The crowd of more than 1,000, taking part in what was dubbed Solidarity Weekend, filled the park and, to the beat of drums, rallied in opposition to the Canadian Nationalist Front, the organization planning to hold the anti-immigration event, which ended up not happening.

Despite the peaceful intent of the Solidarity Weekend organizers, clashes erupted: One between anti-racism protesters and a man in a Nazi T-shirt, and another between anti-racism protesters and police, which led to the arrests.

One person was arrested for assault during the rally after a man was punched on the south side of Confederation Square, city police Insp. Lynne Buehler stated.

Owen Lucas, 22, of Wolfe Street, was charged with assault causing bodily harm. He has been held in custody.

The punched man suffered an injured mouth and required medical treatment, Buehler stated.

According to Buehler, at around 2:45 p.m. some people in the crowd covered their faces and heads to disguise their identities.

The man in the Nazi T-shirt and a woman, who had her head covered in a hood, engaged in a shouting match, Buehler stated.

During that dispute an officer was assaulted, Buehler stated.

As a result the woman was arrested for assaulting the officer and was placed in a police cruiser, Buehler stated. Police obtained her name and address and released the woman from custody at the scene after people swarmed the cruiser and chanted for her release, blocking traffic at George St. and McDonnel St. for about 20 minutes.

Police are continuing their investigation of that incident.

The woman who left the police cruiser told a different version of events.

Jane Way, 22, walked away from the cruiser saying she’d punched a man – whom she called a Nazi – and then police tackled her.

“I kept yelling at them (police) that I’m disabled and they kept tackling me,” she said.

But she said she didn’t regret her actions: “That’s (expletive) camaraderie – that’s why we’re here,” she said.

Some protesters, including Jeremy Bertrand, yelled obscenities at police while the woman was in the cruiser.

Bertrand said a man had arrived at the march, yelled at protesters and ripped up a placard before he was confronted by the woman.

“Then I saw three Peterborough Police officers twist and contort this woman,” Bertrand said, adding that the officers then “tackled her to the ground.”

Officers attempted to restore calm to the crowd, which had largely dispersed by 5:30 p.m., according to Buehler.

Meanwhile there was also a man taken away from the scene by paramedics; he was seen limping into the back of an ambulance on his own.

Shawn Salo, a local videographer, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday night that he’d been shooting video when he attempted to help police in the scuffle. He wrote that his injuries will require surgery.

The crowd gathered at Confederation Square on Saturday afternoon to take a stand against an anti-immigration rally that was supposed to take place there.

Kevin Goudreau, a Peterborough resident, is the chairman of the Canadian Nationalist Front, a group that wants to make this country a white homeland. He was planning an anti-immigration, anti-Trudeau rally in Confederation Square, the same site as the city’s war memorial

I saw three Peterborough Police officers twist and contort this woman

Instead, the public square attracted more than 1,000 people there to denounce racism: Seniors, children, people in colourful costumes carrying placards, and several people with their faces covered from the nose down with bandannas (from the group Peterborough Against Fascism).

The incidents involving police occurred after a large portion of the crowd left the square to march around the block.

Before and after the melee, hundreds of people gathered in the square and also on the lawn on Emmanuel Church across the street.

Those on the lawn of the church – the former George Street United Church, across the street from the square – were there to hear speakers such as Toronto activist Desmond Cole.

They were also making art and taking part in drum circles. It was part of a full weekend of counter rallies called Solidarity Weekend.

One supporter was Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, who arrived in Peterborough as a refugee when she was a child.

She was there speaking with people in the square, amid the crowd that turned out to denounce racism.

“I’m proud of my community,” she said.

Yet two men at the rally said they felt unfairly targeted.

Suddenly there were 10 guys with bandannas in my face

R.J. Finley, 24, and Ashton Parks, 21, wore suits and sat on the Cenotaph. They were confronted by several people who apparently mistook them for supporters of the Nationalist Front.

Parks described himself as a Conservative who is against both fascism and communism. He said he attracted the attention of Peterborough Against Fascism simply because he was wearing a suit.

“Suddenly there were 10 guys with bandannas in my face,” he said. “They turned the whole crowd on me. I was trying to preach love.”

One member of Peterborough Against Fascism spoke to The Examiner but refused to give his name.

He said people in the group don’t identify themselves because they feel the Canadian Nationalist Front could become violent and target them or their families.

“These aren’t the nicest of people – we’re not interested in getting nailed,” he said.

But he didn’t apologize for his group confronting the men in suits.

“If we get right down to their politics, it’s about returning to Conservative glory,” he said.

Lynn Eno was there carrying a placard. She said that as both an Algonquin and the daughter of a war veteran, she felt compelled to attend.

She said it was “a sacrilege” that the Canadian Nationalist Front was planning an anti-immigration rally on the site of the war memorial.

“My father went to war so myself, my children and grandchildren can live in peace – I don’t take their sacrifice lightly,” she said.

Coun. Henry Clarke was at the square on Saturday. He’s deputy mayor and chairman of the cenotaph committee.

He said he went to ensure protesters didn’t go near the war memorial. He asked a few people who were sitting on the memorial to leave, he said, but they didn’t listen.

Meanwhile, outside Emmanuel Church, people took part in the drum circle led by Christian Harvey.

Ziysah von Bieberstein, one of the organizers of the Solidarity Weekend, said she was concerned too much focus would be on the incidents involving police. That’s not what it was all about, she said.

“In the last few weeks, we turned around a national news story about an anti-immigration rally into a story of people coming together in a commitment to end white supremacy,” she said.

It took a lot of people to organize a full weekend of solidarity, she said – and everyone had their own way of organizing.

“But we united and took back our public space.
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