Pride 2019 Part 4 – The Dumpster Fire

I was really hoping to write about something – anything – else, but the crisis in Hamilton continues and it’s pretty much dominated my life for the last week, so this is what I have to offer as part of the ongoing saga of Pride 2019.

As of time of writing, Friday morning, Cedar Hopperton is still in jail. Their hearing in front of the parole board was yesterday… but there was a bit of a twist ahead of time. Police had revoked Hopperton’s parole because it was alleged they had violated it by participating in the Pride defence action when fascists and religious zealots attacked the Hamilton Pride gathering in Gage Park on June 15th. On Wednesday, July 3rd, Hopperton’s lawyer announced that the hearing was not about this alleged parole violation, but rather because Hopperton had spoken at a public meeting on June 18th during which they called out the police for their inaction.

Let that sink in for a moment: Police now allege Cedar Hopperton violated their parole for speaking at a public meeting.

Hopperton spoke very forcefully, true, but they did so at a meeting that was specifically set up for LGBTQ people to speak on the topic of the Pride attacks, and which was advertised as a safe space to do so. A meeting that the police weren’t even supposed to be at, but where Deputy Chief Frank Bergen decided to show up in uniform; a move that is being interpreted by many in the community as an attempt to intimidate the LGBTQ community. Certainly that’s how Hopperton’s arrest (and the arrest of four other LGBTQ and anti-fascist activists) is being seen at street level… especially combined with the Hamilton Police’s loudly-voiced (and patently false) claim that they can’t arrest any of the violent fascists involved with the Pride attack unless victims reach out to them. (Never mind that they did arrest Chris “Helmet Guy” Vanderweide under exactly those circumstances, however reluctantly.)

Queer people and activists are fearing entrapment by the Hamilton Police. And in my opinion, they are right to do so. There’s no trust — no trust at all — for the Police in the LGBTQ community. Police deliberate withheld protection from LGBTQ families at Gage Park for petulant and childish reasons; publicly blamed the victims; refused to arrest the attackers unless the defenders identified themselves; harassed known LGBTQ, anarchist and anti-fascists over Pride; and most of all they arrested five LGBTQ and anti-fascist activists while allowing fascist hate groups to attack people at Toronto Pride, an act which the fascists threatened beforehand, videoed, and then bragged about, all on YouTube. (Not a single arrest for that attack, by the way. Not. One. Even Vanderweide, who clearly participated, has not been charged for those attacks.)

Why the hell would any LGBTQ person trust the Hamilton Police after that disgraceful track record… especially as it’s clear that they have no intention of changing?

Hopperton’s arrest needs to be treated as an issue of their civil rights, which the Hamilton Police have pretty clearly violated. I also have to note that I find a dark amusement that the alt-right groups who trumpet “free speech” to the skies — including in their defence of Helmet Guy’s cowardly violence — haven’t said a single goddamned word about an actual and egregious violation of someone’s right to free speech, but here we are.

So Cedar is still in jail as I write this over coffee on Friday morning. With any luck, they’ll have a decision from the parole board at some point today.

But even if Hopperton — and the other Pride defenders — are cleared of all charges and get to go home, this isn’t over. It’s not going to be over anytime soon, because over and above the questions about the police’s behavior, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger has now clearly reached the point where he’s acting in bad faith towards the LGBTQ community.

Eisenburger has consistently had a poor working relationship with the LGBTQ community over his tenure. He has ignored community concerns — and indeed, largely ignored the community — ignored the LGBTQ “advisory committee” which was set up to address the systemic issues regarding LGBTQ and minority representation at City Hall, overridden their request not to fly the Pride flag over various issues, including the City of Hamilton’s continued employment of a prominent Neo-Nazi and the apparent effort to hide that fact from the public.

(But hey, Fred’s working hard to make sure dogs are welcome at City Hall, so I guess queers might have a chance someday, right?)

Mayor Eisenberger remained silent about the attack on Hamilton for ten days. Ten. Days. When he finally bothered to issue a statement it was disappointing at best; just bland rubber-stamped “find a path forward” pablum to check off a box somewhere. It was not well-received by a community that had been hoping for anything resembling leadership. Sadly, that statement was high point of Eisenberger’s handling of the case.

The next day, 26 June, was a city council meeting which was supposed to address these issues. Instead, the meeting turned into utter chaos. Councillor Sam Merulla, apparently working in collusion with Eisenberger, goaded the angry and frustrated crowd of LGBTQ spectators in the gallery until shouting erupted, whereupon Eisenberger ordered the chamber cleared. Merulla was clearly shown on camera laughing as security escorted people from the room, and it is alleged that he and Eisenburger either “low-fived” each other or shook hands as security forced the public out of the room. Merulla spent the next couple of days on Twitter alternately taunting the LGBTQ community and making statements minimizing the threat of fascist violence in his city until his accounts were suspended.

