FC: Was Canadian activist barred from U.S. a "socialist wing-nut?"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Previous Politech message:

U.S. Customs bars Canadian activist from crossing border
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03177.html

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Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 05:33:49 -0800
From: Reg Whitaker <regwhit () yorku ca>
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. Customs bars Canadian activist from crossing border
To: declan () well com

Declan:

This story about John Clarke being detained at the US border is hardly 
surprising. Clarke's group OCAP is well-known in Toronto and Ontario as an 
aggressive and confrontational activist group involved in numerous violent 
confrontations with police. Of course, how one assesses OCAP is a matter of 
one's own politics. Suffice to make two points here. First, when Clarke 
casually refers to an OCAP action being attacked by the police, this is a 
somewhat dubious interpretation: OCAP is known to seek out confrontation 
and in some instances to have initiated violence. Certainly it engages in 
provocations calculated to bring on police responses. Second, even to many 
on the Left and among activists in social movements and anti-globalization 
demonstrations, OCAP is highly controversial, its tactics a matter of hot 
debate.

In this context, and bearing in mind that Clarke himself has spent long 
periods in recent years in detention awaiting charges arising out of 
specific incidents, it is hardly surprising that he is on a border watch 
list in the aftermath of 911. Whatever one thinks of the kind of controls 
being exercised by the INS these days, it does not seem to me to be a 
matter of any great moment, or a cause of special attention, that someone 
like Clarke is recognized and impeded from entry to the US. This is surely 
just business as usual. I would add that Clarke was no doubt fully aware of 
this, and wants to make a big issue of it. Here in Canada we have seen this 
kind of thing by him quite often.

Reg Whitaker
Victoria BC

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From: "Newbury" <newbury () mandamus org>
To: "declan () well com" <declan () well com>
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 02 10:56:45 -0500
Subject: Re: FC: U.S. Customs bars Canadian activist from crossing border

On Mon, 25 Feb 2002 02:10:30 -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote:

>Declan,
>
>I thought this was an interesting tidbit on how the U.S. government appears
>to be targeting anti-globalization activists (in and outside of the U.S.)
>in the fight against terrorism... the bit about Osama Bin Laden is
>especially weird, but the whole scenario is astonishing - that significant
>resources are being spent on tracking the actions of a local Canadian
>anti-poverty group just astounds me. The fact that an agent with
>specialized knowledge about this group was able to appear within 90
>minutes, implies that he was posted near the border, and on call.

Mr. Clarke seems to have down-played the violence which occurred at the 
protests. If memory serves, he has been charged with
quite serious criminal offences arising not only out of that event but also 
another event where an MPP's office was trashed.

I thought that he had been convicted, but that may not be the case: if he 
was convicted, then he could be barred from entry on that
basis alone.

Mr. Singh has been convicted of some crimes arising from 'protests' and 
placed on probation. He was arrested in Quebec City and
charged with doing things which were a breach of his probation. (protesters 
were thowing stuffed 'teddy bears' at police: he was
charged with something like 'having a weapon'!!!)

No wonder the US is concerned about these guys.

In my opinion, Clarke is a socialist wing-nut.

Geoff Newbury

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From: "Geoff Gariepy" <geoff_gariepy () hotmail com>
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: Re: U.S. Customs bars Canadian activist from crossing border
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 07:32:51 -0500

I live in the general vicinity of this border crossing.  I don't visit
Canada because it exposes you to the risk of being treated like this.  Such
stories are not unheard of.

On the other hand, the border crossing guards generally rely on what you say
to them in determining how to treat you.  This guy kind of dug his own
grave.
--Geoff

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