against the window.
The cops thought that Pierre was talking to a lawyer on the cell phone
and asked to speak to the lawyer. Pierre handed the cell phone to Cop
#2 through the sunroof. As soon as Cop #2 realized that Pierre’s cousin
was not a lawyer, he hung up on her and took the phone back to his cruiser.
He did not offer to give the cell phone back until he was ready to go.
Pierre told him that he did not want the phone back.
Cop #2 set it on the
roof and went back to his cruiser. Cop #1 had been writing tickets and
delivered them to Pierre through the sunroof. Both cops left immediately
after issuing the tickets. They were both gone as quickly as they had
arrived, back in the same direction that they had come from. It was approximately
12:50 am.
After all of the escalation,
with the police officers yelling, threatening to smash their way into
the car, and then hitting on the car windows, these 2 cops suddenly went
very calm once the tickets were being written. Each officer was sitting
in his own cruiser. Cop #2 informed Pierre over loud speaker that Cop
#1 was writing up his tickets and then he’d be on his way. Their voices
were now calm when they came back to the car to deliver the tickets and
the cell phone. Totally opposite from their earlier behaviour, which reinforces
in our minds that their prior actions were just an act of intimidation.
Monday, June 17,
2002
Pierre was stopped yet again by the OPP while driving home from the train
station in London, Ontario (Pierre had just been returning from an Anti-G8
conference in Ottawa, Ontario). Pierre had just turned off of Highway
81 onto Townsend Line and was traveling west, when a cop appeared behind
him and pulled him over. The first words out of the officer’s mouth were,
“Are you all right Sir?”. Pierre’s response was a rather loud, “Of course
I’m all right! What are you stopping me for! I’m getting tired of you
guys harassing me!”
The cop replied that
Pierre had made a wide turn back there, and he had stopped Pierre to see
if he was all right. He then asked for Pierre’s driver’s license. Pierre
refused, said that he had not been doing anything wrong and was pissed
off that the cops keep harassing him.
Pierre handed the
officer a photocopy of the article that had appeared in the June 12, 2002
edition of the London Free Press dealing with the incident that had taken
place in May when the cops had threatened to smash the car windows. Pierre
told him his name and told him to get the rest of the info from the plate.
Pierre told the officer that he was going to leave and that the cop could
chase him down if he wanted, but either way, he was leaving. Pierre drove
away. The cop did not follow. (note: this police officer never asked for
insurance or vehicle registration).
Thursday, June
20, 2002 @10:30am
Pierre and Carolyn met with Chuck Wesley of the OPP Professional Standards
Bureau at Tim Horton’s in Forest, Ontario. This meeting was in response
to the complaint that Pierre filed with the OPP regarding the behaviour
of the two officers on May 5, 2002.
Before the meeting began, Chuck Wesley offered tobacco to Pierre. Pierre
stated that he accepted the tobacco in the eyes of the Creator and that
Chuck was now bound by Pierre's acceptance of that tobacco. We discussed
in detail what happened at each of the last four times, that Pierre has
been stopped by the OPP. Pierre also noted the differences between how
the OPP officers conducted themselves and how, when legitimately stopped
by the Sarnia Police, on two occasions for speeding, the manner of the
Sarnia Police officers was professional, courteous and of much higher
conduct than that of the OPP. Pierre said that he’d like to see some form
of criminal charges come out of this investigation.
Saturday, June
22, 2002
Pierre went to the post-office to pick up the mail. There was a registered
for him from the Petrolia OPP Detachment. It was an invitation to attend
a meeting at 1pm on Thursday, June 27, 2002 where they could go over the
traffic laws with him. Pierre called up the Petrolia Detachment and told
them he would not be there.
Tuesday, July 16, 2002 @ approx. 8:55am
Pierre answered a knock on the front door. There stood an officer from
the Forest OPP Detachment with a summons to appear in London Ontario Court
on Monday, July 22, 2002 at 9:00 am. The Forest officer did not know who
the summons was from. It is regarding the incident in the truck on June
17, 2002 on the way back from London. The offense on the summons is “Fail
to surrender driver’s license”. Pierre called the London Court building
and they said they did not know who it was from either. Pierre then called
the Strathroy OPP Detachment and they did not have him on their Log there.
