The home video recording was played in Superior Court in Hamilton, where David Brown, 42, his wife Dana Chatwell, 45, and their son, Dax Chatwell, 18, whose house abuts the disputed former Douglas Creek Estates, have filed a $7-million lawsuit against the Ontario government and the OPP for abuse of power and neglect of duty.

The video shows a blinding light shining on Brown's back deck while a protester is heard to shout: "Stop harassing us. Put your camera away. You're violating our rights."

Crown counsel David Feliciant stopped the video and turned to Brown in the witness box. "Why wouldn't you put your camera away, clearly you were agitating them?" he asked.

The comment elicited a collective grumble from the spectator gallery.

Brown said he wanted to document the September 2006 incident as proof for the OPP about the harassment inflicted by the native protesters, who had taken over the 28-hectare tract of residential development property in February that year to protest government inaction on longstanding treaty rights and land claims.

Brown said the protesters drove their vehicles on an illegally constructed road built close to his property and shone the spotlight on his house at all hours of the night while doing perimeter checks of the occupied land.

One night earlier, Brown had called the OPP and reached a dispatcher in London, Ont., to complain about a large number of protesters milling around his property and putting up Mohawk warrior flags on telephone poles. He called the OPP several times requesting that a cruiser patrol the area of his home. Brown became incensed when he could see no visible police presence or response to his request.

"It's like a bee's nest around here," he told the dispatcher, repeating several times how anxious he was about the number of protesters and their increased level of activity outside his home.

The dispatcher confirmed over the telephone that other than standing around, the protesters did not appear to be posing an immediate problem.

Brown snapped back, "Listen, lady, there's a problem here every God damned day of my life!"

The witness testified about waking up one morning to find a Mohawk warrior flag draped over the sign in his yard advertising his wife's hairdressing business. The shop had been forced to shut down after the protesters erected barricades outside their home on Argyle Street South.

Brown said he removed the warrior flag, brought it inside the house and called the police. Later on, he decided he would hang an extra-large Canadian flag over the same sign.

"Weren't you at all concerned about instigating a confrontation with the protesters on the occupied site?" asked Feliciant.

The lawyer asked Brown if he was aware of the "flag wars" taking place in which Caledonia residents were discouraged from flying Canadian flags anywhere near where native protesters were placing the red and gold flags of the Mohawk warriors.

"Counsellor," said Brown, "I'm a very, very proud Canadian. I'm proud of my country ... And you're telling me that I'm provoking somebody by hanging the Canadian flag in my yard?

"The OPP weren't concerned about the warrior flags that were flying all around the perimeter of my house and on all the telephone poles. You didn't concern yourself with that. You didn't care that they were agitating me at the time, (did) you?" demanded Brown.

Feliciant replied: "So, I take it from your answer that you were not concerned about provoking a response."

"I didn't give a shit," said Brown.

bbrown@thespec.com