Hollow Victory: Shawn Brant Acquitted of Threat Charges

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Update: April 18, 2008
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On Monday, April 14th, a trial involving highly political charges laid
against Shawn Brant and two other Mohawks from Tyendinaga, ended in
acquittals for two of the three charged. The charges stemmed from a
demonstration that was part of the struggle for the Culbertson Tract.

Shawn Brant was found not guilty on Monday on three charges of
uttering threats at soldiers during a 2006 demonstration against a
proposed development on Mohawk land. Justice Charles Anderson, in
Napanee, Ont., also cleared his co-accused Jerome Barnhart on two
charges of uttering threats and one charge of mischief. Mario 'Skin'
Baptiste Jr., was convicted of two counts of assault soldiers and one
count of mischief for attacking a vehicle. Sentencing of Skin will
occur after the completion of a pre-sentencing report, which could
take eight weeks to prepare.

These particular charges stemmed from an earlier demonstration around
the Culbertson Tract, land which the federal government has long
acknowledged rightfully belongs to the Mohawks but which is
languishing at the negotiation table. On November 15th, 2006, Mohawks
from Tyendinaga erected posters at the site of a proposed 140-home
development project which was later scuttled due to Mohawk resistance
to building on their land. During the protest, five Canadian Military
vehicles were spotted traveling in a convoy through the reserve. In
the context of the history of military involvement in policing Native
protest across Canada, the convoy was seen as a veiled threat. The
Mohawks blocked the vehicles' path with cars and trucks, eventually
allowing the O.P.P. to escort the military away. No one was charged
until two months later - just days after Shawn Brant announced that
Tyendinaga Mohawks planned to take blockade actions as part of the
upcoming June 29th Aboriginal Day of Action, the three Mohawks were
charged.

The defence attorney argued during this trial that the laying of these
charges was politically motivated, in order to ensure that Shawn Brant
would have outstanding legal issues before the Day of Action, and
would likely be held without bail if he participated in any future
blockades. After this week's acquittal, Shawn Brant told reporters, "I
know it weighed heavy on the judges when I was denied bail on two
different occasions." He went on to say, "I spent two months in jail
because of this; I've been on conditions for 18 months. To have them
set aside like this is a hollow victory at best." In addition, Shawn
Brant is the sole Mohawk facing charges in connection with Tyendinaga
Mohawks' highway and rail line blockades in April and June 2007. The
latter blockades happened in conjunction with the Assembly of First
Nations' National Day of Action.

The political nature of this trial, and the on-going criminalization
of Tyendinaga Mohawks around their struggle for the land, continues to
be made clear through the heavy police presence each time the Mohawks
appear in court. On Monday, OPP officers in tactical uniforms were
stationed at the courthouse, and anyone entering was scanned with a
metal detector. People attending the verdict were not allowed to bring
cellphones inside, after being told that explosive devices could be
smuggled in this way.

Similar to previous occasions when Shawn Brant and other members of
his community have gone to court in 2007 and 2008, this excessive
security presence is repeatedly implemented in an effort to influence
the outcome of the court proceedings, and is another form of
intimidation and threat against people who are fighting for their
land.

A CBC documentary aired last month (see below for link), revealed that
OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino had heavily armed tactical units on
hand, to use lethal force against the Mohawks if necessary, in order
to re-open Highway 401, which was shut down during the actions of June
29th. The OPP ignored the recommendations of the Ipperwash Inquiry
Report, which resulted from Dudley George's death, and disregarded
their common practice of obtaining injunctions before considering
using force against indigenous occupations.

The lengths to which the colonial state, cops, and courts are prepared
to go, in their efforts to repress and destroy indigenous resistance
and struggle for sovereignty, self-determination, and justice, is laid
bare by these facts. Shawn Brant goes to trial in January 2009,
facing a possible 12 years in a federal penitentiary.

The personal sacrifice and the tremendous price he stands to pay for
his leadership and courage warrant our utmost efforts to ensure Shawn
Brant does not go to trial isolated and unawares of the depth of
respect and support that exists across Turtle Island, and how deeply
tied the struggle for social justice must be with First Nations
peoples. It is vital that people of conscience act to support the
Mohawks of Tyendinaga.

