Three men charged in connection with a fire at a reputed crack house in New Brunswick are heroes, not criminals, said many people at a public meeting with the RCMP Wednesday night.

Dana Russell, one of about 500 residents at a town hall meeting on Grand Manan Island, said the justice system hasn't been tough enough on drug traffickers, and it's being too hard on the men accused of attacking the crack house.

"Regardless of what sentence is imposed on these young individuals, never in the minds of Grand Manan people will they ever be considered criminals," said Russell to applause from the crowd.

The charges against the men stem from a riot on July 22 in which about 40 people — some reportedly armed with guns, knives and baseball bats — burned a house to the ground in the island community of Castalia where drugs were allegedly being sold.

During the melee, four male residents of the home were badly beaten, and a woman was escorted off the island for her own safety. Shots were fired at a car but the driver was not hurt. Several people suffered minor injuries.

RCMP beefs up presence to guard against more riots

On Tuesday night, the Mounties sent as many as 70 officers to Grand Manan responding to reports of a plan to burn down another reputed crack house.

Normally, there are four officers stationed in the community. RCMP Sgt. Greg McEvoy said the extra officers were there to protect the public and enforce the law.

"It was more a case of concern that someone might get seriously harmed, that things could easily get totally out of hand," he said. "Our role to preserve peace and the rule of law had to be considered."

Island resident Bev Fleet said the increased presence was out of proportion.

"Any one of you fellows ought to take one step back and take a look at that. Major, major overkill," she said, again to applause from the crowd.

Residents want RCMP to combat drug trafficking

Larry Urquhart said the RCMP should have shown such concern for stopping the drug traffickers.

"If a fraction of the effort that has been put forth since this incident took place had been in place before, we wouldn't be here," he said.

There are signs posted around the island with slogans such as "Release Our Heroes." People are donating cash to help pay the men's legal fees.

"It's quite hard to see our boys being taken off the island and some of the people who should've been taken off are walking the streets," said Faith Lambert, grandmother of one of the young men arrested.