Mob of angry Ont. residents confront native protesters, held at bay by police

CALEDONIA, Ont.
An angry mob infuriated by a native protest at their doorstep rushed a police line surrounding the standoff Monday night, screaming insults and demanding the occupiers leave.

A line of about 100 police officers kept the crowd of about 500 non-natives at bay as several cars and more aboriginal protesters could be seen rushing to the other side of a police barrier that kept the two sides about 200 metres apart.

Furious residents waved Canadian flags as they chanted "Let us through!" and urged police to "Open the road" leading to a disputed tract of land featuring a housing development in this community south of Hamilton.

"Go Home!" one male resident yelled at the height of a frenzied mass outburst that lasted more than two hours.

"We are home!" a woman yelled back from the natives' side, also numbering roughly 500.

A crowd swarmed a police cruiser when one non-native man was arrested at the chaotic scene. Some residents attempted to jump onto the vehicle, others tried to hang onto the windows and screamed as the car pulled away.

The crowd gradually dispersed as darkness fell, with all of the non-natives and police leaving by midnight. A lone Ontario Provincial Police vehicle was left to stand guard through the night.

A spokesman for the aboriginal protesters suggested the brief but ardent riot by non-native residents did not reflect the peaceful relationship the communities share.

"The Town of Caledonia has always been good neighbours to us," Clyde Powless said afterwards.

"I realize there's a lot of frustration, they're good people, I can't argue that."

Aboriginal spokeswoman Janie Jamieson said their seven-week-long protest would not be dissuaded by the crowd and that if the protest erupted into violence, it would not come from them.

Frustrations over the native occupation boiled over at a rally roughly two hours earlier when non-native residents demanded an immediate end to the standoff, in which members of the nearby Six Nations say a tract of land running through this southern Ontario community belongs to them.

While rally organizers pleaded for a quick yet peaceful resolution, the meeting quickly descended into several heated arguments throughout the crowd of 3,000 people.

One placard held up at the rally read: Invoke the War Measures Act.

Another resident sneered at the protesters' insistence they were bound by their own aboriginal laws.

"If these people are not Canadians then they're bloody terrorists," said Lisa Parent, one of about 10,000 in this quiet community on the disputed 40-hectare tract.

The standoff over the contested land, some 30 kilometres south of Hamilton, escalated from quiet protest to angry demonstration last Thursday after provincial police raided the site and arrested a group of protesters.
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