I'm not sure which upsets me more in this case. See, the cops knew that if they did a high profile take down of Natives with Guns!!! that they'd get a pass from the leftists who think all guns are evil, and they'd get a pass from the right wing gun owners who figure natives are all terrorists.
Fuck. Some people on both sides get it, but it still makes me very angry. You can't sell out some rights and expect others to defend yours. Both groups should be screaming bloody murder about this.
The cops trailed them from the gun store, closed down the Burrard St bridge, and staged a high profile, high-risk-style takedown with firearms drawn. This on a group of people who just bought firearms legally in Canada. That means that they had no criminal record, no history of violence or mental illness. The police knew this, yet staged a takedown anyway. Think maybe they were after something other than guns? Like cellphones, laptops, address books? Yeah, me too.
For a bit of background, the Tsawataineuk people part of the Kwakiutl nation that these guns were on the way to are a very small band with a village in Kingcome Inlet. Despite being relegated to an obscure corner of BC, multinational corporations still manage to piss them off. Like many bands in BC, they have a huge problem amongst their youth, and this was going to be a program to help bring some of the youth back to their roots and traditions.
I used to live in Vancouver and got tired of all that Canadian crap. Now I'm in Seattle. Thank God for that.
Posted by: ben | July 02, 2005 at 05:40 PM