OPP arrest multiple protesters at Tyendinaga Mohawk rail blockade

By Rachael D’Amore

The Ontario Provincial Police have arrested multiple people Monday at a railway blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, which was set up nearly three weeks ago in solidarity with anti-pipeline protests in northern British Columbia.

The OPP action came hours after a midnight deadline calling for the protesters to clear the area expired. The OPP has not said whether anyone faces charges.

The blockade near Belleville, Ont. was established on Feb. 6 in a show of support for the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, who oppose the construction of a massive natural gas pipeline on their traditional territory in B.C.

Protesters were given until just before midnight ET to leave the tracks. The blockade, which has choked railway traffic across a significant swath of Ontario and Quebec, was still in place in the early hours of Monday morning.

Sources in the Mohawk community told Global News protesters had no intention of leaving, and that they were prepared for police arrival.

A stream of OPP vehicles descended on the site shortly after 8 a.m. Monday.

A number of protesters have been led away by officers, some in handcuffs, according to those at the scene.

However, OPP says no arrests have been made, but that enforcement of the court-ordered injunction “may include the arrest of those who choose not to comply.”

full story at https://globalnews.ca/news/6587536/tyendinaga-blockade-police-wetsuweten/

Categorised in: Canadian News