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8 old-growth logging protesters arrested in Fairy Creek watershed Friday

A total of 214 people have been arrested as of June 11
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Police monitor protesters at a blockade in the Fairy Creek area of southwestern Vancouver Island on Wednesday, June 9. (Facebook photo)

RCMP officers arrested eight people in the Fairy Creek watershed on Friday (June 11) as protesters continue to stay rooted in the old growth forests.

The RCMP said seven people were arrested for breaching the court-ordered injunction, while an additional person was arrested for counselling to resist arrest. Since enforcement began on May 17, 214 arrests have been made. The arrested individuals were all transported to the Lake Cowichan RCMP detachment for processing.

The Rainforest Flying Squad, which is coordinating the blockades, said three people were removed from tripod structures and three others were extracted from the arm-locking mechanisms they’ve dubbed sleeping dragons on Friday.

READ: Arrests continue to mount at Fairy Creek as protesters complain about RCMP tactics

The Squad expressed concern over how the RCMP made some of the arrests, claiming the officers used an “angled grinder within inches” of one protester’s chained arm and that they used a backhoe to remove others from tripods.

On Saturday, the protester group said logging continued in an area near their Waterfall blockade in the Fairy Creek watershed.

Protesters against the old-growth logging also demonstrated outside the B.C. legislature on Friday, where they tossed red paint on the Queen Victoria statue. A day earlier, more than 100 seniors shut down the block of Belleville Street outside the legislature in protest against the B.C. government’s handling of old-growth logging in the province.

READ: Seniors block Belleville Street in old-growth solidarity protest (Photos)


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