![\"leal](\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/0-2.jpg\")
<\/a>May Thaysen photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
On the\u00a0morning of Friday, February 7th, the RCMP moved in<\/a>\u00a0to raid the second of four camps along the gravel road that passes through the\u00a0Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en Nation<\/a>, Gidimt\u2019en Territory.\u00a0 The RCMP were enforcing a court injunction that prohibited anyone from blocking access to anyone working on the\u00a0Coastal GasLink pipeline<\/a>. I was a legal observer for that raid \u2013 a collector of information for the purposes of legal defense.<\/p>\n I spent three days at the camp known as \u201944\u2019 \u2013 all the camps are named for their distance from Houston, BC along the Morice River forest service road.\u00a0 44 was the site of the main conflict with RCMP in January 2019, over the same issue.<\/p>\n The Unist\u2019ot\u2019en Healing Centre is at 66, on the far side of the bridge over the Wedzin Kwah (aka the Morice River).\u00a0 This year, there are camps at 27, and 39 as well \u2013 not for blocking access, but for handling supplies, housing Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en people and their supporters, hosting media, and tracking the movements of RCMP.\u00a0 27 is just before the police checkpoint that controls access to the road into Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en Territory.\u00a0 39 is behind the RCMP checkpoint, at the start of the indigenous blockade.\u00a0 And there\u2019s the blockade: 5 kilometers of fallen trees, tire piles, a metal gate and a wooden wall on a bridge and behind that, a battle-bus with a tower on it.<\/p>\n Thursday morning the crew at 44 was aroused before 5am by reports from from 27 on the inter-camp 2-way radio:<\/p>\n \u201cPolice passing by now, in formation\u2026 I\u2019ll count the vehicles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.\u201d<\/p>\n A few minutes later, reports from inside a communications station in a truck at 39:<\/p>\n \u201cPolice have breached the camp.\u00a0 They\u2019re coming in the tents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFirst arrest made!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMore arrests!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re putting tape on the windows of the [communications] truck.\u00a0 Probably to smash the window.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve smashed the window\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAiy-yi-yiy-yiy-yiy-yi-yiy-yi\u201d, the operator cries out bravely.<\/p>\n Radio silence.<\/p>\n Back at 44, the land-defenders knew that they were next and there wasn\u2019t much time.\u00a0 Reports came in from 27 that 20 more RCMP SUVs had blasted up the road for the next push.<\/p>\n Police spent the rest of the day clearing the road of various obstacles.\u00a0 Trees and tires had been put in their path to create a buffer of safety between folks on the land and the \u2018rule of law\u2019.\u00a0 By 3pm machinery could be heard around the corner from a barricaded bridge in front of camp 44.<\/p>\n Everyone was ready. But this wasn\u2019t the moment.\u00a0 It was too late in the day for the RCMP to take on the bigger, more established, more fortified 44.<\/p>\n Some suspected they might wait for darkness.\u00a0 Some thought pre-dawn was likely.\u00a0 The thinking was that this battle is taking place on a few different levels \u2013 on the ground, with bodies and assault rifles \u2013 and in the media, the battle for the hearts and minds of \u2018Canadians\u2019. \u00a0 And video doesn\u2019t tell its story as well in the dark.<\/p>\n The raid at 39 was swift and strong.\u00a0 We heard reports that people were told they couldn\u2019t film police.\u00a0 We heard guns had been drawn.<\/p>\n There were no legal observers there.\u00a0 There have been many people volunteering to perform the service, but generally only during daylight hours.<\/p>\n Legal observers record statements that police make, names of arresting officers and their arrestees, ask questions to clarify communications, and they watch for inappropriate behaviour.<\/p>\n Just having a legal observer on the scene can go a long ways toward ensuring that there is no inappropriate behaviour.\u00a0 Most people behave better when they\u2019re being watched.<\/p>\n As darkness settled in at 44, the defenders began to relax a little with reports of the police convoy having passed by 27 again, on their way out.\u00a0 Would the raid come in the morning?\u00a0 Would there be a day of rest?<\/p>\n I began to reflect on something I heard from journalist Jerome Turner, who was also staying at 44. He said that his editor was worried and reached out to the RCMP to see what kind of risk he was in.\u00a0 The answer was that everyone at 44 would be arrested, even the media.<\/p>\n I realized that my ability to record the details of the event would be compromised early on, as I was likely to be arrested first\u2026. I considered my options.<\/p>\n The land defenders had made a three-storey tower from chainsaw-milled logs on top of a converted school bus.