Three activists were arrested Tuesday morning after Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Island arrived at B.C. Premier John Horgan’s home in Langford Tuesday for a planned citizen’s arrest.
West Shore RCMP arrived on the scene around 8 a.m. and set up an exclusion zone — forcing protesters down the street. Three people who refused to leave Horgan’s driveway were arrested for mischief and taken to the West Shore RCMP detachment.
Police said the protesters reportedly went onto the premier’s property and disturbed his family, saying they were going to make a citizen’s arrest of the premier. When police arrived, the protesters were blocking access to his private driveway.
Horgan was not home at the time of the incident.
He arrived back home later in the morning and exchanged words with protesters, before leaving before 9 a.m.
The group says the move is to “prevent further genocidal ‘crimes against humanity’ toward the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and peoples.”
On Monday, they announced a plan to make a citizen’s arrest to disrupt the B.C. government budget speech on Tuesday.
“Reconciliation is dead. The events of the past week on Wet’suwet’en territories have been an extreme demonstration of colonial violence, approved by the Trudeau and Horgan governments in contravention of Wet’suwet’en, Canadian and international law,” Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Island wrote in a media advisory.
READ MORE: Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Island planning citizen’s arrest to disrupt BC budget speech
Police said the three who were arrested will be released on an undertaking for a later court date. When released, the three will be conditions not to be in the area of the premier’s home or his constituency office in Langford.
The unlawful entry onto private property and committing the criminal offence of mischief by blocking access at the premier’s residence was a gross invasion. I strongly condemn the actions of the individuals involved,
Insp. Todd Preston, officer in charge of West Shore RCMP, said in a statement.
Julian Kolsut
