‘Defund’ protesters escorted from Hamilton city hall after sit-in to demand meeting

A crowd of supporters shouted shame, shame" as demonstrators calling for the police to be defunded were removed one by one - each accompanied by at least four uniformed police officers - from Hamilton city hall on Wednesday evening.

Hamilton police say they have arrested and charged 18 protesters, including Toronto-based author Desmond Cole, for refusing to leave city hall after hours."

They picked me up out of the chair that I was sitting in and took me out of city hall," Cole said. They didn't tell me any charge, they didn't give me a piece of paper. Catch and release, as far as I'm concerned."

Police say they responded to a group of six people refusing to leave the building after hours at approximately 4:30 p.m. The group in the lobby eventually grew from six to 19 people.

Police say those arrested were charged and released under the Trespass to Property Act - a $65 fine.

Defund HPS organizer Sarah Jama, who had been in the city hall lobby since about noon, was also among those charged.

It escalated, and they were the ones escalating it," she said from the front steps of city hall, a blue trespassing ticket in hand. It's not much, but they're saying I'm not allowed to be on the property ... I'm still here."

Earlier in the day, members of the group, which has been camped outside city hall for 10 days demanding less city funding for police and more funding for housing, staged a sit-in on the building's main floor demanding a meeting with Hamilton's mayor.

To me, it's a compromise," Jama said on Wednesday afternoon. We came inside because he refused to meet us outside ... what is he so afraid of?"

The mayor had previously offered a private meeting - no phones or technology - with Jama and an agreed upon mediator" at city hall, Jama said. On Wednesday, the group received a letter signed by Mayor Fred Eisenberger and city manager Janette Smith stating they are open to meeting with two identified representatives" from the group.

This meeting is not a media or livestream event, rather a conversation," the letter reads.

But the group is pushing for a public meeting, not a private one.

We said from the beginning that we want to include the community in this conversation, we are also members of the community," said Koubra Haggar, one of the group's members. We will not stand for a private meeting with the mayor so that he dodges accountability."

The group has been camped - first in tents, then, after those were removed Monday, in chairs with sleeping bags - since Nov. 23, and have no plans to leave.

We will be here all day, all night," she said.

Haggar said the group will continue to apply pressure in different ways - showing up, making their demands and encouraging supporters to call, email and tweet at the mayor's office.

We will continue to wait for the mayor and tell him that this isn't going to be a closed-door conversation," she said. It's a community conversation, and the conversation is going to have to happen."

In a Dec. 2 media release, the City of Hamilton said the group rejected an offer for a meeting, indicating it was all of them or none of them,' a scenario that is not possible as it would violate public health orders."

The release touted the municipality's record on housing, saying it continues to maximize all opportunities to develop safe and affordable housing with the right supports."

Over the past six years we have received, allocated and invested over $716 million in funding towards reducing the impact of poverty in Hamilton through investment in safe, affordable housing," Eisenberger said the release. ... we share concerns for our homeless population and will continue our work to provide good quality and stable housing to those who need it most."

Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com