"Crown land belongs to the government, not to f*cking natives"
Heavily armed RCMP officers, some clad in full camouflage and wielding assault weapons, moved in early Thursday morning to enforce an injunction against a Mi’kmaq barricade that has trapped exploration vehicles belonging to a Houston-based firm conducting shale gas exploration in New Brunswick.
(RCMP, some in full camouflage and wielding assault rifles, moved in on Mi’kmaq led anti-fracking blockade early Thursday morning. Photo via @maryposa74)
RCMP move in to enforce injunction against Mi’kmaq-led anti-fracking blockade
APTN National News
REXTON, NB–Heavily armed RCMP officers, some clad in full camouflage and wielding assault weapons, moved in early Thursday morning to enforce an injunction against a Mi’kmaq barricade that has trapped exploration vehicles belonging to a Houston-based firm conducting shale gas exploration in New Brunswick.
The officers were initially met by members of the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society which has anchored the barricades for over two weeks.
There were also reports that officers fired rubber bullets in the woods around the barricade.
Tensions were high on both sides as the raid unfolded.
“Crown land belongs to the government, not to fucking natives,” APTN’s Ossie Michelin heard one of the camouflaged officers involved in the raid shout to protestors.
“Go back where the fuck you came from,” shouted one of the activists at the scene.
An RCMP spokeswoman said the operation was ongoing. The spokeswoman said there were no military elements is involved in the operation.
Video shot by M’ikmaq Warrior member Suzanne Patles showed RCMP officers moving in with dogs.
“Bring the fucking dog, see what happens, you want another officer to go down?” one warrior is heard shouting off camera.
“It’s a camera, it’s a camera get your guns off me,” says Patles, who filmed the event. “Get your guns off me, this is a phone.”
It’s unclear if the RCMP arrested Patles. Officers did arrest some of the activist at the site as residents from the Mi’kmaq community of Elsipogtog, which has been at the heart of the anti-fracking movement, swarmed to the area in support.
Drumming, cursing, crying and barking dogs echoed through an air tinged with the small of tear gas and sage as the tense scene unfolded.
Three schools were also in lock down in the area as a precaution.
The blockade against SWN Resources Canada sits just off Route 135 and sits about 80 kilometres north of Moncton and 15 km northeast of Elsipogtog.
The blockade was the latest salvo in a battle against SWN’s shale gas exploration that raged throughout this past summer and led to dozens of arrests.
Until recently, the blockade shut down a section the highway completely. The warriors opened up one lane for traffic last week.
Mi’kmaq, Acadian and Anglophone residents in the area believe the discovery of shale gas will lead to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and they fear the extraction method poses a threat to the area’s water and environment.
SWN received an extension to the injunction gains the blockade which had set to expire on Oct. 12.
Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock had been in talks with New Brunswick Premier David Alward in hopes of finding a peaceful end to the blockade.
Alward’s office could not be reached for comment.
More to come
Praying for safety for all at #Elsipogtog. The RCMP came in with the intent of being provocative and of course, when some squad cars are set afire, that is all the regular media viewers will see. The drumming, singing, and polite queries have gone unanswered for months. The straight media has chosen to ignore all of that and once again, people are being put down for trying to passionately protect the water of all. The violence is underlined and that is the worst part. Praying that an end is put to SWN, once and for all.
In Harperland, it’s very easy for the cops to frame the people. They do it all the time.
seems harper and his oil/gas buddies will do almost anything to get their fracking and pipelines rammed through our environment. the rcmp used the same heinous tactics on the tahltan first nations who are fighting against a coal mine going in on their territory in which the nass, Skeena and Stikine rivers flow. these are all important salmon streams which run to the coast. thank heavens SOMEONE is fighting for our environment! harper and his corpulent cronies just don’t listen to facts. they have gutted the environmental guidelines in order to support pipelines and fracking.
The report, Fracking by the Numbers, looks at the increasing use of the controversial method to extract shale gas from rocks deep beneath the ground. It says the “analysis shows that damage from fracking is widespread and occurs on a scale unimagined just a few years ago.”
The report adds, “One of the serious threats fracking poses to drinking water is the millions of gallons of toxic wastewater it generates”.
It says that the risks include spills of fracking fluid, migrations of chemical fluids and contaminants leaking into groundwater. In 2012, the total wastewater from fracking amounted to 280 billion gallons, which the Guardian claims is enough to flood the whole of Washington DC in a 22ft deep toxic lagoon.
I would be fighting too!
This is so ridiculous like seriously… I don’t even know what to say… this world is getting crazier every day God bless you people only the strong survive
Okay, first of all, the crown land belongs to all of us and the government is just an entity created to oversee our affairs. This government was probably fraudulently elected by only 24% os eligible voters so I don’t see where they have a whole lot of authority over all of us. Secondly, the First Nations people were here before the rest of us colonists and have MORE say as to what might happen on crown land. Then there is the heavy-handed para-military tactics used by police against unarmed citizens. This is (to me) a shameful and despicable act with thug-like use of force that has become common for our once well-respected RCMP. Are we wondering why they have lost our respect? Are there not anti-bullying laws in place. They should be charged with bullying these people. They should be servants of the citizens of Canada, not of the corporatocracy that seems to believe that it is in control.. If any of these officers were my son, I would be ashamed. Very ashamed.
“Secondly, the First Nations people were here before the rest of us colonists and have MORE say as to what might happen on crown land.”
Ummm. I was born here. I’m not a colonist. My parents were born here. My grandparents were born here. Colonists? What are you going on about? You do realize that it’s 2013, right?
I AM A NAVAJO FROM NEW MEXICO USA SUPPORTING YOUR PROTEST!
You post a video link to someone’s personal Facebook account? Not very professional. Host the video on your site like a real media organization please.
Oh right because “real” media organizations don’t use personal video’s to portray news at all! :
It’s called raw news. It happens all the time.
If journalists or reports are not present, and raw footage is available, it’s just as good and often better. Why? You’re getting the real footage from the front lines and not the material that simply makes it past the cutting board.
This just in: Reliable media organizations all over the WORLD, use viewer made videos to show the real story. Let us remember that being critical of how organizations present media takes away from the real issues at hand. The poisoning of our water should be top of mind, nothing else.
You. Have. My support. You. Stand strong for all of us. You are the guardians of the mother
It’s crown land. CROWN. Queen. England who signed that little document guaranteeing First Nations their land. And theirs? TO THE DEPTH OF A PLOW. So it’s not really crown land either!
Stay strong! I know you wont give up!
Then it also doesn’t belong to the person who was quoted and that’s the ironic part that this individual won’t see also.