\u00a0 There they would make their stand, the tower keeping them at a distance from the police forces.\u00a0 Perhaps I could join them and I too would have more time to observe.\u00a0 But this would put me too close, make me a violator of the injunction, and injure the tragic beauty of the scene.<\/p>\n Legal observers are meant to be at the edge of a situation \u2013 close enough to watch, but not interfere or participate.\u00a0 Plus, my uniform, a white hardhat and a high-vis vest, would be an aesthetic clash.<\/p>\n Then it occurred to me to climb a tree.\u00a0 I could use the advantage of height and challenging access to create time and space between me and the consequences of being on the scene.<\/p>\n So at around 11pm, I began gathering supplies.\u00a0 I found a bucket for bathroom breaks, a bin of climbing equipment, and a hatchet to limb the tree for visibility and to close the trail behind me.<\/p>\n I selected a tree 30 feet from the centre of the road, perpendicular to the bus-tower.\u00a0 I set to work clearing most of the lower limbs, leaving only small weak ones that I could reach down and remove from above.\u00a0 I cleared some branches at a height of thirty feet so that I could see 180 degrees, the whole scene of the raid.\u00a0 I strung my safety lines and 2\u00d78 board for a seat.\u00a0 And at 4:30 AM I was ready to catch a few hours of sleep.<\/p>\n As I lay my head down for what I figured would be a short rest, I pondered\u2026 what was I doing here.\u00a0 In many ways, I didn\u2019t know\u2026<\/p>\n When I take the the time to reflect on where humanity is at, what kind of relationship we have with our little blue planet, and what kind of future we might be bringing to bear\u2026 I get lost and overwhelmed.<\/p>\n Going to visit a place and a people like Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en brings relief: here are a people who belong to each other and to the land.\u00a0 Here are a people with a clear vision and a righteous foundation that extends as far as the mind can see into the past.\u00a0 And I can visit and support their mission.<\/p>\n The Hereditary Chiefs of the five clans of the Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en Nation have full jurisdiction under their law to control access to their lands.\u00a0 They have directed Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en people and their allies to evict Coastal Gaslink, who never had consent to begin with.\u00a0 The camps are there to enforce that eviction and to demand that the rights and title of the Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en be respected.<\/p>\n Revolution flows like water \u2013 it gathers in the cracks and low places, rushing where it gathers enough mass.<\/p>\n Mostly visitors are asked to come and lend a hand with camp duties.\u00a0 There is always food to prepare, firewood to gather, snow to shovel, water to carry and construction projects.<\/p>\n I had just finished a day of firewood at 27 when Molly Wickham, a leader in the Gidimt\u2019en clan, asked me if I would be willing to assume Medic duty at 44.\u00a0 She said her medic there had to leave and she wanted someone with some medical training there in case any of her people needed treatment.<\/p>\n I said no at first, fearfully, thinking of my sweet, precious life back home.\u00a0 I knew that the raid was coming soon.\u00a0 RCMP forces had been amassing for a week in the nearby towns.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know when I might be able to make it out of the territory, or when I might be able to make it out of jail; I didn\u2019t know what kind of a record I could get for being on the scene of such a high-profile conflict, and at the back of my mind, was the risk of bullets flying.<\/p>\n I was torn.\u00a0 I am extremely fortunate to have a beautiful life \u2013 but to save that while standing in front of a brave leader who is trying to save her land and her people\u2019s way of life\u2026 I felt small.\u00a0 But to be a small part of such a bold and important effort \u2013 that, is a life.\u00a0 And I would have been crazy not to accept the opportunity to give of myself in that way.<\/p>\n I also considered something that \u2018Green\u2019 told me at Unist\u2019ot\u2019en Camp (66) on a previous trip in December.\u00a0 Everyone had been talking about the upcoming raid and who was going to stay and who had to go and who was \u2018arrestable\u2019.\u00a0 I had to go and I didn\u2019t feel arrestable. Green, an indigenous Dene man, while respecting my decision, gently let me know that they needed settlers to stand with them, they needed white people to stand with them \u2013 it keeps indigenous people safe.\u00a0 He had already told me many horror stories about how his people were being treated by the RCMP where he is from.\u00a0 That responsibility sat heavy in my chest as I walked away.<\/p>\n I changed my mind in a brief moment and accepted the mission.<\/p>\n The radio woke me up at 7:30: \u201cRCMP convoy passing 27\u201d.\u00a0 I took my position in the tree and the land defenders took theirs: one on the third storey of the tower, one on the second, and two on the ground, prepared to seek refuge in the bus and two locking themselves into a cabin back away from the road, out of sight.