A Close Look at Two Jailed Mi’kmaq Warriors Who Protested Big Oil in New Brunswick

Germaine Breau looks on during the RCMP raid of Oct 17, 2013, when he was arrested.

By Miles Howe, Vice,  Aug 5 2014

On Tuesday, July 29^th, after over nine months in custody and an extended trial which took place over the course of several months, Mi’kmaq Warrior Society members Germaine ‘Junior’ Breau and Aaron Francis were finally sentenced for their involvement in an RCMP raid of an anti-shale gas encampment near Rexton, New Brunswick in October last year.

Shale gas protesters sentenced to 15 months for violent clash with RCMP

Aaron Francis (right) and Germain Junior Breau (left).

Germain Junior Breau and Aaron Francis convicted of several charges tied to protest near Rexton, N.B

CBC News,  July 29, 2014

Two anti-shale gas protesters have been sentenced to 15 months in jail in connection to a violent clash with police near Rexton, N.B., last fall.

Germain Junior Breau, 21, of Upper Rexton, N.B., and Aaron Francis, 20, of Eskasoni, N.S., were sentenced in Moncton provincial court on Tuesday on several charges.

Judge R. Leslie Jackson gave Breau 423 days of credit for the 282 days he has already spent in custody. That means he has about a month left to serve in his sentence.

Mi’kmaq Warriors Call For Support

by bayareaintifada, July 7, 2014

Aaron Francis (right) and Germain Junior Breau (left).

From Suzanne Patles

Our Mikmaq warriors are requesting the assistance of the people for help. They are requiring some assistance with their canteen funds. Germain junior Breau and Aaron Francis, members of the Mikmaq Warrior Society have been incarcerated and held as political prisoners of war since the raid of their encampment in Un-ceded and un-surrendered Mikmaq territory on October 17th, 2013. They are currently the only two political prisoners of war in so-called Canada.

Mi’kmaq warriors found guilty of weapons charges

Aaron Francis (right) and Germain Junior Breau (left).

Germain Junior Breau of N.B., and Aaron Francis of N.S., were facing combined 17 charges

CBC News,  June 26, 2014

Two anti-shale gas protesters charged in connection with a violent clash with police near Rexton last fall have been found guilty of some of the charges against them, and not guilty others.

Germain Junior Breau of Upper Rexton, N.B., and Aaron Francis of Eskasoni, N.S., were tried together on numerous firearm and assault-related charges.

Osprey nest cuts power, delays verdict of Mi’kmaq warriors

Germaine Junior Breau (left) and Aaron Francis (right).

Verdict postponed because of a power outage that affected government computers

CBC News,  June 19, 2014

Two anti-shale gas protesters will have to wait until next week for a verdict, all because of an osprey nest.  Germain Junior Breau of Upper Rexton, N.B., and Aaron Francis of Eskasoni, N.S., are being tried together on a number of charges related to a clash between police and protesters on October 17, 2013.

The verdict that was supposed to be handed down by the judge on Thursday was postponed because of a power outage that occurred June 9 in Fredericton. Three days earlier, an osprey built a nest on the power lines, which caused power problems for days.

Mi’kmaq Warrior’s Trial: RCMP ERT member testifies

Al Comeaux, member of RCMP ERT during Oct 17, 2013 raid. [Photo: Miles Howe]

More contradictory police testimony as the trial of Germaine Breau and Aaron Francis continues

by Miles Howe, Halifax Media Coop, May 1, 2014

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK – The Crown continued it’s veritable parade of RCMP witnesses today on this, the sixth scheduled day of trial for Germaine ‘Junior’ Breau and Aaron Francis, the two members of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society who have been incarcerated since the vicious police raid of the anti-shale gas encampment on October 17th, along highway 134 near Rexton, New Brunswick.

Breau and Francis have now spent over half a year in the Southeastern Regional Correctional Centre in Shediac, New Brunswick, much of that time has been spent without access to traditional spiritual services.

Today the Crown brought forward Corporal Al Comeaux, a member of the RCMP for over 24 years, as well as a member of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) for over 14 years.

Mi’kmaq warrior charged with throwing Molotov cocktails during shale gas protest

Molotov cocktails thrown on Oct 17, 2013, during RCMP raid on anti-fracking blockade near Rexton, NB.

Global News/The Canadian Press, March 7, 2014

REXTON, N.B. – A 20-year-old Nova Scotia man has been charged with allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at police during a shale gas protest in New Brunswick last fall that turned violent.

Jailed Mi’kmaq Warriors Denied Access To Spiritual Practises

Reclaim Turtle Island, January 20, 2014

CALL TO SUPPORT AND END TARGETING OF LAND DEFENDERS

The colonial state strikes again. State repression against and the targeting of Mi’kmaq Warriors has escalated. The state is now denying 2 Mi’kmaq Warriors, Aaron Francis and Germain Jr Breau, access to spiritual practices. Aaron and Jr have been held in Kanadian custody without trial since the raid on Oct. 17^th – just over 3 months.

Mi’kmaq warrior “guilty” of assaulting cop

Coady Stevens of Eskasoni, N.S., released after two months in jail

Mi’kmaq warrior Coady Stevens (with raised fist).

CBC/The Canadian Press, Dec 20, 2013

A 27-year-old Nova Scotia man has pleaded guilty to five charges stemming from a shale gas protest in Rexton, N.B., that erupted into violence.