The Tyendinaga Support Committee
support.tmt@gmail.com

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WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Listen to the recent CBC radio documentary:
The Long Hot Summer
The Current CBC Radio 99.1FM
Link to hear the documentary at:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2008/200803/20080326.html

In June 2007, thousands of native Canadians turned out for the
national Aboriginal Day of Action, a day of peaceful protest designed
to educate non-native Canadians about the issues that plague native
communities. Despite concerns of violence, the day came and went more
or less peacefully. Those in power -- native and non-native --
congratulated each other on how well it all went and concluded that
the predicted "long, hot summer" of aboriginal discontent had been
skillfully, peacefully and -- in the most Canadian of ways -- quietly
averted. But that very nearly wasn't the case. And the day came closer
than most people realize to ending with a violent confrontation.
Freelance broadcaster Susanna Kelley investigated what happened that
night.

2. Donate money to the Tyendinega Legal Defence Fund, which divides
funds raised between Shawn's legal costs and maintaining the quarry
reclamation site. Cheques can be made out to "Tyendinaga Legal
Defence Fund" and mailed to the address below.

3. Host a facilitated workshop or information session with a member of
the Tyendinaga Support Committee. Contact us at support.tmt@gmail.com

4. Put forward a resolution in your local or organization in support
of Shawn Brant and the struggle of the
Tyendinaga Mohawk community to reclaim their land.

5. Officially endorse the TSC campaign to support Shawn Brant's legal
defence and the quarry reclamation site by contacting us at
supporttmt@gmail.com

6. In Toronto, contact us to become actively involved in the work of
the TSC and come to one of our meetings.

7. Visit our website to sign an online petition or to join our
mailing list: http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

Tyendinaga Support Committee
c/o 10 Britain St. Toronto ON
M5A 1R6
support.tmt@gmail.com
http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html
_______________________________________________
Tyendinaga_support mailing list
Tyendinaga_support@masses.tao.ca

CALL FOR ART SUBMISSIONS::::FREE SHAWN BRANT

* please forward widely **
__________

CALL FOR ART SUBMISSIONS ::: PUNCHCLOCK SHOWCASE no.2 ::::FREE SHAWN BRANT

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!SUBMISSION DEADLINE TOTALLY
CHANGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://punchclock.org/submissionsfreeshawnbrant

Punchclock is calling all artists on Turtle Island and beyond to
submit art to our upcoming show Shawn Brant Is No Criminal. The show
will take place from MAY 16th to 18th at Whippersnapper Gallery,
and will be host to a LIVE music show . It will feature art by
indigenous, and anti-colonial artists all over. Money from the door
will go to Shawn's Legal Fund- Money from the Art sales will go to
Shawn or the Artist.

WHO IS SHAWN?

Shawn Brant is a Mohawk activist and friend of ours who landed in jail
a few months ago on a cocktail of charges. His most recent offense is
that he participated in a blockade which you might remember - it shut
down the rail lines between Montreal and Toronto. This happened during
the Day of Action for native rights in Canada - a day meant to call
attention to the ridiculously long and ineffective process that the
state has put in place in order to settle Aboriginal land claims.

Below are a few links so you can learn more about him. He was denied
bail for a long time, but is now out, awaiting trial in 2009. Stakes
is high - the prosecution is seeking 12 years of incarceration in
penitentiary. Atrocious.

BACKGROUND RESOURCES ABOUT SHAWN

News about the day of action that landed him in jail:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/06/28/protest-aboriginal.html

Official Support Site:

http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

This is a cool interview that happened way back ago. but it gives you
a sense of the man.

http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/brant.html

Youtube of Shawn speaking at the PArkdale Activity Recreation Centre

http://youtube.com/watch?v=udsVBwdY41M


SUBMISSION INFO

**** HAS BEEN CHANGED - Submissions deadlines: April 1st, 2008

Please e-mail us with your intent to submit art prior to sending it-
so we know it's coming and don't freak out because artists are so
tardy with the mail post, and all that.

email: punchclock.printing(*)gmail.com, and we'll tell you where to send it...

WE WILL PAY FOR THE SHIPPING COST IF YOU CAN'T DON'T WORRY.


PROCEEDS FROM ART CAN GO TO THE ARTIST OR SHAWN, DEPENDING ON WHAT THE
ARTIST WANTS.