<\/p>\n Just four humans stood before the RCMP clearing the road.\u00a0 They were there on orders of Chief Woos of the Gitimt\u2019en Clan of the Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en Nation, one of them was Chief Woos\u2019 daughter. Those four had uncountable others supporting them from around the world.\u00a0 Those four called on their ancestors to be with them.<\/p>\n A song began from the tower, a song from the Gitxan Nation that is meant to gather the clans. The Gitxan Nation has long been allied with the Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en.\u00a0 They have joined together for many battles.\u00a0 The man at the top of the tower, singing, is Gitxan.<\/p>\n By 9:30 a bulldozer crept around the corner followed by a group of 20 officers.\u00a0 As the officers slowly made their way to the bridge and its barriers, both a metal gate and a wood wall, the helicopters could be heard approaching.<\/p>\n The commanding voice of Sergeant James Paulson began from a megaphone, while the helicopters roared right overhead, at times drowning him out.\u00a0 He read out the injunction.\u00a0 The sounds of war filled the air.<\/p>\n When the legal reading was complete, a kind-sounding man began offering to the defenders that they could leave without arrest if they wanted to.\u00a0 Helicopters circling overhead made him largely inaudible, and requests for him to use the megaphone were ignored.<\/p>\n The offer was declined.\u00a0 And the tower made an offering of their own \u2013 a warrior song.<\/p>\n The helicopters were dropping teams of tactical police with military-style uniforms and equipment in behind the barricades.<\/p>\n Jerome Turner, the journalist, later told me that the tactical team, called the RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT), pointed their assault rifles at him as soon as they hopped out of the chopper.\u00a0 Denzel Sutherland-Wilson also reported, from the top tier of the tower, that there were sniper rifles pointed at him.<\/p>\n The police began moving in from the rear, probably fifty officers, reaching the two media people first: Jerome and a filmmaker named Kit. I couldn\u2019t hear what was being said, so I called out, \u201cHi, I\u2019m the legal observer and I need to hear what you\u2019re saying too, please.\u201d<\/p>\n No response.<\/p>\n I hollered to Mackenzie, \u201cWhat are they saying to you?\u201d<\/p>\n Mackenzie said that he was told he was in violation of the injunction for being in the exclusion zone.<\/p>\n I asked the police, \u201cWhy is the media being told to leave? Who\u2019s in charge here?\u201d<\/p>\n No response.<\/p>\n One officer had a fur-hat on, and seemed to be giving orders .\u00a0 As he passed by me with other officers in tow, he said, \u201cdon\u2019t deal with that guy\u201d.<\/p>\n I repeated my request to know who was in charge and why the media was told to leave.<\/p>\n No response.<\/p>\n The RCMP put the two media guys in a secluded zone 60 ft away from the land-defenders, and they were allowed to film.\u00a0 Two ERT members were assigned to watch me.\u00a0 A police dog and handler began scouring the area for any threats to RCMP safety around the road and under the bus \u2013 they found none.<\/p>\n The boss in the fur hat continued placing officers around the bus, setting the stage.\u00a0 There were about 30 officers nearby, including a half dozen ERTs.\u00a0 Among them were five officers with video cameras, spread out, capturing the happenings.\u00a0 One camera and two ERT officers were trained on me \u2013 watching for any trouble from the legal observer.<\/p>\n The fur hat placed a dog and its handler at the front of the bus, saying \u201cyou look good here.\u201d<\/p>\n I continued to shout out questions regularly.\u00a0 Eventually an officer near me relented and gave me the field commander\u2019s name and title \u2013 Staff Sergeant Dickinson.<\/p>\n I was filming constantly and taking notes on everything that I saw.<\/p>\n Men in high-vis vests examined the gate on the bridge and proceeded to cut it down with torches.\u00a0 Then the chainsaws came out and cut through the wooden wall.\u00a0 The excavator approached and lifted both off to the side.\u00a0 The bridge was cleared.<\/p>\n Denzel requested that the snipers stop pointing their guns at him.\u00a0 Dickinson said that wouldn\u2019t happen. He asked some other officers from the Division Liaison Team to help get those snipers to stand down. After initially refusing, they agreed to look into it.<\/p>\n I saw gaggles of RCMP members wandering about, who looked as though they hadn\u2019t been out in the field in a while, probably lawyers, strategists and higher-ups.\u00a0 I thought about how the RCMP had identified social-media-savvy indigenous people as a top-priority threat.<\/p>\n The tower had a 2-way radio and a WiFi connection.\u00a0 They were getting reports from 66, 27, the cabin.\u00a0 They were reporting on Facebook. The people in the cabin were being told they were under arrest, but the RCMP couldn\u2019t get into the cabin.<\/p>\n Finally Staff Sergeant Dickinson responded to a couple of my questions.