Julian Ichim and Kelly Pflug-Back went to the Guelph Police station Wednesday night to turn themselves in after police launched a criminal investigation into possible intimidation after a group of protesters went to the Drexler home in Guelph on Sept. 2.
Drexler Construction is slated to do much of the work at the proposed business park.
But their attempt to address the matter Wednesday night failed when the police station front door was locked. After phoning police from the street, Ichim was told the officer looking into the matter wasn’t on duty.
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Police later confirmed they would be following up the matter today through the investigating officer.
“I guess I’m going to have a coffee, a cigarette, then get on a bus,” said Ichim, who lives in Kitchener.
Asked why they didn’t mail the letter to Drexler, Ichim said it was “very important to deliver it person to person” and get input and feedback.
“We felt that delivering the letter in person made that personal connection and makes the issue more of a human level,” Ichim said.
Ichim and Pflug-Back said a group from Friends of Hanlon Creek went to the Drexler home.
They knocked on the door and spoke to a young man. They read a brief letter then went on their way.
“We wanted to go and inform Mr. Drexler about what is going on and appeal to him as a person. There was nothing illegal in our actions,” said Ichim, who was accompanied by lawyer Davin Charney.
He said the late-afternoon exchange with the person who answered the door was brief and civil. “There is no intimidation in this at all,” Ichim said. “It was an appeal from one concerned citizen to another concerned citizen.
“We read the letter to the person that answered the door, we gave them the letter, wished them to ‘have a nice day,’ he did the same and then we left.”
Pflug-Back said she is confident she did nothing illegal or unethical.
“We will not stand for being slandered,” she said. “Implicit or otherwise, there were no threats.”
They would not say how many people went to the Drexler home. They were the only two looking to speak to police Wednesday night.
Charney, complete with a well-creased copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, said if Ichim and Pflug-Back were arrested, he would file a complaint and a civil lawsuit against the police for wrongful arrest.
“This, to me, seems like another example where the Guelph Police are taking on a political role rather than simply a law enforcement role,” Charney said.
“This, to me, seems like another example where the Guelph Police are taking on a political role rather than simply a law enforcement role”
PERFECTLY ARTICULATED
sorry to say that since we are becoming increasingly closer to a police state, the politicians have an increasingly greater influence on law enforcement.
government is too large and too strong for the good of the people.