Arrested First Nations activists allege intimidation
Two prominent First Nations activists maintained Wednesday they were victims of intimidation after being arrested in Vancouver with rifles and supplies they said were for a youth hunting course.
David Dennis, James Ward and a third man were pulled over, at gunpoint, by heavily armed Vancouver police and members of the RCMP special anti-terrorism unit â the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, or INSET.
In the back of the van, the police found 14 hunting rifles and 10,000 rounds of ammunition â plus camping and survival gear.
The two said they were held for more than an hour on Monday before being released without charges. Dennis said the arrest was meant as RCMP intimidation of a group they belong to, the West Coast Warrior Society.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we have a high political profile," Dennis told CBC News.
Dennis and Ward said they were taking the guns to the Tsawataineuk First Nation on the central B.C. coast.
The small reserve was involved in a blockade to stop logging in the Holden Creek area earlier this spring.
The pair said the Tsawataineuk wants to teach its youth how to hunt and survive in the outdoors, and had asked the West Coast Warriors for help with that training.
Dennis once led office occupations and road blockades over fishing rights. But now he's an elected chief, and the former chair, of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.
Ward played a prominent role in the struggle over lobster fishing in Burnt Church, N.B., several years ago.
- FROM AUG. 8, 2000: Burnt Church to vote on interim fishing deal
Dennis said he has all the proper paperwork for the rifles and the ammunition, and is demanding the return of the guns and gear seized by police.
The RCMP said if the guns were obtained legally, they will be returned. But a police spokesperson says the anti-terrorism unit is currently considering charges against the pair.
"This was a national security investigation team arrest. Three people were released after the arrest, but our investigation is ongoing," Sgt. John Ward said.
Dennis said he and James Ward are not terrorists â that they have only defended indigenous rights to hunt and fish: "And the message here is you can't do that without the secret police looking down at you."