For information about Punchlcok go to: www.punchclock.org

Free Shawn Brant: Taking A Serious Stand 5-9

Part 5



Part 6



Part 7



Part 8



Part 9

Free Shawn Brant: Taking A Serious Stand 1-4

A panel including Sue Collis, Howard Morton, Natercia Coelho, and Naomi Klein on the criminalization of Native resistance to colonization, the political persecution of Shawn Brant, and the struggle of the Tyendinaga Mohawk community.

http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stoplicensingplunder/index.html

Part One



Part Two



Part Three



Part Four

Stop the State Repression of Indigenous Peoples

"Global Oppression Intense as Indigenous Peoples Rise Up and Organize."

by Brenda Norrell
Narcosphere

www.narconews.com/

"Global oppression has intensified as Indigenous Peoples are organizing at the international level to control their resources and halt oppression. Maori leaders in the sovereignty, environmental and peace movements have been arrested. Tame Iti is in prison without bail. New Zealand authorities are attempting to brand the Maori as terrorists.
New Zealand is under international pressure to adhere to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the U.N., which recognizes the right of Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands. Earlier, New Zealand, the United States, Australia and Canada voted against the UN Declaration.

Just now, Wednesday morning (October 17) the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has announced it will revisit its ruling halting a plan to make snow from sewer water on sacred San Francisco Peaks, a place of healing ceremonies and healing plant gathering for 13 area Indian Tribes. The federal Appeals Court said it is responding to pressure from the United States and Snowbowl Ski Resort.

In the south, the military oppression is unabated in Chiapas and Oaxaca, while mining corporations crush communities in Central and South America.
All of this comes at the same time that Zapatistas are organizing at the international level and Indigenous Peoples are fighting the corporate destruction — copper and gold mining, oil drilling, coal mining, power plants, uranium mining and nuclear dumping & from the Andean highlands in South America to the Inuit in Alaska and Aboriginals in Australia, and uniting in solidarity.

At the same time in Canada, Indian Nations are rising up to protect their ancestral territories, resisting colonization and the seizure of their lands for uranium mining, housing developments and oil drilling, as the Bush administration rushes to seize the oil in the melting Arctic."

Solidarity in the Kulin Nations

Kia Ora Koutou Whanau, to all my Relations Greetings & Respect

In the Kulin Nations (Melbourne) we will be holding a solidarity rally on the 27th of October.At Federation Square at 12 noon.

This rally will also be a condemnation of the 4 settler grubbyments that refuse to acknowledge and affirm our rights as Indigenous peoples to exist, to self determination and to sovereignty.Our solidarity will also be extended to out brothers and sisters in Great Turtle Island, as this phenomena of state suppression on Indigenous peoples is nothing new and still a common daily occurrence.

Stop the State Repression of Indigenous Peoples

Solidarity with the Urewera 17! Free them now!

Free Political Prisoners/Drop the Charges

Drop the Charges against Lex Wotoon NOW

Free Tame Iti NOW

Drop the Charges against Shawn Bryant NOW

Free Leonard Peltier NOW

In the Spirit of Indigenous Unity & Solidarity

Respect and Regards to all from my heart.

Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou Ake Ake Ake
Always Was Always Will Be Aboriginal Land.

Sina Brown-Davis
Te Roroa, Te Uriohau, Fale Ula, Vava'u

+61 3 94058449
uriohau(at)gmail.com

Freedom Fighter Brant denied bail-oppressed by setter state

obviously the settler "judge" knows nothing, Shawn is fighting for his people and lands against genocide. Stupid attempt to criminalize Shawn's activism, voice & work. Kia Kaha Bro.

Aug 10, 2007 04:34 PM
Canadian Press

NAPANEE – Aboriginal activist Shawn Brant has been denied bail after a court hearing today in Napanee, Ont.

The judge ruled that if released, Brant would pose a threat to public safety.

Brant, 43, had been granted bail twice before in recent months, but breached conditions of his release when he took part in protests on the Canada Day weekend.

Those protests blocked a main CN Rail artery in eastern Ontario and delayed road traffic.

He was charged with mischief and breach of bail conditions.

About 60 of Brant's supporters, a handful of them dressed in military fatigues, were in the courtroom to watch the hearing.

Earlier, Brant's lawyers had said his respect for his mother would keep him from breaching his bail conditions and engaging in unlawful protest.

Brant's mother had offered a $50,000 surety and pledged to keep an eye on her son and report him to police should he breach his bail conditions.

