Nov 27, 2009
Canadian Press - published in St. Catherines Standard
Videos of two flag-raising protests taken by a Caledonia man whose family is suing provincial police and Ontario government for $7 million were shown in court Thursday.
Dave Brown, 42, recorded the first video May 24, 2009, when a group of about 40 people from Caledonia, a town of about 43,000 residents, rallied with the intent to walk on the side of the road and erect a Canadian flag across from a disputed housing development.
A group of aboriginal people were gathered at the entrance of the former Douglas Creek Estates, which has been occupied since February 2006 by Six Nations members protesting government inaction on their longstanding land claims.
Caledonia resident Randy Fleming suddenly decided to walk on the side of the road toward the disputed land, carrying a Canadian flag.
Provincial police officers immediately closed in and Fleming darted over the ditch toward the occupied property with his flag.
Brown's video caught Fleming being tackled by police, pinned face-down to the ground and surrounded by eight officers.
Fleming was arrested and charged with obstructing police by resisting arrest.
Those charges have since been dropped.
The second video was taken July 15, 2009, when a small group of First Nations people, led by a provincial police cruiser escort, paraded down the centre of Highway 6 from Hagersville all the way to Caledonia.
The marchers carried the Haudenosaunee Six Nations flag and hung the flag of the Mohawk Warriors off their vehicles as the procession made its way into Douglas Creek Estates.
The tape shows traffic backed up behind the parade.
Brown's lawyer, John Evans, asked Brown during his re-examination Thursday if the alleged acts of harassment, taunting, mischief and theft by the protesters have affected his health.
"They come and go, do whatever they want, whenever they feel like it, without any disciplinary action or arrest ... I swear to this day, I'm so exhausted I can't even see straight," Brown said.
He said even when provincial police respond to one of his complaints, they never investigated an aboriginal suspect or make an arrest.
Brown's wife, Dana Chatwell, took the witness box late Thursday and is expected to continue her testimony Monday.
The court is recessed Friday for the funeral of late Justice David Marshall in Dunnville.