VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Activists blocking a CN Rail crossing have been forced off of the tracks by an injunction, according to one protester who was there.
Dozens of protesters marched to the rail crossing on Renfrew near Grandview Highway late Saturday morning.
The protester, who did not want to be named, says more than 30 officers from the Vancouver Police Department moved in just after 7:30 p.m.
She says police seemed prepared to make arrests, bringing a “huge paddy wagon” with them to the site of the demonstration.
VPD have confirmed they were there to enforce the injunction CN Police was granted and no arrests were made.
Police also appear to have closed Renfrew Station while they enforced the injunction.
#SkyTrain Millennium Line Renfrew Station is closed due to police incident. A bus bridge will operate between Commercial-Broadway Stn to Rupert Station. Expo Line and Canada Line are unaffected.^jd
— TransLink BC (@TransLink) February 16, 2020
The demonstration was in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the construction of a liquified natural gas pipeline through their unceded territory. Protests began escalating outside of northern B.C. last week after RCMP moved in and arrested dozens of opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline–predominantly Indigenous land defenders. Solidarity actions have included blockades of roads, bridges, ports and train tracks across the country.
