Two homeless activists who acknowledged they went too far when they broke into a vacant elementary school in Nanaimo two years ago have received 12 months of probation and were ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the school district.
This week, Mercedes Courtoreille, 24, and Christopher Thompson, 35, pleaded guilty to mischief by damaging property during the occupation of Rutherford Elementary School on Hammond Bay Road on Oct. 5 and 6, 2018.
Provincial court Judge Brian Harvey accepted a joint submission from Crown and defence and handed the two a conditional discharge, placing them on probation for 12 months with conditions not to go within 50 metres of the school and to perform 50 hours of community service.
If Courtoreille and Thompson comply with the terms of their probation, they will be given an absolute discharge and have no criminal record.
Court heard that Courtoreille and Thompson were part of the leadership group who planned the break-in and occupation of the school to protest an injunction obtained by the City of Nanaimo, allowing it to remove campers from a tent city in its downtown core on Oct. 11.
Courtoreille and Thompson were concerned for the safety of the campers, said prosecutor Ken Paziuk. Their plan was to take over the school, which had been mothballed at the end of June, and move homeless people into the building.
On Oct. 5, the group cut locks and broke windows and went inside with food and supplies. The protesters, who included homeless people, also tried to barricade the doors knowing police would arrive and try to remove them. They moved to the roof and hung banners from the school.
Police arrived and told the protesters they were under arrest and to leave, said Paziuk. They didn’t, so more officers were called to the school.
While this was happening, a crowd of “concerned citizens and curious neighbours” and those opposed to the protesters began to gather. Police were forced to create a perimeter to keep the two sides apart, said Paziuk.
At 1:45 a.m. Courtoreille and Thompson left the building.
“Guns are drawn. People are taken down and these two individuals are arrested,” said Paziuk. When police searched Thompson, they found a high-powered drill, pliers and screws.
The next morning, RCMP officers and the Emergency Response Team were still at the school. The fire department was also at the scene. Police arrested people on the roof and used the ladder bucket truck to take people down to the ground and into custody, said Paziuk. In total, 22 people were arrested.
Because both police and the school district were afraid there would be another occupation, the school district hired a security company to guard the school and another property.
Although the school district said its costs totalled more than $70,000 for the occupation, that included the costs of hiring security, said Paziuk.
“I’m not sure the school district could prove $70,000 in damage in terms of this occupation, but certainly, there was some damage,” said Paziuk.
Neither of the accused has any criminal history and both are law-abiding citizens, he said.
“This was … a protest. But it went too far. It crossed the line into criminal behaviour.”
Defence lawyer Anthony Matilla said Courtoreille acknowledges the damage she has caused and has agreed to pay the restitution. She has been an active volunteer and and fundraiser for many different causes in the community.
“This was done out of empathy … She had a heightened concern about the housing crisis,” he said.
Like Courtoreille, Thompson is an active community volunteer.
“He saw a crisis in the community and things were taken too far. It was done for empathy, not for personal gain.”
Both have agreed to pursue future protests through legal means, Matilla said.
Several of the people arrested with them still intend to go to trial.
