Leah’s Statement to the court

Statement read in court at sentencing hearing:

All you need to know about me is that I am a person of conscience, I came to this situation from a place of morality within myself, and I am a member of a community that shares that morality and a powerful vision for a future that is truly free.

I stand here guilty of breaking your laws, not the laws of justice.

The court has been told, “this prosecution is not political”, and that this has been done to protect society from danger.

The truth is this entire prosecution is born from the politics of fear. Fear of our ideas, fear of what we represent:

Freedom.

A Freedom that your jails will not confine.

I am not here for approval.

I am here because this is what stands for justice on this colonized land.

Though I stand here being judged by you, I am accountable to more, that is beyond these walls.

I am accountable to the indigenous communities whose lands we are on. To the earth who we’re daily assaulting with saws, and chemicals. To the elders in my life and to the generations yet to come.

The laws that govern our societies are not laws of community, or laws of consensus, they are laws of oppression. Laws that underpay and overwork mothers. That deport the poor and those of colour. Laws that rob Indigenous Nations of their traditions, their land, their childhoods. Laws that blame the unemployed and rewards those that get rich on their backs.

I have been deeply and profoundly affected by this process, but have not been changed by it. I have been moved by the incredible support that I have received, far beyond what I could have imagined. It has been made more clear to me through this process that this vision for the future is part of a groundswell.

I want to say thank you to everyone that has supported me, thank you to my friends, my family and my lawyer.

I submit to your jails because today you hold many of the weapons, and many people under your spell. A day is coming when that will not be so.

A day is coming where the distorted mirror that hides the lies of capitalism and colonialism will shatter.

Sometimes a cupcake, is just a cupcake.