Students chained to consulate

Students chained to consulate
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published April 5, 2003

Two of the four students who chained themselves to the front doors of the United States consulate in Vancouver on April Fool's Day are young activists from Burnaby who say they are trying to raise awareness of what they believe is the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Macdonald Stainsby, external relations officer for the Douglas College student union, and Heather Jones, an SFU student, were both arrested and charged with mischief as a result of their protest.
They have been ordered to stay away from the consulate and not possess bike locks or chains until their trial date, later this month in Vancouver.
"I've been opposed to the war activities taking place under the U.S. banner for 10 years," Stainsby said Thursday. "I'd say this war doesn't have anything to do with weapons of mass destruction or trying to liberate the Iraqi people.
"The belief that we can install a democracy there is absurd," he said. "It would be like installing a Muslim state here. Why should we instill our values on them? That's a plan that didn't work for the British in Ireland, so why would they think it would work for the British in Iraq?"
The four students remained locked to the front doors of the consulate for about an hour because police were unable to cut the 3/ 8-inch bicycle chains. Police then used an Allen key to remove the door handles before taking the students into custody.
Also arrested were Chris Jacob, another Douglas College student, and Elise Thornburn from Langara. Another Burnaby organizer of the event was Mia Amir, a Moscrop secondary graduate who was nominated for a YWCA Young Woman of Distinction Award in 2000 and who spent the morning on the phone with media, talking about the protest.
"The point of this action is to demonstrate that there are people who are really opposed quite deeply to what we interpret as a racist and illegal war," said Amir, who recently returned from working with peasant farmers in Guatemala.
"This wasn't the beginning and it's definitely not the end of my participation in the mobilization movement," Amir said. "I don't think that I'll be able to stop the war alone. But if we are able to inspire enough people and convince and empower enough people to take a stand, perhaps we'll see a change.
"A lot of us are dissatisfied with just marching and chanting for peace and we see a need to take action."