Police and City of Burnaby crews are at Camp Cloud this morning removing protesters and structures. Photograph By KELVIN GAWLEY
#BREAKING Burnaby RCMP have descended on Camp Cloud and begun arresting protesters. Soon after this video was taken police told me and one other member of the media to leave the area and threatened us with arrest. #bcpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/F7NC5tGL4E
— Kelvin?Gawley (@KelvinGawley) August 16, 2018
Without warning, Mounties descended on the camp at Underhill Avenue and Shellmont Street at about 5:40 a.m. today and arrested a number of the protesters.
Tsastilqualus, one of the protesters, said there was panic at the camp when police arrived.
“It was hard to stay calm because of the manner that they came in. I mean they came in breaking things down, they had helmets on, they all had guns on them, and we’re peaceful people there was no reason for that to happen,” she said.
Tsastilqualus explains what went through her head when police ripped up the hill and began arresting people. pic.twitter.com/WQe2MLWFWN
— Kelvin?Gawley (@KelvinGawley) August 16, 2018
Those that resisted, including Tsastilqualus, were taken away in sitting stretchers. It appears about six people have been arrested so far. They were taken to Squint Lake Park for processing.
NOW reporter Kelvin Gawley, who has been at the scene for several hours, says police initially told him and other members of the media to leave the area and threatened them with arrest. They have now been moved to a “viewing area” while city crews begin cleaning up the site.
In a statement, the City of Burnaby confirmed RCMP were sent in to remove protesters from the camp before cleanup.
The arrests at the camp come six days after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Gomery granted the City of Burnaby an injunction ordering protesters to remove all structures, shelters and vehicles from the site within 48 hours – a time window that passed on Sunday.
The camp was set up in November outside the entrance to the Trans Mountain tank farm to protest the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs from Edmonton to Burnaby.
Since then, Camp Cloud has grown from a single trailer to include a two-storey wooden structure, a cabin, an outdoor shower, more than a dozen tents and multiple vehicles and trailers.
Until recently, the City of Burnaby had taken little action against the residents of Camp Cloud, but recent concerns about a scared fire that has been burning 24-7 during extreme dry weather pushed the city to ask for a court order to remove the protesters and structures.
“They can remove some of us, they can arrest some of us, but more and more people will take their place because citizens from all walks of life are concerned about this project. We’ve seen Burnaby residents arrested here on the mountain, we’ve seen members of Parliament, we’ve seen teachers and scientists, and more and more will come every day if they continue to try and construct this pipeline against the wishes of the community,” environmentalist and Stand.earth director Tzeporah Berman told the NOW as police and city crews moved in.
Tzeporah Berman says the eviction on Camp Cloud will not stop opposition to the pipeline expansion. pic.twitter.com/ZQOcXCnQuv
— Kelvin?Gawley (@KelvinGawley) August 16, 2018
In March, another Supreme Court judge allowed a separate protest structure known as the Watch House to remain in place in response to a court injunction application from Kinder Morgan. It remains unaffected by last Friday’s ruling.
A group of onlookers are gathered outside the exclusionary zone this morning, on the path to the Watch House.
Underhill Avenue, north of Forest Grove Drive, and Shellmont Street, east of Meadowbrook Park, is closed at this time while Burnaby RCMP and the City of Burnaby dismantle Camp Cloud.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story. Click here to follow Kelvin live from the scene.
