People arrested at Gidimt'en anti-pipeline camp allege inappropriate use of force

The agreement reached Thursday between Wet'suwet'enhereditary chiefs and RCMP over the enforcement of a injunction was spurred by concerns over the Mounties' use of force on people when entering the Gidimt'encamp on Monday.

"We are adamantly opposed to this proposed project and that will never change, but we are here to ensure the safety of our people,"said Wet'suwet'enhereditary chief Na'MoksThursday after the agreement was finalized.

Wet'suwet'enmembers had set upcheckpoints on a remote stretch of forest service road and a bridge preventing people working on a pipeline project from accessing their traditionalterritory, which sits about 300 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C.

The CoastalGasLinkproject is run byTransCanadaCorp.and is meant to move natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the coast, where a liquefied natural gas project is scheduled for construction.

A court injunction, granted in December, ordered people to stop preventing CoastalGasLinkfrom gaining access to theroad and bridge. RCMP began enforcing the injunction on Monday.

As part of their enforcement action,RCMP established an exclusion zone, preventing access to the area by the public and media.RCMP havedeniedthey jammed communications, preventingmedia and public from providing information about the situation at the campon Monday afternoon.

'They didn't care'

Molly Wickham, Gidimt'en member and spokesperson for the camp,told CBC the enforcement action RCMP's Aboriginal liaison team had described to them earlier Monday was not what happened that afternoon.

"They painted a picturethat was extremely opposite of what happened," she said.

As at least onehelicopter circled overhead, armed RCMP officers, includingmembers of theTactical and Emergency Response Teams,approached the gate "in force" said Wickham.

Some of the people at the checkpoint had locked their arms to the gate. Wickham said RCMP began pulling the gate backwards andthe people attached were in danger of being injured.

"They had no regard. We were pleading to them to stop what they were doing, that if they continued they would break people's arms, that people were in grave danger. And they didn't listen. They didn't care. They just looked right at us as if we weren't saying anything."

She said police were cutting off the barbed wire topping the gate and "it was flying in peoples' faces. People were trying to cover themselves."

"They're likely to say people were resisting or being aggressive and we were trying to desperately save those peoples' limbs."

She said police climbed over the gate and began pulling people from the gate and pinning them down,multipleofficers for each individual.

Watch: RCMP at the Gidimt'en checkpointbarricade

RCMP make first arrests at Gidimt'en camp

6 years ago

Duration 1:42

RCMP officers climb over a barricade and start making arrests to enforce the Coastal GasLink injunction at the Gidimt'en camp in northern B.C. on Jan. 7, 2019.

She said they used more forcewith the men. She said she saw one man thrown down from the gate and he appeared to be unconscious.

"I was screaming for him to answer me. I was screaming for someone to check on him," she said. "He was just laying limp on the snow."

She describes it as "chaoshappening all around."

Listen: Chantelle Bellrichard talks with CBC's Frontburner about the Wet'suwet'en camps

She was not injured. She was arrested and moved out of the way, but saidshe and other women kept challengingthe RCMP with words, asking them"Are you going to continue the violence against Indigenous women on their own territories?"

Wickham said she feels they got through to some of the officers as they wouldn't look them in the eye.

"They knew they were in the wrong," she said.

Rebecca Moore, aMi'kmawIndigenous rights advocate and a member ofPictouLanding First Nation in Nova Scotia, was also among thosearrested at the gate.

"They pushed me from the gate down to the ground and I almost fell off of the bridge into the river," she said.

"Thankfully somebody grabbed me and picked me up because there was a lot of people around. I thought that I was either going to get stomped or that I was going to fall into the creek."

Mooresaid she recalls seeing ahandcuffed man lying on the ground whoappeared to be unconscious,more than one person with arm injuries, and three officers restraining a man on the ground,pushing his faceinto the snow.

"We were not inflicting violence. We were being very peaceful and they were coming at us," she said.

"Theywere pushing us all around."

Moore saidofficerstold her she was being arrestedbecause she was breaking "Canadian law," and that in response, she told them they were breakingWet'suwet'enlaw.

Both Wickham and Moore say they feel RCMP members used excessive force.

RCMP say 'situation was challenging'

In a statement to CBC, an RCMP spokesperson said the 14 individuals were arrested and processed through "standard protocols," and that under the law RCMP may use force reasonable to the circumstances to implement the court's order.

"The situation was challenging for our members and despite their best efforts to resolve the situation peacefully, arrests did take place," the statement reads.

"One of those arrested did complain of a minor injury and was examined by EHS and was returned to the custody of the RCMP. One of our officers also had a minor injury after being hit with a stick."

In the statement, the RCMP said the officers' engagement of the camp was documented through numerousvideo sources and that some of the video content that can be found on social media "clearly opposes" allegations.

Police presence continues

Following RCMP enforcement of the injunctionat theGidimt'encamp Monday, the hereditary chiefs were concernedabout the safety of those staying at theUnistot'encamp and healing centre, where there was another fortified checkpoint.

"That will never happen to our people again,"Na'Mokssaid of Monday's enforcement actions at theGidimt'encheckpoint.

After three days of talks with the RCMP, the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs reached an agreement over the enforcement of the injunction.

They have agreed to allow the company access to do pre-construction work as specified in the interim injunction for the time being.

In a statement,Coastal GasLinkpresidentRick Gatemansaid the company "is thankful that a peaceful resolution has been achieved and agreement reached that will enable us to proceed with pre-construction and construction activities on our right of way.

"I want to personally express my gratitude to those who have supported us through this project process, as well as those who've worked together to achieve a mutually agreeable solution. This is a demonstration that positive dialogue based on common values of safety, collaboration, and integrity can create constructive outcomes for local communities and First Nations."

B.C. RCMP said the temporary exclusion zonewould be removed Fridayonce access to the bridge was established. But therewill be continued police presence conducting roving patrols of the forest service road "to ensure the safety of the individuals at the Healing Centre and of CGL employees."

A temporary RCMP detachmentwill also be placed in the Morice West Forest Service Road corridor. The RCMP saidofficers there will undergo cultural awareness training on Wet'suwet'en traditions and will have enhanced training in conflict resolution.