Ontario refuses to protect abused Mohawk grandmothers

ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE REFUSE TO PROTECT ABUSED GRANDMOTHER AND INTIMIDATES MESSENGERS

Mohawk Nation News Sep. 8, 2008. Since the brutal June 14th 2008 beatings of Mohawk grandmothers, Kahentientha and Katenies, at the Cornwall Ontario checkpoint, there has been no public inquiry and no apology.

On Sunday, September 7, 2008, Kahentinetha asked two friends to present an affidavit she signed laying a formal complaint with the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate the assault by the Canada Border Services Agents CBSA. Apparently all Ontario police are required to accept and properly process complaints submitted by the public.

About 3:00 pm her friends arrived at the OPP station in Lancaster Ontario just over the border from Quebec . It was locked with a sign directing them to use a phone. They explained their business. Eventually “Sgt. Legault” opened the door and allowed them into a small waiting room. He said he needed to finish dealing with another matter and to “get his ducks in a row”.

Eventually he returned and said he had no jurisdiction “to accept the complaint because the Canada-U.S. border was under the authority of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police”. He insisted that if the messengers waited, he could call the Akwesasne police so they could come there and he could give it to them. It sounded like they were already on their way.

He demanded to know the names, addresses and birthdates of the messengers. He asked if they had a lawyer. He brought up Kahentinetha’s brother, “Frank Horn’s”, name, a lawyer who was a witness to the beating. As it wasn’t appropriate for the OPP to make decisions about a complaint they refused to accept, the messengers left. It looks like the OPP don’t want to get involved in this “hot potato”. Is this why the medics refused to check over Katenies after the brutal attack? In 2005 Teiohontateh was assaulted at the same border. The Akwesasne Mohawk refused to take her charges against the CBSA because they said, “We can’t”!!!

On the Trans Canada Highway 401, as they drove over the Quebec border a Quebec Police SQ car turned onto the highway and started to follow them. They were going 100 km per hour. Everyone else was passing them. The cop hung behind them for a while. Then he drove beside them and took a good look at them. He turned his flashing lights on and then sped away. A few minutes later he sped by in the opposite direction.

The following Affidavit to investigate the June 14, 2008 CBSA crimes against the Kanion’ke:haka grandmother was rejected by the Lancaster Ontario OPP:

“I, Kahentinetha, born on April 16, 1940, a resident of Kahnawake [ Quebec ], phone # 450-635-9345, a person of the Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk Nation, report that a crime was committed and should be investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police OPP. Because of my physical condition as a result of the injuries inflicted on me, I was unable to lay this complaint until now. An illegal assault, arrest and detention by Canada Border Services Agents CBSA took place at the Cornwall Ontario Border control on Cornwall Island in the middle of the Akwesasne community on June 14th, 2008. I was seriously injured, suffering a heart attack. My personal possessions were taken and not returned.

I was crossing the said border with two other people. At approximately 2:00 pm we arrived at the Canadian border control. The border agent took our ID and told us to wait under the canopy. They returned to take my car keys. We sat there peacefully for an hour.

At approximately 3:00 pm, a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waists. Throughout the attack that followed, one officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121] was on the cell phone directing operations.

The female passenger in my car, also a grandmother, was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. She received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. She was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa . No charges were read to her and her request for medical help was refused. She was held incommunicado for three days. She was not even allowed to call her mother to let her know where she was and to ensure the welfare of her family.

After this assault, I was ordered to get out of the car. I was afraid to get out because of what they had done to my friend. I heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. I feared for my life if I got out of the car. I asked, “What have I done?” I was not informed of any legal charges against me.

Several agents started grabbing me and yanking me out of my car. I was thrown around, assaulted, handcuffed and imprisoned. In the cell, the attack continued. My shoes were taken. Some officers tightened the handcuffs on my wrists several times. This cut the circulation to my hands. Pain shot up my arms. I saw flashes of light and felt sharp pains in the middle of my chest and back. When I cried for help, the guards ignored me and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at me and kept ordering me to bend down. A man stood behind me and had his hands on my pants. I was afraid of being sexually assaulted. I received scrapes and bruises on my arms and legs.

I firmly believe I would have been killed if my brother, Frank Horn, who is a lawyer, had not appeared. He and his son happened to be waiting in the lineup at the border. When he asked to see me, they took off the handcuffs and offered me a chair to sit on. When he saw me, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne police stood by and watched in silence.

The ambulance took me to Cornwall Community Hospital and later to the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. I remain ned in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. The doctors told me I had a trauma induced heart attack. I was in excellent health before the attack by the border guards. Now my health is fragile. On June 30th 2008 I had a relapse and was hospitalized again.

Some of the CBSA officers involved in the attack had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275. My shoes and documents that were in the trunk of my car are missing.

I have never been contacted by any Ontario police or Canadian officials concerning an investigation of the illegal conduct that took place that day. To my knowledge no such investigation has ever taken place.

SIGNED this _____ day of September, 2008, at ____________________
by _____________________ Kahentinetha, at P.O. Box 991 , Kahnawake of Haudenosaunee Territory [ Quebec , Canada ] J0L 1B0 450-635-9345.
Address of Service: For the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made care of Julio Peris, 625 Rene Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal, Quebec H3B 1R2 – 515-933-4656 Fax 514-933-9587.
SWORN BEFORE __________________________
Address: ________________________________________
Date: ____________________

Posted by MNN Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com Contact: katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
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