In frustration at the lack of leadership and Eisenberger’s increasingly transparent disdain for the LGBTQ community, a number of people showed up on the Mayor’s front lawn in a noisy, but peaceful and short, demonstration. Ten minutes to cover his lawn with signs, make some noise, and then they were gone. It was — as I’ve said before — a completely legitimate protest that finally succeeded in waking Fred Eisenberger up, both literally and metaphorically.

Well, Fred lost his shit over it, and issued a statement condemning the harassment. Police, in a sudden burst of efficiency, made an arrest of one of the protesters that day merely from video evidence. Later in the day Eisenberger, visibly angry, stated in an interview that “anarchists” weren’t a part of the “queer and trans community” and equating “agitators” with the very hate groups that attacked Pride. His attempt to divide the LGBTQ community in Hamilton was not well-received, especially the monumental arrogance of an angry straight white man getting to decide who belongs in the very community he’s been marginalizing.

Eisenberger’s next step was to appoint two “special advisors” to create an LGBTQ action plan… completely ignoring the fact that Hamilton already has an LGBTQ advisory committee who had been trying to get the Mayor’s attention for months. The appointment of special advisors has been widely interpreted as crony politics — since the mayor can’t get the advisory committee to say what he wants it to say, he’s going to appoint special advisors who will. And if Twitter statements are any judge, those special advisors’ jobs also include running interference for the mayor.

The next step — which should be occurring today, Friday July 5th — is a closed-door, invite-only meeting with community leaders and the special advisors. It has been implied that this meeting will be to receive “input and advice” on LGBTQ issues, but as no agenda has been made public — we can’t actually be sure what the plan is. Given the secrecy and lack of transparency about the meeting a number of LGBTQ community leaders have publicly declined to attend. Indeed, as of last night there were rumours circulating online that the meeting would be so ill-attended that desperate invites were being sent at the last minute, trying to bulk up the numbers.

Also, an “honourable” mention goes to city councillor Terry Whitehead, whose late-night tweet condemning “the left” and calling for compromise with the fucking fascists has managed to squeeze just that last little bit of gasoline onto the fire heading into today’s events.

So that’s where we are right now, shortly after 9:00am on Friday, July 5th.

Cedar Hopperton is still in jail for exercising their civil rights. The mayor’s special secret meeting — if it happens at all — is going to be a complete shit-show. The police still aren’t arresting the hate-group attackers but are going after queers with gusto. Hamilton is gaining an international reputation as a place that either can’t respond with right-wing hate… or that simply refuses to.

Nothing is getting better, and I don’t think anyone has any confidence that it will anytime soon.

Where do we go from here? What outcome do we want to see?

Well, I want to see Cedar Hopperton and the other Pride defenders out of jail. Immediately. I want to see the charges dropped — even if it turns out that the defenders used force in their defence of innocent people at Pride, because force used in self-defence is not violence. I want an honest and independent investigation into the Hamilton Police Service’s conduct at and around Pride, and disciplinary charges laid as necessary. I want the HPS to apologize, sincerely, for their failure to protect LGBTQ people and a working plan to prevent it ever happening again.

I want the City of Hamilton to come up with a workable plan to stop the growth and spread of right-wing hate groups in the city. I want fascists and nazis to be banned from holding rallies on city property, especially in light of their record of violence against LGBTQ people and minorities. I want the city to come up with a comprehensive plan to address far-right extremism, and I want city staff and counsellors educated on the issue.

And I want Hamilton Mayor Frank Eisenberger to resign.

Whether through incompetence or malice — and I think we do need to question his motives — he has enabled hate groups, alienated and abused the LGBTQ community, and betrayed the trust of his constituents. When someone was failed as completely as Fred Eisenberger, they must be held accountable. He must resign. Must. It’s only a first step in putting out the amazing dumpster fire that is the current state of Hamilton city politics, but it’s the necessary first step.

I’d like to see councillors Sam Merulla and Terry Whitehead resign too, but Eisenberger is the important one. If he truly cares about Hamilton and resolving this situation for the good of his community, then he knows what he has to do.

…

Update — As of five PM on Friday, Cedar Hopperton is still behind bars. Apparently the parole board “is having difficulty coming to a decision” per their 3:45pm email.

This wasn’t the update I was hoping to make…