By process of elimination, Pierre has determined that the summons must
be from the Parkhill Detachment, nearly one month later.
Pierre’s
Thoughts ...
On Tuesday, July 16, 2002, after receiving the summons, I phoned Chuck
Wesley from the OPP Professional Standards Bureau and asked him if he
got the name of another officer that Cop #2 had referred to on May 5th.
Mr. Wesley said that
“maybe” he could the radio transmissions from that night. It’s been close
to a month since we met with Chuck Wesley, and basically nothing has really
happened. So, I told him to more or less, never mind, if I had threatened
or hit the window of a police car, I would have been arrested and charged
within hours. Chuck Wesley cannot serve two masters. After
seeing the slow moving pace with which the investigation is moving, I
have lost faith in him.
In the June 12, 2002
London Free Press article, Native Liaison Co-ordinator of the Ontario
Provincial Police, Sgt. Glenn Trivett said that the force would take serious
action against any abuse of police authority. “ ‘...We would rigorously
prosecute officers in our force that would do that in any circumstance,’
he said. ‘But
especially after what the entire George family has been through, (with
the death of Dudley).’” It seems to me, that the OPP are running a Cointel-style
of campaign against my family, to attempt to disrupt our family harmony.
The bottom line is also the fact that it is also a form of intimidation
against a witness to a crime. Remember that Acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane
conceded under Section 42 of the Police Services Act that he failed to
assist a victim of a crime, namely Dudley George.
I witnessed the lack
of help of any police to get help for my brother from Stoney Point to
Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital, in Strathroy, Ontario. The Ontario
Provincial Police no doubt do not like to be reminded of their disastrous
paramilitary assault on the unarmed men, women and children of Stoney
Point on September 6, 1995 in which my brother was brutally sub-machine
gunned down and then his ambulance recalled.
In and for the Spirit
of Dudley,
Pierre George “Mandoka”
Aazhoodena/Stoney Point and Forest
On September 6, 1995
upon delivering my dying brother to the hospital in an unlicensed, unfit
vehicle, I was never asked for my driver's license, vehicle registration,
nor proof of insurance. At that time I guess they were too preoccupied
arresting me on a bogus attempted murder charge. To this day, the OPP
seem to exercise their own discretion when it best fits their agenda.
Time factor as pertaining
to being fed up with this investigation. In regards to the creation of
the Racist "Team Ipperwash '95" memorabilia. Whether you were TRU or ERT
team members, there was an 11 month-long internal investigation after
the police were caught getting it made. The point here is that there was
a 6 month limit to be able to pursue any action against the 6 unknown
OPP officers. Yet, the actual investigation took nearly twice that amount
of time, and then the names were never released to us. Doesn't leave much
chance for justice!
Clarification
of a couple of points...
From: Pierre George
<edited out>
Reply-To: edited out
To: edited out
Subject: Clarification of a couple of points...
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 19:52:31 -0400
Boozhoo Everyone,
I forgot to add a couple of things in my posting last night:
1. In a conversation with OPP Professional Standards Bureau Investigator
Chuck Wesley, I told him that my lawyer on the night of September 6-7,
1995 was Ronald Craig George. I then mentioned to him that Ronald C George
is now in the employ of the Ontario Provincial Police Force. Chuck Wesley
stated that this was a conflict of interest.
2. I also failed to clarify that the full name of the officer that I have
requested Chuck Wesley to find out was referred to as "Vince" by Cop #2
on May 5/02.
Chi Miigwetch for your interest!
In and for the Spirit of Dudley,
Pierre George "Mandoka"
Response
from Pierre George via Gerry Phillips, Liberal MPP to John Zarudny, Provincial
Crown Lawyer
From: Pierre George
Reply-To: carpierre
To: Gerry_Phillips-MPP
CC: Murray Klippenstein
Subject: A Response from Pierre George via Gerry Phillips Liberal MPP
to John Zarudny, Provincial Crown Lawyer...
Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 13:47:01 -0400
(the following is
a 5 page court document followed by Pierre's response)
Court File No 96-CU-99569
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
B E T W E E N :
MAYNARD DONALD GEORGE,
on his own behalf and
MAYNARD DONALD GEORGE as Administrator of the estate of
ANTHONY O'BRIEN "DUDLEY" GEORGE, deceased
Plaintiffs
(Moving Parties)
- and -
MICHAEL D. HARRIS, CHARLES HARNICK, ROBERT RUNCIMAN,
CHRIS HODGSON, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF ONTARIO,
CHRISTOPHER COLES, MARK WRIGHT, JOHN FREDERICK CARSON,
KENNETH DEANE, THOMAS B. O'GRADY, DALE LINTON
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA, MARCEL BEAUBIEN, BILL KING,
and CERTAIN UNNAMED INDIVIDUALS
Defendants
(Her Majesty, Harnick, Runciman and Hodgson, Responding Parties)
___________________________________________________________________________________
AFFIDAVIT OF MAYNARD DONALD GEORGE
____________________________________________________________________________________
I, MAYNARD DONALD
GEORGE, of the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, a Plaintiff in this
action in my personal capacity and as Administrator of the estate of Anthony
O'Brien "Dudley" George, deceased, AFFIRM:
1. I was examined for discovery in this action for eight days in December
2001 and January 2002.
2. Specifically, I
was examined:
by Harold Cares, counsel
for the O.P.P. Defendants, on December 12, 13, 14, and 17, 2001;
by Dennis Brown,
counsel for the Provincial Crown Defendants, on December 18 and 19, 2001;
by Terrence
O'Sullivan, counsel for the Defendant Michael Harris, and
by Douglas Sulman,
counsel for the Defendant Marcel Beaubien, on December 20, 2001;
by Risa Kirshblum,
counsel for the Defendant Bill King, on January 8, 2002; and
by
John Zarudny, co-counsel for the Provincial Crown Defendants, on January
8 and 9, 2002.
I understand that
Gary Penner, counsel for the Attorney General of Canada, did not and does
not intend to examine me for discovery.
3. In other words, I have already been examined for discovery by every
party who wanted to examine me, and in the case of the Provincial Crown
Defendants, I have been examined twice by two different lawyers.
4. Being examined has been emotionally difficult and draining for me because
it has vividly recalled the memory of my dead brother. Despite this difficulty,
I felt that the examinations proceeded in a fairly straightforward manner
until the afternoon of January 8, 2002, when Mr. Zarudny commenced his
questioning.
5. Throughout his examination, Mr. Zarudny asked me many question which
neither I nor my lawyer could possible answer, given that his clients
and their counsel had barred any investigation of key witnesses by my
lawyers.
6. On January 9, 2002, Mr. Zarudny was asking questions about a particular
anonymous letter which my lawyers had received, the authenticity and reliability
of which my lawyers had been unable to investigate because Mr. Brown and
his clients had refused to allow my lawyers to contact any witnesses who
may know about the letter.
7. After Mr. Klippenstein offered to produce the letter in exchange for
confirmation that the Provincial /Crown would permit the plaintiffs to
speak with all the police officers who might know something about the
letter, Mr. Zarudny stated:
"Well, governments
don't bargain with terrorists and I'm not here to bargain with the plaintiffs
today."
8. I was extremely shocked by Mr. Zarudny's comment. It was a terrible
blow and it hit me very hard emotionally. I heard that Mr. Zarudny just
called me, my family, and my dead brother terrorists. My brother died
at the hands of an O.P.P. sniper while trying to protect a sacred burial
ground which had been desecrated over the decades by the provincial government,
and now it appeared to me that Mr. Zarudny was calling him a terrorist
for doing so, and that he was calling me and my family terrorists for
trying to find answers about the events which led to my brother's death
on September 5, 1995 at Ipperwash Park.
Mr. Zarudny's comments
were particularly upsetting to me in light of the horrid attacks in the
United States just a few months earlier carried out by terrorist to whom
which Mr. Zarudny now seemed to be analogizing me, my family, and Dudley.
I was very offended and taken aback by what I thought Mr. Zarudny said.
It was very degrading to be placed in the same category as those who carried
out the appalling attacks on September 11. My reaction was to say, "Excuse
me?"
9. Mr. Zarudny then repeated what he said before:
No, I'm just saying,
governments don't bargain with terrorists, I'm not here to bargain with
the plaintiffs on these matters. I am asking questions - - As a result
of these comments, Mr. Klippenstein adjourned the examination for a few
moments to consult with me.
