Five more arrests were made at a logging protest camp near Port Renfrew on Monday, May 24, bringing the total number of protesters arrested to 53 over the past week.
The RCMP began enforcing a B.C. Supreme Court injunction order that applies to a Tree Farm Licence owned by Teal-Cedar Products, Ltd. on Monday, May 17, with arrests at a camp in the Caycuse area. That enforcement has since expanded to two other camps near Port Renfrew, closer to the Fairy Creek watershed.
Three of the protesters arrested near Port Renfrew on May 24 were charged with civil contempt of court for breaching the Supreme Court injunction, and the other two were charged with obstruction.
Overall, BC RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Chris Manseau says 53 individuals have been arrested since May 17: 46 for breaching the injunction and seven for obstruction. Police are recommending additional charges for several of the protesters.
Manseau had issued a correction to the number of arrests reported in the previous day’s press release, decreasing it from 25 to 14.
According to a post on the Fairy Creek Blockade Facebook page on Monday, Pacheedaht elder Bill Jones personally blocked a convoy of 30 vehicles, including several marked and unmarked RCMP trucks, and held an impromptu “Victoria Day decolonization workshop.”
There were no arrests on Sunday, May 23, although police received a report that a vehicle used primarily as an ambulance by Teal-Cedar was vandalized and had its brakelines cut and the engine tampered with. The Lake Cowichan RCMP are investigating and have photographs of the subject.
READ MORE: RCMP enforce injunction at Fairy Creek logging blockade near Port Renfrew