Protestors shout "Go away KKK" to McHale,CANACE, Fleming et al

Note: The Administrators of this blog urge that nobody ever attempt to detain and or confine anyone in the manner in which is described by this Caledonia group now called The Caledonia Peacekeepers (formerly "Militia"). The police are the only people trained and qualified to do this. The very idea of an untrained group patrolling the streets looking for people to arrest and detain by force and with such implements as plastic "zip ties" is an extremely dangerous thing to do. We strongly advise everyone to not attempt to do this. All crimes in progress anywhere in any community should be handled with a call to the police. DO NOT TAKE THE LAW INTO YOUR OWN HANDS AT ANY TIME.

Having said that, this article below is re-printed here for news purposes only and not an endorsement in any way.



http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/588329

Not militia, just Peacekeepers

June 23, 2009
Paul Morse
The Hamilton Spectator

CAYUGA - A call to form a “Caledonia militia” was a publicity stunt to draw attention to the OPP’s “refusal to enforce the rule of law” in native disputes in this town along the Grand River, organizers say.


But local activists Doug Fleming and Gary McHale said they want to organize a citizens’ group called Caledonia Peacekeepers which would be willing to use reasonable force to protect private property from trespassers.


“But the fact is that there have been armed militia in Haldimand County for the past three years ... who mask themselves and carry weapons,” said McHale, a well-known anti-native occupation protestor who has drawn the OPP’s ire over his activities. He was referring to native groups involved in occupying or blocking development on land they claim as their own.


At a meeting tonight at the Cayuga Lion's Club attended by 25 to 30 local residents, McHale said the group’s real purpose was to tell the OPP that “we are not going to allow someone to occupy our land. Either you arrest them or I will. You have five minutes.”

While vague on details, Fleming, a local entrepreneur, said the Peacekeepers would respond to owners’ requests to patrol their property and ask any trespassers to move.


“You ask the person to leave ... and if they refuse, all you have to say ‘You are under arrest,’” Fleming said. If they refuse, citizens have the legal right to escalate “reasonable force” to the point of restraining the person, and to even use plastic handcuff-style ties, he said.

At the same time as the meeting, about 70 vocal protesters arrived on buses from Toronto and Kitchener to rally against Fleming’s Caledonia Peacekeepers with shouts of “Go away, KKK.”

“These people have been attracting the support of neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” said Hamilton’s Niki Thorne, an organizer from CUPE Local 3903’s First Nations Support Working Group.


McHale and Fleming said the citizens’ group will create neighbourhood watches and report criminal activity to police.


They will also patrol certain “high crime areas” just like the Guardian Angels, to discourage crime and, in extreme cases, to carry out a citizen’s arrest “which is done hundreds of times each day in Canada,” McHale said.


“This group has to focus the law on the OPP to get them to understand residents will not give up.”

pmorse@thespec.com
905-526-3434