'I am not the criminal,' says Milton

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A shaken Lorna Born With A Tooth held back her tears as he read a statement prepared by her brother Milton who was sentenced Monday to 18 months in jail on six weapons charges.

She read Milton's five-page response to his treatment by the Alberta judicial system to a crow of 75 protesters outside the Lethbridge courthouse.

He said judicial system officials didn't want "to get to the truth about what kind of a human being I really am. That's why everything I've said has been used against me."

Born With A Tooth called his statement "another strike against the Alberta government and the Oldman River Dam project."

The leader of the Peigan Lonefighters Society opposes construction of the southern Alberta dam on environmental and spiritual grounds.

The group tried in September to divert the river around irrigation head works. During the action RCMP entered the reserve Sept. 7 at which time shots were fired. Born With A Tooth was charged with two weapons offences. On Dec. 12 he filed a statement of claim charging provincial officials and the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District with wrongdoings. Five days later he was slapped with six new charges stemming from the same incident.

Born With A Tooth insisted in his statement he is not "the criminal out of all this. The real criminals are the ones who are continuing to abuse their powers. The government has to ensure people can freely express their views "in this so-called country."

Born With A Tooth still has only one demand: "that construction be stopped."

The province went ahead with the $353-million dam despite a federal stop-work order.

Born With A Tooth said he's angered by a system that has forced the rule down his throat yet refuses to apply the same rule to political and economic interests.

During the sentencing, Justice Laurie MacLean said, "if society is to survive, the rule of law must be maintained."

Born With A Tooth said the provincial government "broke every law and broke every trust. They broke all those sacred ways of dealing with human beings" on Sept. 7.

He said he fears for the Creator, who guides him, more than the justice system. And the province fears him because of his fight against the dam, he said.

"It's so simple. It has to do with clean water, clean air, a clean mind and clean thoughts," said Lorna.

His sentencing is not the "real issue" but rather "it's what a government will do to protect a senseless project. This is what this country has got to stand up and question. Not to question how come two shots were fired. They have to question why the government used such force. I have no wealth, I have always been a peaceful human being," he said.

Born With A Tooth feels he has done his part "now it's a matter of, do we really care about the rule of law and protecting rights? And most of all, do we care about this earth?"

Rather than persecuting him, Born With A Tooth said, "let's persecute the real abusers, the ones giving and creating chaos. I don't have the money and power to create all that."