R. v. Gary McHale (Assault)

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Mark Vandermaas

Caledonia Lawsuits & Court Actions> Targeting of Non-Native Activists  R. v. Gary McHale (Assault)

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA SANYO DIGITAL CAMERAA charge of Assault was laid against Gary McHale arising out of a ‘Truth & Reconciliation’ rally held Feb 27/11. It was dropped by the Crown on June 07/11 because there “was no reasonable prospect for conviction.”

The charge was laid by the OPP in connection with a Feb 27/11 Truth & Reconciliation Rally in Caledonia organized by McHale and Caledonia Victims Project founder Mark Vandermaas where non-native participants were swarmed, harassed and assaulted by native occupiers and busloads of unionists, anarchists and anti-Israel types led by CUPE 3903 leader Tom Keefer.

Keefer and the groups he works with have been supporting native lawlessness in the Haldimand Tract since 2006:

Despite being warned well in advance that busloads of radicals were being bused-in for the specific purpose of helping native occupiers of the Douglas Creek Estates to disrupt our planned rally at the Caledonia Lions Park the OPP refused – again – to provide officers to protect us from them. When we then relocated to private property to try to avoid the planned confrontation the radicals swarmed the property, refused to leave and the OPP refused to remove them.

When McHale, acting under authority of the owner, instructed Tom Keefer to leave he refused so, acting in accordance with s.41 of the Criminal Code of Canada which gives property owners or agents the right to use reasonable force to remove trespassers, McHale pushed Keefer towards the road.

DEFENCE OF HOUSE OR REAL PROPERTY

41. (1) Every one who is in peaceable possession of a dwelling-house or real property, and every one lawfully assisting him or acting under his authority, is justified in using force to prevent any person from trespassing on the dwelling-house or real property, or to remove a trespasser therefrom, if he uses no more force than is necessary.

(2) A trespasser who resists an attempt by a person who is in peaceable possession of a dwelling-house or real property, or a person lawfully assisting him or acting under his authority to prevent his entry or to remove him, shall be deemed to commit an assault without justification or provocation. [R.S. c.C-34, s.41.]

Instead of arresting Keefer for Trespass, Mischief (for interfering with the quiet enjoyment of the property) and Assault (for resisting the attempt to remove him) the OPP arrested McHale and charged him with assaulting Keefer.

110227 Assault on Mark OPP-NativeManThe OPP not only refused to arrest Keefer as he was trespassing, they have also refused to arrest the native man who assaulted Mark Vandermaas while he was carrying the ‘Apology’ monument on Feb 27th, and they have refused to arrest the same man who assaulted CANACE cameraman Jeff Parkinson at our subsequent March 27/11 Truth & Reconciliation Rally where we were swarmed, the monument stolen, smashed and 110327 occupiers burn monument-Cdn flagthen burnt along with our Canadian flag – as OPP officers stood and watched:

Blatchford re “ridiculous” OPP testimony

McHale’s previous court date prior to the dropping of the Assault charge on June 07/11 was a May 04/11 bail hearing he petitioned where the Crown dropped the bail restrictions that had kept him out of Caledonia. Reporter/author Christie Blatchford was present in the court and, after reviewing transcripts of the arresting officer’s testimony from the first bail review session on April 19/11, wrote a scathing article comparing the law in Haldimand County to America’s Deep South:

“…the law in Haldimand County operates as the law in America’s Deep South once worked, where there was one law for the white man, who could break it with impunity, and another for the black man. In Haldimand County, since the occupation began, there has been one law for natives and another for non-natives.“ 

An excerpt from the transcript of what Blatchford called Det.-Const. Barnes’ “ridiculous” testimony can be found in this article:

Third unsuccessful attempt by OPP to keep McHale out of Caledonia

This was the third unsuccessful attempt by the Ontario Provincial Police to bring criminal charges against McHale for the purpose of applying bail restrictions designed to keep him out of Caledonia. The first two were detailed in Christie Blatchford’s book, Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, And How The Law Failed All of Us.

Attempt #1: The first attempt was on Dec 16/06 when the OPP arrested McHale and me for wanting to place Canadian flags on hydro poles. They released me, but held him overnight even though they knew they weren’t going to charge him. According to their own investigation the OPP didn’t even know if what they did was legal. We each have outstanding lawsuits for our respective arrests.

Attempt #2: The second attempt was the now-infamous ‘Counselling Mischief Not Committed’ charge against McHale laid Dec 07/07 which was stayed by the Crown on April 21/10 after a court certified charges of Obstructing Justice against two senior OPP officers, one of whom is now the Commissioner – Chris Lewis:

During this case, which arose out of a protest on Dec 01/07 which sent McHale and Jeff Parkinson to hospital after multiple attacks on police and non-natives by Six Nations smokeshack supporters (without arrest), emails by the former Commissioner Julian Fantino exposed OPP plans to target McHale for the purpose of getting bail restrictions on him to keep him out of Caledonia.

DOCUMENTS

  • Ontario Court of Justice, Cayuga, April 19/11: Transcript of McHale bail variation hearing [PDF, 125P]

POSTED BY: Mark Vandermaas, info@caledoniavictimsproject.ca

About Mark Vandermaas

I am founder of Israel Truth Week, and I'm the 'Liberate Israel Training Guy.' I train pro-Israel advocates in how to use Israel's land title deed-the Mandate For Palestine-as a powerful moral narrative to counter the false 'occupation' vilification. Also, founder of VoiceofCanada.ca and the Caledonia Victims Project.
This entry was posted in Appeasement of Extremism, Caledonia activists, Caledonia Lawsuits & Court Actions, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Christie Blatchford, CUPE 3903, Events, Gary McHale, Journalists, R. v. Gary McHale (Assault), Tom Keefer, Truth & Reconciliation, Truth & Reconciliation Events. Bookmark the permalink.