Peaceful Demonstrators Gather at Meyers Farm, Police Respond En Masse

A small but dedicated group gathered at the Trenton Ontario farm of Frank Meyers on Sunday November 17 to demonstrate in opposition to the Department of National Defence's attempt to expropriate the prime farmland in order to build a military training facility.

Does a No Trespassing sign constitute
ownership?

Organizers of the event had intended for today's demonstration to mark the beginning of a peaceful occupation of the portion of Meyers' farm and outbuilding, which had been scheduled to be demolished the following day (November 18).*

The Occupation for Peace, in opposition to the military's plans for Frank's farm, has been postponed, along with the DND's demolition plans. Frank received word from the military, Saturday, that work would not begin to convert his farm into a specialized military training facility until some time in December. It would stand to reason that the postponement of the demolition is directly related to activist plans to occupy the land. In an effort to avoid interactions with protestors, I would not be surprised to see the DND attempt to begin work without warning, and at a time close to the holidays, when activists are less capable of mobilizing (maybe between Christmas and the new year?).

While the peaceful demonstrators did not occupy the "disputed" property, more than a dozen police officers including one CN Rail officer (Sabo), four military police (McCann, Long, Frost, Currie) and several OPP officers (Steele, Gibson, et al.) arrived at Meyers' farm in a show of force and intimidation. While on scene, cruisers drove onto the undisputed private property of Frank Meyers, and officers roamed the property, despite constant reminders from demonstrators that the Meyers farm is private property, and that their presence was not welcomed.

When asked by a demonstrator about the purpose of the police presence at the peaceful gathering on the farm, Quinte West OPP officer Shelley Steele responded, "We are here to just try to keep the peace for you guys." At the peak of police presence, there were eight cruisers, and twelve to fifteen armed officers on scene, compared to fifteen to twenty peaceful, unarmed demonstrators.

The dedicated group of demonstrators on hand Sunday has vowed to return to occupy the "disputed" property in order to prevent the demolition of Frank's outbuildings, and ultimately the construction of a military training facility on his land, and say that they expect a large mobilization of supporters in the coming weeks in order to ensure a substantial number of peaceful occupiers.

For updates on the Meyers farm, and the Occupation for Peace, please like the Facebook page.

Related posts:

Trenton Farm to be Occupied for Peace...
Government Steals Land to Build Murderer Training Camp

*The government, in their infinite benevolence, will allow Meyers to maintain ownership of a small piece of property consisting of his house, as well as the farm's original homestead and a few outbuilding.

Trenton Ontario Farm to Be Occupied for Peace, In Defence Against Government Aggression

This is an update on the story of Ontario farmer Frank Meyers, which I wrote about last month.

Frank Meyers has extended an open invitation to his supporters
to come to his farm and stay for an indefinite period of time
in order to prevent the military from proceeding with its plan
to steal and re-purpose his farmland.

Since that time, when a senior military official, accompanied by two (presumably) armed OPP officers visited the home of the octogenarian farmer to inform him that, going forward, he would no longer be the owner of his farm, Frank's legal battle has not proceeded in his favour. Despite his many efforts to combat the expropriation of his farm through legal means, Mr. Meyers stands to see his farm, as he knows it, scraped away to make way for a state-of-the-art 400 hectare training facility for the highly classified Joint Task Force 2, any day now.

With earth already being moved on neighbouring farms also expropriated by the Department of National Defence for the military training facility, Frank Meyers and his supporters have had to come to the sobering realization that a government cannot be effectively challenged from within a system where it acts as its own judge, jury and executioner.

A frustrated Meyers, this afternoon, told Lisa Gibson, the administrator of the Facebook page 'Save Frank & Marjorie Meyers Farm',  "Do what you have to do to save my farm!" The farmer has extended an open invitation for his supporters to come to his farm, and to stay for an indefinite period of time, in order to prevent the military from proceeding with its plan to steal and re-purpose his farmland.

I am reminded of a line from The Philosophy of Liberty, by Ken Schoolland;

You have the right to protect your own life, liberty, and justly acquired property from the forceful aggression of others. So you may rightfully ask others to help protect you.

Frank Meyers is asking for our help to protect his property, and, by extension, his life and his liberty, from the forceful aggression of the government. Occupation organizer Lisa Gibson sees a very real threat to Frank Meyers' life in the theft of his farm. She says, "I have been in the death care sector for 22 years. I have seen first hand that when you take a person Frank's age and you take away their purpose in life, their reason for getting up in the morning, they die!"

This demonstration will be an occupation for peace, demanding that government agents stand down with their aggressive acts of theft, and their threats of violence and imprisonment against those who dare challenge them. Not only will this demonstration demand peace at home, by speaking out against expropriation of private property, but also peace around the world, by attempting to stop the Canadian government from building a training centre for military assassins on the site of the Meyers farm.

The Occupation for Peace will begin at the Meyers farm in Trenton this Sunday Morning, November 17, 2013 at 11:00 am. The address is listed below. Organizers are currently seeking donations of supplies for the occupation including items such as portable toilets, tables, coffee, food, etc. For updates on the occupation, and to coordinate with organizers, like the Facebook page.

Meyers Farm
209 Meyers Creek Road
Trenton, Ontario

Please help to make this Occupation for Peace one powerful enough to neutralize even the Canadian Military. Share with your friends!