RCMP arrest eight more protesters at Fairy Creek

RCMP arrest eight more protesters at Fairy Creek
BC RCMP
Protesters were removed from tripod structures.

Multiple protesters were arrested at Fairy Creek on Saturday.

In their most recent update, the BC RCMP says eight individuals were arrested at an encampment near Port Renfrew.

They say seven of the individuals were arrested for breaching the B.C. Supreme Court injunction while one person was arrested for assaulting a police officer.

BC RCMP also says protesters were removed from various locking and tripod devices and that two of the people inside the locking devices were minors.

According to the blockade’s Facebook page, the two minors were released without charges.

There have now been a total of 254 arrests made since the RCMP began enforcing a B.C. Supreme Court injunction ordering the removal of blockades and protesters at several sites on May 17.

Meanwhile, opponents of the old-growth logging say they ended their week-long hunger strike on Saturday, though they did not get to meet with British Columbia Premier John Horgan or federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson as requested.

But Extinction Rebellion spokesman Zain Haq says he and the other two hunger strikers were happy to receive a call from the leader of B.C.’s Green party, Sonia Furstenau.

Earlier this month, the B.C. government approved the request of three Vancouver Island First Nations who wanted old-growth logging deferred in their territories for two years, but the protests are continuing.

Activists say little of the best old-growth forests remain in B.C. and Fairy Creek is the last unprotected, intact valley on southern Vancouver Island.

With files from The Canadian Press

READ MORE: Queen Victoria statue covered in red paint, demonstrator climbs tree amid logging protests at Legislature

Justin WaddellJustin Waddell

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