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/CP_stories.php?id=58823

Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Shawn Brant, a hero in jail

Al Pope, 10 July 2007 My Town

Last week, Tyendinaga Mohawk activist Shawn Brant surrendered to Ontario Provincial Police at Napanee, fulfilling a promise he made during the June 21st National Aboriginal Day of Action, and clearly establishing himself as a great leader.

By negotiating his own surrender, Brant kept the confrontation between his supporters and police from turning violent. By standing his ground against the theft of his people’s land, he’s done more to draw attention to injustice against aboriginal Canadians than all the speeches of all the Grand Chiefs of all time.

The Tyendinaga Mohawks fought on the side of the British during the American War of Independence, under the leadership of Tyendinaga, also known as Joseph Brant. In 1793, in recognition of that service, the Crown signed Treaty 31/2, ceding a parcel of land on the Bay of Quinte to the Mohawks. In 1832, a later government illegally sold off a large chunk of that land, called the Cuthbertson Tract.

The Cuthbertson Tract is Mohawk Land. There is no reasonable legal dispute about this, but 175 years later, the Tyendinaga are still negotiating to get it back. It’s the same old story: on Mohawk land, Secwempec land, Tlingit land, while the federal government drags its feet over land claims, the Province parcels the land out to developers.

Shawn Brant and a group of followers ran afoul of the law when they blockaded a quarry on disputed Mohawk land. Before negotiations began with the federal government, the quarry operator was licensed to haul away 20,000 tonnes of Mohawk land a year. After negotiations began, Ontario increased that annual limit to 180,000 tonnes.

Brant also moved to block a luxury gated community that was to be built on the Cuthbertson Tract. To push his demands for a cessation of development on disputed lands, he blockaded the railway line that runs through Tyendinaga territory.

In the lead-up to the Day of Action, Brant told a meeting of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty what he had been telling frustrated First Nations people for years: “It’s irrelevant if you carry a sign and march down the road.” If you want to get action, he said, “Go stand out in the road.”

Hold a peaceful march and the same political opportunists who’ve been slashing programs and giving away your land will come out and march along to “show solidarity”. Blockade the 401, and the media will come looking for stories. When the reporters come to ask Shawn Brant why his battered school bus is causing “economic hardship” by holding up traffic, he tells them.

He tells them that the theft of his people’s land has never stopped. He tells them that Canada has Native blood on its hands, that 50,000 children died in the residential schools, that the holocaust goes on. He tells them that aboriginal suicides, already a crisis ten years ago, have since doubled. He tells them that as a result of racism and betrayal, his people live in dire poverty, and suffer terrible injustices.

He tells them that the rails and the roads cross Indian Country because the land is cheap, because settlers wouldn’t tolerate them in their backyards, and because nobody gives a damn what happens to the reserves. He tells them that blockades work where placard-waving doesn’t. He tells them freely that his people aren’t seeking violence, but that if the police come shooting, they’d better be prepared for a fight.

Canadians don’t often crown a living hero, and when we do, they’re seldom rebels. We’re more apt to choose uncontroversial symbols: Terry Fox springs to mind, the one-legged runner adored from coast to coast for his courage and determination, and his fight against cancer. Shawn Brant is a different kind of hero, but he’s every bit as brave and determined, and his cause is every bit as just.

Some day we will grow up as a nation. We will atone for our crimes, repay our debts. We’ll stop building ski resorts on stolen land and putting golf courses on burial grounds.

Some day Shawn Brant’s head will be on a Canadian postage stamp. We’re great at recognizing rebel leaders after they’re dead. Tonight, denied bail, he rests his head on a jailhouse bunk, a Canadian hero who gave up his freedom and risked his life for justice.

http://breakallchains.blogspot.com/2007/07/shawn-brant-hero-in-jail.html

Mohawk leader

Mohawk Indian leader Shawn Brant is seen at a railroad line blockade near Deseronto Ontario, June 29, 2007.



Mohawk leader Shawn Brant
REUTERS


NAPANEE, Ont. — The man who led aboriginal protests that snarled traffic on Canada’s busiest highway and blocked a major rail line is in custody after turning himself in to Ontario Provincial Police today.

“I am handing myself in,” Mohawk protester Shawn Brant, 43, told reporters who had gathered outside the provincial police station in this eastern Ontario town for the scheduled surrender.

“It’s tough on people. It’s hard on the family, it’s hard on the kids.”

