(Wingham, Ontario – North Huron service area) The yellow tape is up, and camera(s) are pointed at the crime scene 24 hours a day. If this was North Korea the offender would be imprisoned, severely beaten, then released virtually brain dead. That’s what happened when a US student removed a poster in North Korea.
The OPP have admitted they are responsible for removing a council meeting notice from a pole in Wingham, just outside of Buck & Jo’s. This attack on Free Speech has triggered a way of discontent that seems to be escalating by the hour. Below is the response from the OPP regarding the theft/seizure of a council meeting notice outside of Buck & Jo’s in Wingham. Yellow tape cordons off a section their dining room for camera(s) to be trained on the the crime scene.
NOTE: As of 02Dec 7:45am the OPP have NOT returned the stolen/seized property. Below are the emails sent/received.
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Soldan, Craig (OPP) <[email protected]>
Good afternoon:
My name is Craig Soldan. I am the Media Relations and Community Safety Officer with the Huron OPP detachment. I have been asked to respond to your e-mail regarding the OPP removing a flyer that was posted in Wingham.
Just after 4:00 p.m. November 27th, the OPP received a complaint of mischief involving the flyers. An officer attended, viewed several of these flyers/posters titled “Wanted Dead or Alive” and carefully removed one of them to properly make a photocopy of it to be scanned into our records management system as part of the investigation. The officer has not destroyed the original document and has it here in Clinton at the OPP detachment. Huron OPP have determined there are no grounds to proceed with charges relating to this poster.
Does this address your concern(s)?
Sincerely,
Craig Soldan.
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Thank you for your response, but it raises some deep concerns and questions.
The stolen/seized council meeting notice needs to be returned ASAP, as it is regarding a time sensitive issue. It would be appropriate if it was a uniformed officer that reposted it. There is plenty of parking on Josephine St. and there is no need for the officer to park illegally again, or do a u-turn downtown. This would go a long way to repairing some of the damage the officer’s actions and inaction have caused. If the police insist they are above the law and are unaccountable, I am most confident the Public will react negatively.
While the OPP may view this as simply taking a piece of paper, I can assure you others view it as a horrendous attack on Free Speech and/or a Free Press. Both strongly protected Rights in our Canadian Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights. I believe all OPP swore an oath to defend and protect our Rights, and you literally get paid to do so.
- Why wasn’t a photo taken instead of confiscating the council meeting notice?
- If you needed a “hard copy” for your archives, why not take a photo and print it?
- Why was it necessary for the officer to do a u-turn and park illegally in order to check out the council meeting notice? All evidence and witness testimony lean toward the officer over-reacting, something we don’t want armed officers doing.
- What authority did the officer use to seize this council meeting notice, was there a court order or a warrant?
- After the officer realized what they had done, why wasn’t the council meeting notice immediately returned?
- Why did your officers not spot these notices this week during the foot patrols the OPP claim to be doing in Wingham?
- Why is the notice logged into your system?
- Do all notices/flyers need to be approved by the OPP censors in Clinton and logged into your system.
- How are notices supposed to be submitted/approved by the OPP, email, snail mail, in person, etc.?
- Is the officer not guilty of theft, or at least mischief? If a member of the public did something similar they could face up to 2 years imprisonment, and would be out thousands and thousands of dollars.
Looking forward to the immediate return of the illegally removed council meeting notice entitled “Resignations Wanted”. The council meeting is on Monday, so please return it with the same haste as it was removed. Apparently your response time to take down notices is only a few minutes, quite impressive…..sorry, I clearly meant oppressive.
WFP
