Shawn Brant Denied Bail

Shawn Brant Denied Bail

By Samantha Craggs
Thursday, July 05, 2007 - 10:00
The Intelligencer

NAPANEE — Not even the honour of Shawn Brant's mother could keep the Mohawk activist out of jail on new charges of mischief and breach of recognizance.

Brant's mother Deanna, a retired teacher, took the stand at Brant's bail hearing Thursday, offering a $50,000 surety that Brant would not plan, incite or participate in illegal protests between now and his court date. But Judge DK Kirkland denied bail anyway.

"It would be dangerous for him to be released at this time because he's said 'there's more to come,'" Kirkland said after a nearly three-hour session.

Brant appeared in court seeking bail on the latest in a series of criminal charges, none of which have been proven in court. The earliest stems back to November 2006, when an accidental clash with Canadian military personnel during an otherwise peaceful demonstration near Deseronto led to two charges of assault and one charge of mischief.

Then in April, Brant led a group occupying a Deseronto-area quarry to block the CN Rail line for 30 hours, halting traffic on the busiest rail corridor in eastern Canada. He was out on bail from that charge when he was the voice of a group of protesters who on June 29, the national aboriginal day of action, blocked County Road 2 protesting First Nations poverty, unresolved land claims and high youth suicide rates, among other issues. That protest also led to the closure of the rail line and a portion of Highway 401. This week's arrest warrant, OPP say, relates specifically to County Road 2.

Peter Rosenthal, a Toronto-based social justice lawyer representing Brant, argued that conditions now are different from when Brant agreed on May 3 not to plan or participate in illegal protests. For one, Brant has agreed to step back and let native leaders negotiate, Rosenthal said. For another, he would not jeopardize his mother's word.

"It's obvious from the testimony that Mrs. Brant is the kind of surety courts look for," Rosenthal said. "On those grounds alone, you must be satisfied."

But Crown attorney Bob Morrison was not. Brant's mother, like everyone else, knew from various media reports that Brant was talking about blocking Highway 401 and did not try to stop him, he said.

Morrison also took Brant to task when he took the stand on his own behalf, bringing up how open Brant was about breaching his May 3 bail conditions.

"You had no intention of ever complying, did you?" Morrison asked.

"Well..." Brant said. "I actually...no."

Brant said if released on bail, he would not disrespect his mother's honour "or place her in a position where I did that," he said. "That's not who we are."

At the same time, "I believe we touched people's hearts" on the national day of action, he said. "I believe for the first time in 125 years, people gave a shit if our kids live or die."

Brant appeared in court after a negotiated surrender to Napanee OPP Thursday morning. He arrived in a car driven by wife Sue, which also carried Dustin Brant, 20, who Shawn Brant said will be the new speaker of the quarry group.

"I hope they don't believe putting me in jail puts the issue in jail," Brant told media before his surrender.

In court, Brant wore a green shirt and camouflage pants and was cuffed at the hands and feet. He listened quietly from the prisoner's box as the Crown read his own words back to him, citing various media reports where he said the first Highway 401 closure was "just the beginning." OPP officers set up a metal detector in the stairwell leading to the courtroom, screening spectators for weapons.

Kirkland said he admires civil rights defenders such as Martin Luther King Jr. But blockades and other such tactics, he said, are Black Panther-style militancy. Granting Brant bail would be undermining the court, and doing so would contribute to "chaos," he said.

"We do need people to protest," Kirkland said. "We do need Shawn Brants to protest...Taking the law into your own hands, however, violates the order of society and is the beginning of the escalation of violence upon violence."

About four rows of the court room gallery were filled Brant supporters, many of whom wore camouflage clothing similar to that worn on the day of action.

"Sago!" some of them called to Brant, raising their fists in unison when court was adjourned. Brant raised his fist back as he was led out of the courtroom.

The preliminary hearing will be Aug. 27.