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RCMP arrest seven at Vancouver Island old-growth logging blockades Wednesday

Total arrests now at 158 since May 17
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Police have been enforcing a BC Supreme Court injunction against protests on Tree Farm Licence 46 since Monday, May 17. (Nora O’Malley/Black Press Media)

Police made seven arrests at old-growth logging blockades on southern Vancouver Island on Wednesday, June 2.

According to the RCMP, a group was blocking both directions of the forestry road in the Braden Creek area near Port Renfrew when officers arrived. Police read the BC Supreme Court injunction to the protesters and gave them an opportunity to leave. When they chose not to leave the area, seven individuals were arested for breaching the injunction.

All arrested protesters have been processed at the Lake Cowichan RCMP detachment.

The Rainforest Flying Squad reported on the Fairy Creek Blockade Facebook page that logging trucks also destroyed barricades at a separate protest camp down the road.

Other protesters were found in locking devices on the roadway. Police assessed the devices and found that they were not permanent fixtures. The protesters were given time to free themselves from the devices, and police said they would reassess the situation on Thursday.

Police have been enforcing a BC Supreme Court injunction that prohibits protests and blockades on Tree Farm Licence 46 since Monday, May 17. Teal-Cedar Products owns the logging rights to TFL 46. A total of 158 individuals have been arrested, with at least nine being arrested more than once.

READ MORE: Nine arrested at Vancouver Island old-growth protests Tuesday



Kevin Rothbauer

About the Author: Kevin Rothbauer

Kevin Rothbauer is the sports reporter for the Cowichan Valley Citizen
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