Trevor Miller arrested in U.S., Albert Douglas released

Douglas Estates protester facing charges in U.S. court

April 11, 2008
John Burman
The Hamilton Spectator
BUFFALO ( Apr 11, 2008 )

A Six Nations man who has already done Canadian jail time for stealing a United States Border Patrol vehicle at the height of the violent times in the Caledonia land dispute two years ago now faces similar charges on the American side of the border.

Trevor Miller, 32, was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents as he crossed the Canada-U.S. border in Minnesota with his wife early last week.

He appeared in a Duluth courtroom Monday for a removal hearing so he could be transferred into the custody of the United States District Court in Buffalo. No date has been set for a bail hearing.

It is alleged he was involved in the assault of three U.S. officers and one OPP officer who were in the vehicle when native protesters swarmed the car near the former Douglas Creek Estates subdivision in Caledonia June 9, 2006, and stole items from the vehicle.

The same warrant also names Albert Douglas, 33, of Six Nations, who has also been convicted in Ontario court for stealing the vehicle and sentenced to time served awaiting trial for his part in the same incident.

The charges are contained in a criminal complaint sworn by Border Patrol agent Philip Knapp in an affidavit last July.

Miller was arrested on an OPP warrant in August 2006 and charged with stealing the unmarked vehicle. He pleaded guilty in Cayuga court in May last year and vowed to return to his home in the Grassy Narrows First Nations reserve north of Kenora.

Knapp’s sworn complaint says two border patrol agents and one United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) special agent escorted by an OPP detective were “observing” the dispute and had parked a U.S. government SUV in a cul-de-sac. When they attempted to leave, about 15 native demonstrators blocked their way and two men dressed in military style camouflage clothing came forward to bang their hands on the front and sides of the car, demanding they get out of the vehicle

One of them wore a large, sheathed hunting knife.

Because the vehicle could not move without injuring the demonstrators, the OPP officer told the American agents to comply with the demonstrators’ demands and get out.

As they did, there was an altercation between one of the border agents and the demonstrator with the knife who tried to steal his identification. The man began to draw the knife and the agent karate-chopped him twice on the neck and shoulders to break away.

Meanwhile, one of the two men had gotten into the SUV and was starting to drive away and the OPP officer was injured as he fell from the vehicle to the pavement. Then the SUV disappeared into native territory for two hours.

When it was returned after negotiations with the OPP, its radio and some equipment and personal belongings of the officers were missing.

Also missing was a classified document containing details concerning the native occupation and including the identities of undercover officers and operational OPP officers and U.S. agents involved in the standoff, home phone numbers and details of surveillance operations and information from confidential informants.

The documents were returned by the demonstrators’ representatives after being photocopied. The SUV was deemed unsafe and withdrawn from service.

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