'I'd do the same thing again': Fisherman Terry Ryan charged in April DFO protest
A fisherman has been charged in relation to a protest outside the Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John's that saw windows smashed back in April, according to FISH-NL.
In a release Wednesday, the group said Terry Ryan was contacted by the RCMP, on behalf of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and charged with one count of mischief to federal government property during the April 7 protest.
"I don't think [the charge is] justified, no. I think it's a case of the big guy bullying the small guy," Ryan told CBC News.
Ryan is scheduled to appear in court in August. At this time he does not have a lawyer and has not decided how he will plea, he said.
During that protest, fishermen walked up to the doors of the DFO building on White Hills Road and used their feet and signs to bash in the glass windows.
Ryan, a fisherman from La Scie, was one of the roughly 50 fisherman who then entered the DFO building to protest quota cuts.
Despite the charge, Ryan said he wouldn't have done things differently.
"I'd do the same thing again," he said. "No regrets whatsoever."
Initially, the RNC said no charges would be laid until it received a formal complaint from DFO. Police confirmed four days after the protest that a complaint had been filed.
"When authorities say charges won't be laid — and then charges are laid — that sets a bad [precedent] for future protests because no one will believe them," said Ryan Cleary, FISH-NL president, in a press release.
"And that's just dangerous because there will be more protests."
Cleary said because fish harvesters have been "driven to the point of protest by direct threats to their livelihoods, they should not be charged, especially after police said they wouldn't be."
In the release, Cleary said this is yet another broken promise made to fisherman, pointing to Richard Gillet's guarantee that he would get to meet with federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc if he ended his hunger strike.
FISH-NL said in the release it is not known if other fishermen involved will be charged.