Brant appeared calm as he arrived at the station in a convoy with fatigue-clad supporters and his lawyers, taking questions from reporters before heading towards the detachment.

Accompanied by his lawyer Peter Rosenthal, Brant was arrested at the doors on a warrant stemming from a blockade of Highway 2 near Deseronto, Ont., last Friday during the national aboriginal day of action.

He has been charged with mischief and breach of his bail conditions. Brant had been out on bail on previous charges related to a 30-hour blockade of the CN rail line near Deseronto in April. One of the conditions of his being granted bail was that he not incite or be involved in any type of unlawful protest.

However, his supporters, who have staged a number of demonstrations to protest an outstanding land claim in the area and poor conditions on native reserves, blocked the rail line again last Friday.

Brant has served jail time before for trashing the offices of politicians.

He is also facing a second lawsuit by CN stemming from his group’s most recent blockade of the rail line, Rosenthal said.

Brant is expected to appear in a Toronto court on Friday. He was denied bail at a hearing in Napanee today.

“We’re just happy that he’s here and we’re dealing with the issues and we’ll move on,” said Const. Jackie Perry. “We’re pleased that things were peaceful. Nobody got hurt.”

Perry declined to comment on reports that police had tried to arrest Brant before he turned himself in, saying it was part of an ongoing investigation.

While Brant may wind up behind bars, he said a 20-year-old successor is waiting in the wings to continue efforts to raise awareness about aboriginal land claims and poverty.

He said no more protests are imminent, but he hopes his actions thus far will be a catalyst for change.

“We came out clearly that we wanted a new direction on First Nation issues and the crises facing our kids, and we can only hope that our actions cause that to happen,” he said.

Before entering the police station, Brant embraced a woman and shook hands with other supporters.

A charge of mischief carries a range of sentence between two and 10 years under the Criminal Code

Keep talking, Shawn

Canadian authorities are trying to silence voices for native land rights. We must all refuse to shut up

Naomi Klein
Wednesday May 23, 2007
The Guardian

After a group of Mohawks from the Tyendinaga reserve blockaded the railway between Kingston and Toronto two weeks ago, a near unanimous cry rose up from the editorial pages of Ontario newspapers and talk radio: Get Shawn Brant. Earlier this month Brant, a beanpole of a man, walked into a packed courtroom with his wrists and ankles shackled after handing himself over to the Ontario provincial police.

According to court testimony, the arrest warrant - on charges of mischief, disobeying a court order, and breach of recognisance - violated an agreement between police and demonstrators, who were given immunity when they peacefully ended the blockade. But Brant worried that the warrant for him would be used as a pretext for raiding a gravel quarry that he and several other community members from Tyendinaga had been occupying for six weeks. "We don't want to bring that into the camp," he told me.

The court granted Brant bail on condition that he is not allowed to "plan, incite, initiate, encourage or participate in any unlawful protest", including those "that interfere in any way with commercial or non-commercial traffic on all public and private roads, airports, railways or waterways".

Why the determination to get Brant, and Brant alone? On the surface, the broken immunity agreement seems sure to inflame tensions. And whatever crimes Brant may have committed, he had plenty of company. But Brant has a theory. "Right now, I'm the voice. They think if they take away the people's voice, the people will stop. They'll see that they're wrong."

Brant is more than a voice. He has become a symbol for the new militancy that is spreading through first nations communities across Canada. Sitting beside the campfire at the occupied quarry a few days ago, he told me that since his childhood people in his community have been telling him to keep quiet. "It used to be, 'Shawn, shut up, don't say those things about the government, they'll cut off our funding'. Now it's 'Shawn, shut up, they'll walk away from the negotiating table'."

The reason Brant isn't willing to let the negotiations take their course is that these talks are designed to take decades. And as the time passes, the land disappears. Forests are clear-cut, mountains are carved up, suburbs creep outward. Ineffective negotiations do not hold the line on an already unacceptable status quo - they contribute to the losing of very real ground.

At the gravel quarry near Deseronto, the loss of land is painfully, insultingly literal. The quarry is on land never ceded by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, a fact the federal government has acknowledged. The only question is what form compensation for the theft will take. The Tyendinaga band council and Ottawa have been negotiating over that question since last November. The problem arose because, as the two parties talked, trucks were carrying 10,000 loads of newly crushed gravel out of the pit every year - an estimated 100,000 tonnes. While they bargained for the land, the land itself was disappearing.

