Two years after the 2006 occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates by native protesters, Caledonia resident Dave Brown was showing signs of emotional instability and readily admits he was "going a little crazy."
Brown and his family are suing the Ontario government and the OPP for $7 million for effectively abandoning them to a state of lawlessness they say exists to this day on the property next door to their house that is occupied by Haudenosaunee Six Nations protesters.
Brown, 42, has testified about numerous incidents in which he alleges bullying, harassment and threatening by native protesters. He says stress and the resulting absenteeism got him fired from his job. The occupation and road barricades forced the closure of his wife's hair salon and left them bankrupt.
Brown blames the constant volatility and anxiety for hurting his relationships with his wife and stepson and his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Brown, who is generally outgoing and at times, brash, admits he was drinking heavily, using cocaine and abusing over-the-counter medications to help him cope with the daily stress.
Under a third day of cross-examination by government lawyer David Feliciant, Brown admitted yesterday that his frustration led him to make bizarre threats of his own, including putting a steak knife through a senior Crown lawyer's heart and blowing up an OPP substation in Caledonia.
Feliciant asked Brown about another incident in April 2008 in which he threatened to go to Queen's Park and get himself arrested for assault. Incensed that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty would agree to pay $12.3 million for the Douglas Creek Estates but refused to buy out his property, Brown said he wanted to "take a run at McGuinty and punch that idiot like a schoolboy."
OPP Constable Jeff Bird, who remains a good friend of Brown's, was compelled to report the incident to his supervisors. Bird reportedly felt "Brown had reached his limit and may be capable of carrying out his threats."
Brown responded to Feliciant's questions yesterday by saying he was deeply frustrated and "going a little crazy" at the time. He said his family had been threatened "hundreds of times," the land claim negotiations were going nowhere and police were still refusing to enforce the law in Caledonia.
"I still live in a situation, sir, where I believe the natives are in charge and not the OPP," he told Feliciant.
The plaintiff's wife, Dana Chatwell, is expected to testify today.