The RCMP is investigating a “violent confrontation” at a pipeline structure involving an unidentified organization of about 20 people.
Police said they were called to Marten Forest Service Road about 60 kilometres south of Houston, B.C., shortly after midnight on Feb. 17. They said CGL security reported violence at the site, where workers are helping build part of a 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline.
RCMP said about 20 more people allegedly attacked security guards and employees.
“So those individuals, about 20 masked individuals, wowed those workers in a very competitive and calculated way,” lead superintendent Warren Brown told CBC on Friday morning.
“They confronted the employees, threatened them with axes and flares and other incendiary-type devices.”
According to CGL, the attackers seized heavy gadgets at the site and used them to damage other gadgets, and the machines suffered “multimillion-dollar” damage and are still being repaired. Estimate the final cost.
Brown also said the attackers used machinery to damage the buildings and the drilling rig. By the time police arrived to investigate the damage, the attackers had already left, he said.
It is unclear how many workers were there at the time of the attack. On Friday, CGL said nine workers, including security guards and contractors, were at the Array. Two other RCMP officials who reported speaking to CGL provided other figures: one said 12 workers were at Array, the other said 11. Both agreed that 4 of those Americans were security guards.
Police also said the road was blocked by fallen trees and tar-covered stumps when they went to investigate, and that other people threw smoke bombs and burning sticks as police marched down the road. Brown said a police officer was injured after stepping on a board. which contained spikes, which police say were left by the attackers.
CGL said lights and security cameras were turned off during the attack and all video and photographic evidence they had was turned over to investigators.
Madonna Saunderson, RCMP Media Relations, said no suspects are known so far and no one is in custody. So far, neither the police nor the CGL have explicitly stated whether the alleged attack was related to opposition to the pipeline.
Brown said police plan to speak with employees who were attacked but that many of them “are very scared and shaken up over this.” Police are also appealing to the public for any information.
CGL said there have been several incidents over the “several weeks” in which unknown Americans used logging trails to reach this specific location and confronted and intimidated workers. The company said the incidents were reported to police.
Brown said the culprits behind the attack were not protesters and described the incident as “sneaky” and “evil. “
“This has nothing to do with protest activity, whether it be legal or illegal,” he said, “This strictly has to do with a very, very serious and significant criminal investigation.”
Brown told CBC that past protests observed by law enforcement in the country concerned other people being hostile and acting illegally, as well as other people acting peacefully.
He said police would protect nearby citizens and nonviolent protesters.
The debatable pipeline, which is expected to extend from northeastern B. C. to Kitimat on the province’s north coast, is being built on the territory of the Wet’suwet’en nation.
CGL stated that the assignment is completely legal and allowed by the government and features all 20 First Nations band councils, adding five of the six Wet’suwet’en Nation band councils.
However, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have opposed the project, saying band councils do not have authority over land beyond reserve boundaries.
In December 2019, the Supreme Court of Colombia-Britannique granted an injunction against members of the Wet’suwe’ten Nation who were blocking the structure’s site in their territory. Earlier that year, police made more than a dozen arrests of others who identified themselves as land defenders and who had set up barricades to prevent construction.
In November 2021, RCMP made another set of arrests of Wet’suwet’en members. Police used a chainsaw to break down the door of a cabin where people opposed to the pipeline had been staying. Two journalists were also arrested.
In either case, the police met little resistance, even when prepared for maximum levels of violence.
Speaking Saturday, the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council and the elected council of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation condemned the alleged attacks.
“We want everyone to know that the people of our First Nation do not support anyone who protests in this way,” a spokesperson for the nation said in a statement.
“These protesters constitute us or our values, and are seriously distorting our legislation and classical customs. This is our path. ”
Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Na’Moks of the Tsayu clan declined to comment on the matter until more data on the incident is available.
CBC contacted representatives at the Gidimt’en checkpoint, where much of the protest was focused, but has yet to get a response.
BC. Premier John Horgan called the attack “reprehensible. “
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, federal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson and Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino also publicly condemned the alleged attacks.
Brown said that despite continued protests against the project, tensions in the region have caused little fear of late.
“This completely took us by surprise. I believe it took the industry by surprise,” he said. “I’d have to say things have been fairly peaceful over the last short while.”
The MLA for the area, John Rustad, said he is worried violence like this could create a chill for any company or industry trying to undertake or complete resource projects in B.C.
“It creates a very complicated career environment for other people looking to move forward with this task and do their job,” he said.
“Obviously, they’re very concerned about their protection and very disappointed about that, and I guess it’s going to have repercussions on anyone who applies for a resource allocation in the province, if that kind of anarchy happens. “
With files from Betsy Trumpener, Andrew Kurjata and Eva Uguen-Csenge
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