Crime Trio facing weapons charges also being investigated in connection with race-related assaults

Ashley Joannou
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday August 10th, 2007
Appeared on page C1
SAINT JOHN - A man and two youths who appeared in court late Thursday afternoon charged with possession of weapons for a purpose dangerous to the public peace are also being investigated in connection with attacks on Chinese students.

Jonathan Clifford Martin, 19, entered a not guilty plea when charged with possession of a knife.

A 15-year-old and 17-year-old, who cannot be identified because of provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were both charged with possession of steel pipes and entered not guilty pleas. Prosecutor Patrick Wilbur objected to the release of all three and they were remanded for bail hearings today at 9:30 a.m.

The two youths were ordered held overnight in police cells at City Hall while Martin was sent to the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre on Old Black River Road. Martin and one of the youths both had shaved heads and sideburns connected to small goatees without moustaches.

Police said in a press release issued Thursday that the three teenagers are also being investigated in connection with two separate attacks in the last two weeks.

"The major crimes unit continues to investigate all aspects of these assaults and further charges are pending upon completion of the investigation," the release said.

In an interview Thursday afternoon,

Insp. Darrell Scribner of the major crimes unit of the Saint John Police Force said it appeared the two students, both international students attending UNBSJ, were targeted "based solely on their race."

He said the attacks appear to be completely random and that the victims did not know their attackers.

None of the teens arrested and charged with weapons offences were students at UNBSJ.

Scribner would not say if those arrested were known to police.

"This whole file is very concerning," Scribner said. "It is upsetting anytime someone is attacked based on the way they look "¦ especially in this day and age."

Scribner said the two students were attacked with a large piece of wood or club of some kind, the first on July 28 and the second on Aug. 4. Both attacks happened in Millidgeville, around University Avenue.

Both victims suffered bruising but were not seriously injured, Scribner said.

Police are urging anyone else that might have been victim to a similar attack in the last few weeks to call police or Crime Stoppers.

Scribner thanked the Chinese community and UNBSJ for "their help in the investigation" but would not go into detail with regard to the extent of that help.

On Wednesday afternoon, police met with the UNBSJ administration, student representatives and members of the community to discuss the details of the investigation into the attacks and what was being done to catch those responsible, said Shelley Rinehart, acting vice-president of UNBSJ.

She credits the close relationship between the police and the community with helping officers advance their investigation quickly.

"In a big city, a meeting like that would not have happened," she said. "That shows the close relationship we have with the police and that makes people feel safer."

The three teens under investigation for those attacks were arrested on weapons charges late Wednesday night.

On Thursday morning, police were also called to the University Avenue area to clean up hateful graffiti left the night before.

Someone had spray painted 'Gooks go home' on the sidewalk outside 140 University Ave. and on the wall of a nearby glass bus shelter, in an area that is home to many international students. The vandalism was quickly cleaned up.

No charges have been laid in relation to the graffiti.

Rinehart said the students went to police immediately after they were attacked and then informed counsellors at the school.

She said hate-motivated attacks are rare at the university, where 20 per cent of the student body consists of international students.

"Any incident that has an impact on the safety of our students, we take that very seriously," she said. "(We) work with the students and whoever the authorities are that we need to work with to insure both their safety and also that whatever issues are involved are dealt with."

The university sent a memo out Thursday afternoon to all of its faculty and staff, informing them of the arrests. The memo reads in part, "Saint John police are continuing to investigate the reported incidents that have since been escalated to the major crimes unit and will continue increased patrols of the area."

Tao Lui, a member of the board of the Chinese Cultural Association, said the group will not be commenting on the attacks until the police finish their investigation.

"We trust the police to investigate the matter completely and know they will catch whoever is responsible," she said.

City councillor Jay-Young Chang appeared genuinely shocked when told about the attacks and said in general he believes Saint Johners to be welcoming and understanding people.

"If the police are saying that these attacks are because of racism, I find that really hard to believe that these kind of attacks are happening in Saint John," he said. "If it is because of race, then we have a big issue that we have to deal with."

Chang, who holds the immigration portfolio on common council, called for more federal or provincial funding to run educational programs to combat racism.

"Education is key," he said. "We have to show people that people are people, no matter where they're from or what colour their skin is."

With files from Bruce Bartlett

[url]http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/46503[/url]

太长了，谁能翻成中文让我看

kao... Jay竟然也来参一脚... 太搞笑了...

那这事到底怎么办?
打算怎么告啊?
种族歧视?蓄意伤害?哪样都不轻啊... 呵呵 其实拿刀子的话可以告谋杀了...
匕首是最危险的...
捅中了放血
5分钟就可能挂掉...

[quote name='sofarsogood']太长了，谁能翻成中文让我看[/QUOTE]

基本上就是说3个小年轻（嫌疑犯）被抓住了，可是还没有被判罪。19岁的那个叫 Johnathan Clifford Martin, 可是其他的两个，因为还不到18， 加拿大法律不许公开他们的姓名。然后警察感谢学生配合。 还有就是有人在university avenue 左右写了些种族歧视的话， 马上被警察清理掉了。

其实在 saint john 这种族歧视的事一直都在发生。挺伤人心的，应为确实在加拿大其他大城市里面一般不会这么明显。不过一般也都是没什么文化教育的人才这么干。可是有时候连躲都躲不起。

可能不是什么顺耳的话， 不过18 岁以下的在加拿大法律里应该根本不会有做犯纪录。就算那个19岁的，也不会有太大的处罚， 除非 saint john 政府觉得不处分的严一点大学就收不到国际学生付的巨高的学费。

伤人心啊。