\u00a0 He said \u2018Atfield\u2019 was in charge and that he didn\u2019t know what charges were being laid on the people in the cabin.\u00a0 He asked how I was doing, if I was warm and secure, \u201cyou\u2019re not going to fall are you?\u201d<\/p>\n Enter the snowmobile team, stage left, the comic relief.\u00a0 ERT members dressed in tactical brown uniforms rode shiny high-performance snowmobiles across the creek next to the bridge.\u00a0 They then began circling off the road and popping back up on to it over and over.\u00a0 I thought they were showing off because each time they came up the bank the front-end would take some air.\u00a0 It became clear, though, that they were making paths that people could walk on, without which anyone would sink into the soft snow up to their waist.<\/p>\n Next an ERT member tried to fire up a land-defender\u2019s snowmobile parked at the bottom of the tower.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to start for you!\u201d Denzel said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the only time I\u2019ve considered getting down from this tower \u2013 to show you how to start that [machine]!\u201d<\/p>\n The ERT officer, frustrated and embarrassed, pulled the drive belt off and towed the snowmobile away.<\/p>\n With the scene secured and everyone in their places, the RCMP began the removal of indigenous peoples from their land.<\/p>\n They started with the two in the bus. They were given the option to leave without arrest \u2013 they said they weren\u2019t leaving.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see or hear the far side of the bus where that action was happening, but moments later the two were being led away in handcuffs, quietly.<\/p>\n Next the RCMP turned to the two in the tower.\u00a0 They tried to entice the land-defenders down, preferring not to have to go up there to get them.\u00a0 An RCMP officer read them the court injunction and told them to gather their belongings and leave or they would be arrested for contempt of court, in violation of the injunction.\u00a0 They explained that it was dangerous to be arrested up in the air and that it would be safer to just come down on their own \u2013 that way, no one would get hurt.<\/p>\n The defenders responded by explaining that the RCMP were trespassing on Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en Territory and that there was a another option: the RCMP could leave and\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0would be the safest option.<\/p>\n The defender from the second tier climber up to join the third tier.<\/p>\n Three ERT members were then assigned the task of climbing the tower and bringing the two defenders down.\u00a0 They methodically set up three ladders.\u00a0 Two went up, harnessed and roped in, and one stayed on the ground managing the rope that would catch them if they fell.<\/p>\n The tower was about 35 feet tall.\u00a0 It had four legs that straddled the bus and extended to the second floor.\u00a0 A pole that sat on the roof of the bus extended up through the second floor and supported the top tier \u2013 a small 4 foot by 4 foot platform with no railings.<\/p>\n The climbing ERTs continued to try to build a relationship with the fortified land defenders.\u00a0 They wanted to know if the land-defenders were going to make any sudden moves or try to resist the officers coming to strap them in and lower them down.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t hear all of their conversations.\u00a0 But I think the ERT members were satisfied that no one would make any moves that could be interpreted as trying to hurt someone.\u00a0 Things were moving slowly and things were tense.<\/p>\n I asked the lead ERT officer if there was an emergency medical plan should anyone fall from that height.\u00a0 I was still, after all, the medic for camp 44 and I had my equipment at the base of the tree.\u00a0 My question went unanswered, but moments later an ambulance was pulled up to the bridge within a reasonable response distance.<\/p>\n The ERT members and the land defenders were from different universes.\u00a0 Hearing them talk to each other was like an alien encounter.\u00a0 Each tried to convince the other that their actions weren\u2019t necessary, that they could just walk away.\u00a0 Each seemed unmoved.<\/p>\n With some renegotiation of the ladders, the lead ERT officer moved to the top.\u00a0 And with minimal cooperation from the top-tier defenders, he slipped a harness on one and then the other and each walked down the series of ladders.<\/p>\n The defenders had done what they could to delay and deter the RCMP from removing them.\u00a0 They had built a beautiful stage from which to sing to the land, to sing to their supporters and to sing to their enemies. But further resistance would not have served them \u2013 it would likely have resulted in injury and increased legal penalty.\u00a0 And so, in the end, they went without a kick or a scream.<\/p>\nACT 1<\/h2>\n
Legal Observer<\/h2>\n
ACT 2<\/h2>\n
Lending A Hand<\/h2>\n
I Changed My Mind<\/h2>\n
ACT 3<\/h2>\n
Enter The Snowmobile Team<\/h2>\n
Removing Indigenous Peoples<\/h2>\n
Taking Media & Observers Away<\/h2>\n