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Canadian Police Ask Sea Shepherd Officer if He is Planning “a 9/11 or something”

Sep 3rd, 2009 by Will Potter

Last year, Canadian police arrested Sea Shepherd’s First Officer, Peter Hammarstedt, and Captain, Alex Cornelissen. In Canada, it is illegal to witness or document the slaughter of the seals. They were charged with approaching, witnessing and documenting the killing.

They were interrogated for 4 1/2 hours, during which time they said absolutely nothing, refusing to even acknowledge the police in the room. They went into the room following the legal advice that “Nobody talks, everybody walks.”

In this clip from the interrogation of Peter Hammarstedt, the RCMP compare Sea Shepherd to “Palestinians” with bags full of bombs, and at one point the cop says, “…unless I got ya all wrong and you’re planning a 9/11 or something here.”

It’s not surprising that the Canadian government deported the two for life rather than allow the PR nightmare of them standing trial. Given the caliber of questions we see in this video, a trial would have been quite entertaining.

Of course, this kind of terrorism rhetoric isn’t an isolated instance, it is government policy. Find out more about how environmental activists became the “number one domestic terrorism threat” at the Green Scare background page.

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Posted in Activism & Activists' Response, Activists Arrested, Legal Issues

  • Antispe
    coppers have strange criminal ideas indeed...
  • Well, except for the part where the cop says "you must be vastly more intelligent than I am..."
  • David
    To me this only provides yet more support for the
    maxim:-

    'You don't h-a-v-e to be as thick as shit to be a police officer,
    but by god, it certainly helps...'
  • Debbie
    If it's illegal to "witness" the slaughter of seals, then shouldn't all those hunters witnessing their own kills be arrested?
  • d
    tell them coppers ha ha
  • Sehnsucht
    They got off easy. I have a feeling that if they were in America, they would have been held for much longer and might have even gone to trial and been paraded around as "terrorists".
  • cubestar
    Maybe thick, but they are just trying to play him, just trying to get a rise out of him. Trying any way they can to get a conversation started. It's a great security culture video. Humans find it difficult to not engage in conversation. Chances are that the tactics used by these cops would work with several activists in each of our circles.
  • Lin
    I agree completely with cubestar...when it became obvious that he wasn't going to respond to the more antagonistic questions, they start asking about the logo on his shirt...and when that doesn't work, they play the "For the most part I think what you guys are doing is right" card...and then they ask "do you guys have a website?"...The temptation to respond to the easier questions would have been more than most activists could resist.
  • Marshalldoc
    The thing that struck me most about this clip is that, if these guys are the 1st line of defense against terrorism, the quality of the terrorists must be absolutely pathetic considering how successful the cops seem to be...
  • GKC
    I will pass on some excellent advice I have heard directly from law enforcement and others alike: NEVER TALK.

    Even if you have done nothing wrong, DO NOT TALK.

    Even if you think you are just going to explain a simple misunderstanding and be on your way: DO. NOT. TALK.
    Don't be intimidated into talking no matter what. Be familiar with your rights and what you have to do regarding identification, but mostly just keep your mouth closed.

    Plain and simple, thou shall not speakth. You may not walk, but as soon as you talk, your chances of walking dramatically decrease.
  • GKC
    "Maybe thick, but they are just trying to play him, just trying to get a rise out of him. Trying any way they can to get a conversation started. It’s a great security culture video. Humans find it difficult to not engage in conversation. Chances are that the tactics used by these cops would work with several activists in each of our circles."

    Exactly. Cops, in more candid moments, will admit that while it is in your best interest not to talk, most, as in nearly everyone, will. Just about everyone will talk in some fashion, for the reasons above and others. So do yourself a favor and don't talk.
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