Following are updates from the Wet’suwet’en territory that was invaded again yesterday by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on behalf of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Militarized RCMP came with assault rifles and dogs. Three accredited journalists were arrested.
| Militarized RCMP raided Coyote Camp today, arresting 14 people including Sleydo’, Chief Woos’s daughter, and three accredited journalists.. They came in with assault rifles and dogs, and without a warrant, used axes to break down the door of the cabin Sleydo’ and Chief Woos’s daughter we’re in, and violently removed them from their territory. Of the people arrested yesterday, most we’re released this afternoon. Five people refused to sign conditions of release that barred return to the territory and are being brought to jail in Prince Rupert where they face court on Monday. Solidarity actions continued across the country, with rallies, marches, rail blockades, and road closures. TAKE ACTION! 🔥 Issue a solidarity statement from your organization or group and tag us. 🔥 Host a solidarity rally or action in your area. 🔥 Pressure the government, banks, and investors. 🔥 Donate. http://go.rallyup.com/wetsuwetenstrong 🔥 Spread the word. #WetsuwetenStrong #AllOutForWedzinKwa #ShutDownCanada Unist’ot’en Solidarity Brigade robertages@telus.net |
During a similar RCMP invasion two years ago, it was reported that the use of lethal force to shoot Indigenous land defenders was discussed.
Notes from strategy session for raid on Wet’suwet’en nation’s ancestral lands show commanders argued for ‘lethal overwatch’
Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
Notes from a strategy session for a militarized raid on ancestral lands of the Wet’suwet’en nation show that commanders of Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), argued that “lethal overwatch is req’d” – a term for deploying an officer who is prepared to use lethal force.
The RCMP commanders also instructed officers to “use as much violence toward the gate as you want” ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet’suwet’en people to control access to their territories and stop construction of the proposed 670km (416-mile) Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL).
In a separate document, an RCMP officer states that arrests would be necessary for “sterilizing [the] site”.
Wet’suwet’en people and their supporters set up the Gidimt’en checkpoint in December 2018 to block construction of the pipeline through this region of mountains and pine forests 750 miles north of Vancouver.
On 7 January, RCMP officers – dressed in military-green fatigues and armed with assault rifles – descended on the checkpoint, dismantling the gate and arresting 14 people.
Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show by Jaskiran Dhillon in Wet’suwet’en territory and Will Parrish, The Guardian, Fri 20 Dec 2019
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Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.