Heavily armed Canadian police officers, some clad in full camouflage gear and wielding assault weapons, moved in early October 17 morning to enforce an injunction against a Mi’kmaq barricade that has trapped exploration vehicles belonging to a Houston-based firm conducting shale gas exploration in New Brunswick, Canada, according to APTN news.
The officers were initially met by members of the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society which has anchored the barricades for over two weeks. There were also reports that officers fired rubber bullets in the woods around the barricade. Over 40 protestors were reported to have been arrested. Many people were manhandled, hit with pepper spray and some with rubber bullets.
Tensions were high on both sides as the raid unfolded.
“Crown land belongs to the government, not to fucking natives,” APTN’s Ossie Michelin heard one of the camouflaged officers involved in the raid shout to protestors.
“Go back where the fuck you came from,” shouted one of the activists at the scene.
A police spokeswoman said the operation was ongoing. The spokeswoman said there were no military elements involved in the operation. Officers crept in wearing military fatigues and pointing assault rifles, some with dogs.
At least five police cars were burnt, but it is unclear at this stage whether this was the action of agent provocateurs, as claimed by some activist groups. One man was identified as an alleged informant for the police, with the claim he had set the police vehicles on fire to act as an excuse for the police to use force. As of the time of writing, it is unclear who was behind the arson.
Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq First Nation members have been blocking workers’ access to their trucks. The protesters have been there since Sept. 30.
The protesters are concerned the process to extract natural gas by fracturing deep underground rock could damage the environment and contaminate their drinking water and claim the land belongs to First Nations and should not be open to foreign companies to come in and profit.
In a show of solidarity with the First Nations people in New Brunswick, protesters from Six Nations had shut down a section of Highway 6 near Caledonia, Ontario.
“We’ve heard some things that aren’t setting right and we’re here to show our support to our brothers and sisters in New Brunswick,” said Andrea Curley, one of many demonstrators who blocked Highway 6 at Fifth Line, according to local media. The peaceful protest ended at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Activist group, Idle No More, called for solidarity protests. See list of events HERE.
CBC interview with Pam Palmeter, chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, on the protest and police actions HERE.