10. We resumed the examination to advise the other parties that we were
going to adjourn or terminate the examination, but Mr. Zarudny jumped
in to attempt to explain what he meant by his comment, and apparently
to backtrack on what he had said. He stated:
You left the room
after my last question and my sense is that you took some offence to it
and I just want to tell you that certainly no offence was intended. What
I was simply indicating to you when you were asking me to negotiate the
terms of your production of this letter, I was simply indicating to you,
and if I did it clumsily I apologize, but I was simply indicating that
there are certain circumstances where it is inappropriate to negotiate,
and I was simply saying that this discovery is one of those inappropriate
circumstances to negotiate.
11. Subsequently, Mr. Zarudny denied that he analogized me to a terrorist.
Mr. Klippenstein advised that the examination was adjourned or terminated
because of the concerns which he had expressed at the outset of the examinations
that day and because Mr. Zarudny's comments hit me like an emotional explosion.
As Mr. Klippenstein and I were getting up to leave the room, Mr. Zarudny
said: "I certainly never intended any offence to you, Mr. George, and
I'm sorry you took offence. And we'll carry on." Mr. Klippenstein and
I then left the room.
12. Mr. Zarudny wrote a letter to Mr. Klippenstein later on January 9,
2002, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit "A" to the Affidavit
of Santima Centelleghe. His letter states:
"I regret that
your client was offended as a result of the discussion between you and
I this morning... [I]t was never my intention to offend either him or
you. I continue to be mindful of the fact that your client, Mr. George
is sensitive about matters that may be raised during his discovery....I
am sorry if he was offended by anything I said to you...."
The statements in
this letter are similar to the statements which he made on the record
at the end of my discovery on January 9. Though in both instances Mr.
Zarudny expressed his regret that I was offended, he did not apologize
for making the offensive comments or acknowledge that they were inappropriate.
He had never apologized for saying what he did.
I feel that he has
insulted me and my family even further by failing to apologize for making
his comments.
13. Attending discoveries has been very difficult for me. I have had to
take a large amount of time off work, drive over three hours (each way)
from my home on the Kettle and Stoney Point Reserve to Toronto for each
session, and incur significant expenses for my travel and lodging, not
to mention the emotional drain and stresses on my heatlth which the experience
has had on me. I have been prepared to take this trouble because of the
determination that I and my family have to find out the truth of what
happened at Ipperwash in September 1995, which includes answering the
defendants' questions about what I know. However, after being so deeply
insulted, denigrated, and offended, I would not feel comfortable returning
to be cross-examined by the Provincial Crown Defendants' lawyers (especially
Mr. Zarudny), and going through all of the trouble, expense, and stress
which that would involve.
14. In any case, I understand that Mr. Zarudny was about an hour away
from completing his discovery of me when it was adjourned on January 9,
2002.
AFFIRMED before me at the Kettle
and Stony Point First Nation
this 30th day of June, 2002
_________________________________
_________________________________
A Commissioner for taking Affidavits, etc.
MAYNARD DONALD GEORGE
(signed by Murray Klippenstein)
(signed by Maynard Donald George)
In Response to Sam's and Murray Klippenstein's Action of Walking Out of
the Courtroom:
This was an opportunity
in which Sam should have stood and responded by reminding Mr. Zarudny
the Provincial Government lawyer of the freedoms which he himself enjoys
today, based on the sacrifices of many men and women who signed their
names on the dotted line to enlist in World War II to fight for our freedoms
and for the freedoms of generations to come.
Mr. Zarudny stated
that "governments don't bargain with terrorists, and I'm not here
to bargain with the plaintiffs today."
Well, Mr. Zarudny,
both of my parents, Reginald Ransford George, and Genevieve Pauline George
(nee Rogers) served in World War II. I find your comments very libelous,
defamatory and utterly disgusting. You sir, ought to be ashamed of yourself,
taking advantage of the right to express yourself. There is no words or
thoughts that you can offer to me Pierre George and family in calling
the George's terrorists. I was never armed, never blew up any buildings,
but have shot my mouth off at some politicians! So, what is your basis
for likening us to terrorists?
In making your statement
Mr. Zarudny, you have slandered the memory of my mother and father. And
once again, you have shown yourself to be of the same caliber of Michael
D. Harris.
|