It got worse. There was a pile of wood on the edge of the gravel pit that the people occupying the quarry used to feed their bonfire. As the pile depleted, it became apparent the wood had been covering up a large pile of garbage: old washing machines, leaking industrial batteries, oil filters, hydraulic fluid, bed frames, antifreeze. They explored some more and discovered it was all over the pit: piles of hastily covered junk, some of it half-burned, much of it toxic.

Not surprisingly, the mine has become a powerful metaphor, a vivid illustration of the failures of the negotiation process, and the problems with being patient. While the experts talk, good land is trucked out and toxic junk is trucked in. It's an image with resonance on reservations across the country. It's easy to see why more and more native people are telling Shawn Brant to keep talking.

The final insult came when the federal Tories handed down a budget with next to nothing new in it to address first nations' poverty. It prompted Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine to call for a national day of action on June 29. Though Fontaine insists he is not calling for cross-country blockades, many first nations are already planning them, with talk of a coordinated targeting of key infrastructure, from rails to roads. "It's the same notion as a general strike," Brant explains with a smile.

Everything is lining up for June 29 to be a day for natives to act and the rest of us to whine about late trains and traffic jams. But listening to Brant, it struck me that it could be something else: a day of action on native rights for Canada as a whole, one when we all refuse to shut up.

· Naomi Klein is the author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, to be published in September.

www.nologo.org

**Local News *- NAPANEE — The spokesman in a Mohawk protest at a Deserontoquarry is out on bail on the condition he not participate in any unlawful protests.

Shawn Brant has been ordered to keep the peace and not participate in any protests that block roads, railways or other thoroughfares on or off Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. He will appear in court again June 26.

Brant is charged with mischief, disobeying a court order and breach of recognizance in connection with a 30-hour blockade of a Canadian National rail line April 20. The warrant for his arrest was issued five days later.

Both Crown Attorney Bob Morrison and Brant's lawyer Peter Rosenthal agreed to bail, which was posted by Brant's wife. But Morrison argued for the amendment regarding protesting, citing media articles where Brant "in fact promised" to reoffend by taking the occupation of the Thurlow Aggregates gravel quarry to local highways, railways and the town of Deseronto if the quarry's licence is not suspended.

The blockade caused about 3,500 passengers to make alternate travel arrangements without notice, and Canadian National has said its financial losses are in the millions, Morrison said.

But Rosenthal said Brant was promised immunity from any charges by Ontario Provincial Police officers if the blockade was removed by 6 a.m., which it was. Orders to lay charges anyway, he said, came directly from OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino. Rosenthal read a written account from Napanee OPP Insp. Ron Van Straalen, who said he could see how the conversation would be interpreted as promising immunity.

Rosenthal, a social justice lawyer who represented the family of slain aboriginal Dudley George in the 2004 inquiry in the Ipperwash stand-off, said he will bring that up at the trial. It is "another broken promise to the First Nations community," he said.

"I'm astonished this is taking place at all and that we're before you today," he said.

Brant has been the spokesman for a group of native protesters who have inhabited the quarry since March 22. The quarry is located on the Culbertson Tract, 923.5 acres currently subject to land claim negotiations between the federal government and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. The protesters say they will stay until the quarry's licence is revoked.

Brant turned himself in to Napanee OPP Thursday morning in a surrender previously negotiated by Rosenthal and police. The surrender happened without incident, except it was initiated by a detective other than the one Rosenthal had arranged for, to which Rosenthal objected. Brant, Rosenthal and an officer waited about 15 minutes to complete the arrest until the detective was on the scene.

Before turning himself in, Brant said he and fellow quarry occupiers made the decision because they feared the warrant would detract attention from their cause.

"We don't run, we don't hide and we don't want that suggestion to be made," he said.

Brant appeared at the bail hearing later that day, handcuffed and sitting quietly during the proceedings. The audience was filled with Brant supporters, many of them First Nations people.

Jason Maracle, one of the protesters, said the arrest does not impact the occupation. He was, however, quieter about their future plans.

"We'll leave that up to Canada's spy agencies," he said. "We'll leave it to the experts to figure it out."

OCAP Radio interview
Follow this link (1)http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=22399
or this link (2)http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=22699

to listen to interviews with Shawn Brant, spokesperson, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory conducted for
OCAP Radio on February 28th and April 5th, 2007