Activist Gary McHale has brought criminal allegations against two senior Ontario Provincial Police officers whom he claims obstructed justice.
Justice of the peace Lillian Ross issued the charges after McHale appeared before her and has issued a summons for the officers to appear in court April 28.
Using e-mails he received from the Crown in disclosure, McHale argued Deputy Commissioner Chris Lewis and Superintendent Ron Gentle instructed officers to arrest him in connection with a Dec. 1, 2007, protest despite acknowledging there was no evidence a crime had been committed.
He cited an e-mail from Gentle that said when the OPP arrest and charge a Six Nations man in connection with the protest, "We want to ensure ... we do the same with McHale to eliminate any of the usual issues," possibly meaning backlash from Six Nations.
The e-mails indicate the OPP investigated charging McHale with assault but determined there was no evidence and the native complainant had actually assaulted McHale.
Natives and non-natives clashed during the protest surrounding a Highway 6 smoke shop and a number of people were arrested.
McHale was subsequently charged with counselling to commit mischief for allegedly telling a smoke shop opponent to block the street with his truck.
OPP Inspector Dave Ross said the force was aware the justice of the peace had issued the summons, but had not received any documents as of yesterday. He said the police would respect "the judicial process," but Commissioner Julian Fantino is proud of the work OPP officers have done in dealing with the Caledonia situation.
"It's a complex and sometimes extremely volatile environment," Ross said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General would not comment because documents had not yet been filed with the courts.
McHale has led a number of rallies to protest what he calls two-tier justice in the policing of the Douglas Creek Estates land claims dispute. He will be speaking at a rally this Sunday in Caledonia.
He previously brought a private charge against Fantino for attempting to influence municipal officials, but the charge was dropped by the Crown. McHale's appeal on that is in court May 13.