Protesters supporting Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs once again blocked access to the Port of Vancouver, and once again, the police have acted on a court injunction and made arrests.
The at East Hastings and Clark Drive, which is also an entry point for the Port of Vancouver, Monday afternoon and remained overnight. By early Tuesday afternoon, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»police had moved in and ordered the protesters to leave, or face arrest. The scene was tense as 16 VPD officers stood in the intersection in an outward-facing square formation, while another officer read the Supreme Court order over a loud speaker.
Six individuals stood defiantly in the rain, refusing to remove themselves from the roadway. One by one, each protester was approached by a group of eight VPD officers, quietly arrested and then led away to a police van parked in a nearby alley.
About 100 other anti-pipeline protesters stood on the four corners of the intersection, chanting slogans and occasionally yelling abuse at the police, before slowly dispersing.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»police re-opened the intersection just before 2 p.m.
Demonstrators over several days earlier this month, until the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Fraser Port Authority got an injunction in B.C. Supreme Court to restore access to the port. Forty-three people were arrested at that time.
This is the latest in a series of nationwide protests that began after the RCMP arrested six Wet’suwet’en protesters in Houston, B.C., on Feb. 6, for obstructing the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
@DrewClarkeBC
This story has been updated since it was originally posted.
