Hamilton, Ontario: No Cops in Hamilton, No Cops in Akwesasne

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HAMILTON – June 6th 2009 Anarchists and other anti-capitalists took to the streets in solidarity with the Mohawks of Akwesasne and against police and state repression. Around 45 people gathered in the late afternoon with flags and banners to march through downtown and distribute literature. The demonstration came together in response to the police siege in Akwesasne and their attempts at repression locally.

On June 1st the US-Canadian border, which cuts through the community of Akwesasne, was shut down. June 1st was the day on which Canadian border guards were to be armed with 9mm handguns and to oppose this hundreds of people set up camp in the area. The area has since been surrounded by police and military boats with hopes of laying siege to the community until they have no choice but to give in and accept the guns. The people of Akwesasne are entitled to travel freely on their own land without potentially deadly harassment by armed guards of an illegitimate border.

In Hamilton, the Hate Crime Unit recently released their year end report revealing their intentions of manipulating their mandate for political reasons. In the report for the first time “police” are included as a protected group despite being an obvious contradiction. This is used as a pretext for naming the 2010 Olympics, native land reclamations, the “anarchist movement”, and reactions to the economic crisis as “areas of concern” for the unit.

The cops in Akwesasne and the cops in Hamilton are the same pigs serving the same purpose. It's clear that the police and the system they protect are the perpetrators of hate and violence against the poor, oppressed and anyone else who stands up against it. People came together on June 6th to show visible opposition to what they have planned for us here in Hamilton and in solidarity with those struggling against the same structures elsewhere.

There have recently been many blockades and actions across Ontario in solidarity with Akwesasne. This is but the beginning.

Hamilton Hate Crime Report:

http://www.hamiltonpolice.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/36F4CCDD-32F8-448C-923D-D37752AC66A5/0/Public_Agenda_May_19_09.pdf

Analysis on Police Repression in Southern Ontario:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=67d6bbf07f4049a0ed24a2875c7fa58ea27134083a5942885be6ba49b5870170

Leaflet distributed at the march:

"Against Borders! Against Police!

On June 1st 2009, the border between Canada and the US was shut down. The border guards left their posts and the community of Akwesasne (which straddles Cornwall and its island, New York state and Quebec) was surrounded by police and army boats. People are allowed to leave the reserve but are not allowed to return until the conflict ends. Right now, the people of Akwesasne are under siege by police and other state institutions.

Why did this happen?

The Jay Treaty, signed in 1794, between the governments of Canada and the US established an undefended border, across which the people of Akwesasne were entitled to travel freely.

On May 11th 2009, hundreds of people from the reserve marched across the Seaway International Bridge between Canada and the US to send a message to the Canadian authorities that they would not tolerate the arming of border guards.

June 1st was the date on which the Canadian border guards at the Seaway International Bridge were to be armed with 9-mm handguns. Hundreds of people from Akwesasne have set up camp near the border to oppose this armament. They say that as long as the Canadian government wishes to arm the border guards the people will stay and block the guards’ return. The government is currently continuing with their plan and states that it will not end the siege until the people of Akwesasne accept the guns.

The people of Akwesasne say that they are continually harassed by border guards and see in the guns the possibility of a tragic escalation to this tension. They say that the canadian state cannot come into the community with guns. They must consult them according to international law standards and that the state has no legal right to set up an armed camp in the middle of Akwesasne. In light of the constant harassment, threat of arms and disregard for their sovereignty they want to see the border station removed from Akwesasne.

Borders restrict the movements of people. The ones who are well received at borders are the people who carry the right papers in their wallets, those which open all borders and win the affection of state authority: money. Borders are the continued imposition of state power on the territory of native people who lived on this land before “Canada” was even a country. Controlling the movements of people and money, and arming border guards is the continuation of a colonizing process that has pushed the Mohawks of Akwesasne into a reservation, taken their land and profited off it with developments –like the border itself- at their expense. Managing the flow of people and money through the border means managing the ongoing development and colonization of native land.

The guns are part of a larger repressive strategy to maintain colonization and reinforce the power of the government and police over the lives of the Mohawks.

This repression is strategic. It’s part of the targeted policing which was revealed in the Hamilton Police Service 2008 Hate / Bias Crime Statistical Report. This report states that native land reclamation issues, the anarchist movement, widespread graffiti, the 2010 Olympic and G8 resistance, anti-government and anti-establishment reactions to the economic crisis and job losses are all concerns for the escalation of hate-bias crimes. Apart from these not being hate crimes, the focus taken by the Hate Crime / Extremism Investigative Team and Hamilton Police on these struggles and events show the intent to dismantle any resistance to the continued colonization and exploitation of people and land.

Today we are taking to the streets to show a visible opposition to this repression and to express solidarity with the Mohawk Nation. This is the least we can do and we need to go further in this struggle. The government and police are already thinking about keeping us in our exploitation through this economic crisis. They’ve made it clear that they aren’t in it with us, so let’s start thinking about acting against them. Then they will be the ones to know crisis!"

thanks

thanks

it is the merchant commodity

it is the merchant commodity culture that seeks the last Mohawkian,the border is an imaginary shell to enclose an alien system and its' dispirited minions.A familiarity with the natural laws dissolves the artificial politics of power.Oops,i just kicked the monopoly board and all its plastic rules,because i live on the "GO' square. mountainman

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