Theft is wrong

In 1983 a young Onkwehon:we man was passing through Flamborough late at night when his car ran out of gas. This was back before cell phones existed, so Karl Staats knocked on the door of a nearby farmhouse with a gas can in hand looking for help. He never made it home that night.

Homeowner Tobias Soares told police that he felt his family was threatened by the 20-year-old so he confronted him with a rifle and then shot him to death in cold blood. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison – but historically, when European immigrants kill local Indians, magical things can happen. Soares ended up serving only two and a half years and was set free.

Today, the Six Nations community is mourning the loss of 29-year-old Jonathan Styres. Jon was a popular young man known for his sense of humour who was also a loving father of two little girls – Sophia and baby Zoey. Five days ago Jon was shot and apparently bled to death in the laneway of a Glanbrook Township residence.

There has been much speculation about this case. According to killer Peter Khill, Jon was attempting to steal his truck. He could have been looking for a place to sleep, maybe he was lost but even if he was attempting to commit theft, who appointed Khill as judge, jury and executioner? If Khill is the only living witness we will only get one side of the story.

The Ontario Provincial Police have issued a statement saying they are confident that this is classified as a second-degree murder. A surprising amount of support for Khill has appeared online condoning his violent actions. Since when has murder under any circumstances been justified in Canada?

The Canadian media seems to have made up their mind already. Not only did they break the news story before Jon Styres’ family was even notified, their appalling coverage has been completely biased. Imagine sitting down for breakfast, drinking your coffee then looking at a news story announcing your child’s alleged murder.

Now Jon’s family has to deal with media outlets like the Toronto Sun painting the killer as a “super nice guy” and the Hamilton Spectator is right there reminding Canadians that Khill is an armed forces reservist and an “award-winning student.” No wonder why such alarming support for Khill has sprung up on social media.

One year ago a tearful Sharlene Bosma said “It is only a truck,” in response to the murder of her husband Tim Bosma. How quickly Canadian attitudes can change.

A petition to “Unconditionally withdraw the murder charge” against Khill has 11,685 signatures and is steadily growing. There’s also a Facebook page with 763 likes called “In Support of Peter Khill” which is infected with such hate filled paranoia such as this:

“I’ve created this page to rally support for Peter, from those who have had enough with worrying about whether they will see their vehicle again, because for some people their vehicle is their pride and joy, and to see it go missing is heart breaking.”

Is this Canada or the twilight zone?

Before we proceed any further let’s make it clear that indigenous people do not go around thinking about race every day. It’s the last thing we want to think about actually – and most of us do not dwell upon it. But when you are surrounded by a nation of immigrants and they feel quite smug and comfortable killing you (for any reason) it goes right to the forefront of your mind.

It comes down to privilege. A white man felt entitled to play army in his own front yard and found the perfect victim. He could have shot in the air or at a leg but some reports say he unloaded a shotgun shell directly into the victim’s chest. Khill aimed to kill.

We get it, Canadians are very passionate about property and outspoken about theft. We can all agree that theft is a crime and inexcusable. Everyone believes in justice.

So let’s ask the Khill supporters a question to see where they really stand. If killing a thief for attempting to steal a truck is fair, what’s the price to pay for stealing 10 million square kilometres of land? ‪#‎propertyrightsmatter

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4 Comments

  1. Stop making this a race issue. Anyone steps onto private property and threatens a property owner puts thier life at risk. If the homeowner felt his life was threatened by the criminal trespasser it’s no different than when police officers make the same argument yet somehow the injustice system values the life of police officers higher than ours. If Mr. Khill was threatened by this criminal, he has the right to defend himseld and lawfully owned property by any means necessary. Easy solution – don’t show up on private property trying to Rob people- no matter what color you are… That reminds me; Mr. Khill is not white. So much for trying to make a self defense issue about race.

  2. Strong and powerful words… I can’t imagine anyone could ever say that any “thing” is worth more than human life.

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