RCMP Are Arresting People With Helicopters During A Struggle For BC's Old-Growth Forests
Over 100 people have been arrested in 10 days.
Over 100 people have been arrested by B.C. RCMP at the Fairy Creek blockade, the scene for ongoing protests by Indigenous land defenders and allies attempting to stop logging in the surrounding area.
The RCMP confirmed to Narcity that four people were arrested on May 26 with the help of helicopters after staging tree sit-ins to stop old-growth logging in the forest, which sits on the unceded territories of the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht First Nations on Vancouver Island.
An injunction has been enforced since May 17 to stop land defenders from creating blockades and halting the old-growth logging that is taking place five hours north of Victoria.
Land defenders set up several gates in the area to stop RCMP officers from enforcing the injunction, and also performed sit-ins — both on the ground and in the sky.
The scenes echo previous actions by land defenders across the country for decades, from the Wet'suwet'en demonstrations in February 2020 to the "war in the woods" at Clayoquot Sound in the 1990s.