earthfirst – Page 7 – Earth First!

Plane Stupid kick off Red Lines COP21 direct action

The main road entrance to Heathrow airport, London, was blocked by climate change activists for four hours early on Thursday morning, causing a traffic tailback several miles long.

The main road entrance to Heathrow airport, London, was blocked by climate change activists for four hours early on Thursday morning, causing a traffic tailback several miles long. Three members of anti airport expansion campaign group Plane Stupid parked a vehicle across both lanes of the inbound tunnel and locked their bodies to it, unfurling a red banner quoting David Cameron’s election promise: “No Ifs, No Buts: No Third Runway”. David Cameron has promised a decision by the end of the year on whether to build another runway at Heathrow.

This action represents an early entry for the Climate Games, sending a clear message to the UK government that expanding aviation is a no-go for the climate; were it to go ahead the UK would undoubtedly miss its emissions targets as set out under the 2008 Climate Change Act.

Nor will aviation expansion benefit the majority of the population or businesses, as is often claimed. The demand for airport expansion is being driven by rich frequent flyers. Last year, less than half of people in Britain flew. Of those who did, a mere 15% of flyers took 70% of our flights. As well as noise and air pollution, poor people are paying the price in droughts, flooding and storms so that the rich can cook the planet with frequent leisure flights. Whilst we might hope that David Cameron might live up to his pre-election promise – “no ifs, no buts, no third runway” – we can’t rely on it. Partly after being forced to take non-violent disobedient action where all other options were exhausted, we stopped a third runway before and we’ll stop it again this time too.

#RedLines

At the COP21 talks this year in Paris, the theme for the mass day of action on December 12th (D12) is Red Lines. These blockades will represent lines that cannot be crossed if we are to stay within the 2C rise in global temperatures. Failure to stay within this threshold will take us down a road where even if we reduce emissions to zero, feedback loops will mean that emissions will continue to rise: climate chaos.

In reality there are many Red Lines we should not cross, but governments and corporations seem intent to do so. In the UK this includes the aviation industry, which if it continues to grow at its current rate will by 2050 emit all of the carbon it is safe for the UK to emit. Beyond this, other red lines that are close to being crossed nationally include increasing unconventional fossil fuel extraction through fracking and a government’s ‘dash for gas’ to build power stations rather than renewables. Internationally, there are similar concerns as well as a clear need to stop lignite coal mining in Germany and the Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. Whilst there are many such examples of industries that cannot continue, overall the science dictates that the fossil fuel industry must transition to renewables and most of the carbon must be kept in the ground.

Beyond the Paris conference

Unlike the climate talks in Copenhagen, many activists are going to Paris with low expectations. We know that the heads of state and business leaders won’t come up with a satisfactory deal to prevent climate catastrophe. Naomi Klein writes in ‘This Changes Everything’ that climate deals always come in second place to trade deals as corporate profit and perpetual economic growth are ideologically untouchable in our neoliberal era. With this in mind, the aim for many activists is to see the Paris talks as a way for us all to network between struggles and to show on day 12 that if our ‘leaders’ won’t do it, then we can stop climate chaos ourselves. Unfortunately, with the recent events in Paris, marches have been banned out of fears over safety, which may mean that our mobilisations might not be as big or as effective as we hoped.

However, given that we know that the solutions to the climate crisis won’t come from the COP, let’s see this as an opportunity rather than a problem. Let’s get out and take action wherever the real #RedLines are: the dirty fossil fuel industries, the unsustainable, undemocratic mega-projects. #ClimateGames starts tomorrow. In this game we have nothing to lose but our fears. We have our whole futures to win. Asking our ‘leaders’ to solve our problems has left us with the hottest years on record, year after year. We are the solution we’ve been waiting for.

We are not fighting for nature. We are nature defending itself.

EF! Winter Moot 19-21 February 2016, Stroud

You are invited to attend the Earth First! Winter Moot, a gathering for people involved or wanting to know more about ecological campaigning & direct action in the UK.

You are invited to attend the Earth First! Winter Moot, a gathering for people involved or wanting to know more about ecological campaigning & direct action in the UK. Draft programme/details below.

Cost is £25/30 at the Centre for Science and Art, 13 Lansdown, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 1BB. Stroud station is a 5 minute walk away.

Arrive Friday 5pm, leave Sunday 6pm.

Vegan meals and accommodation are provided. Bring a sleeping bag and roll mat for the communal sleeping area.

Coming to an EF! gathering for the first time?

Those taking their first steps innto ecological campaigning are warmly welcomed. There will be debates, discussions on campaign planning, updates, support and soldarity, tactics, strategies, community building, sustainable activism and networking including groups campaigning against:

fracking, incineration, new roads, GM (genetic engineering).

Earth First! is a banner for independent groups who share a common need to protect our ecological systems. We believe in non-hierarchical direct action, to stop and reverse the forces responsbile for the destruction of the earth and its inhabitants.

For info or offers of help, contact us on:
southwest.earthfirst@riseup.net
earthfirstgathering.org

Save Sheffield Trees & Smithy Woods – campaign update

5.11.15 Latest:

An independent panel aiming to resolve disagreements involving the felling of trees in Sheffield has been set up.

It follows thousands of people supporting a campaign to stop 12 trees being chopped down on Rustlings Road.

Community group Save Sheffield Trees said it would wait to see the “terms of reference” of the new panel.

A council spokesman said a survey will be sent to residents when upgrading works which affect trees.

If over half of respondents object, it will then be referred to the Independent Tree Panel.

After considering the evidence, the panel will then provide advice to the council about the proposals.

15 September 2015: Campaigners took their fight against controversial tree felling to the door of Sheffield Council contractor Amey, which is carrying out the work.

A demonstration was held at the firm’s Olive Grove Road depot in Heeley yesterday morning.

Campaigners across the city continue to call for a pause on felling while a formal tree strategy is developed.

David Dilner, from Sheffield Tree Action Group, said: “Since the last tree forum our membership has grown from 200 to 800 – that demonstrates the level of frustration and it is growing apace.

16 September 2015: Campaigners fighting felling in Sheffield have set up a camp near to 11 trees which have become the ‘symbol’ of the city-wide controversy.

Members of the Sheffield Tree Action Group (STAG) pitched their tents in Endcliffe Park on Rustlings Road to protect trees which are due to be felled as part of Sheffield City Council’s £2bn road improvement scheme.

The original drive to save those 11 trees led to a 13,000-strong petition, which triggered a debate in Sheffield Town Hall and was the spark behind calls for a formal city-wide tree strategy to be developed by Sheffield Council.

Save Our Roadside Trees (SORT) campaigner Calvin Payne, who was sleeping over in the tent last night, said all supplies had been donated and passers-by were supportive.

He added: “This road is symbolic, although the campaign is city wide, and we do want a win here to inspire people across the city.”

Aims of the camp were to enable campaigners to take peaceful action quickly if felling did begin and also to raise more awareness as protests spread across the city.

Protests have been held over the last few months in other parts of the city to try and prevent trees being felled.

In June/July, STAG gathered more that 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for the council to stall the plans until independent experts assessed the trees.

Background: With an estimated two million trees – four for every person – Sheffield holds a strong claim to be Europe’s greenest city. But the South Yorkshire city’s tree-lined streets have become a battleground in an angry row that has pitted residents against council highways officials.

Contractors are assessing 36,000 roadside trees on behalf of Sheffield City Council to decide which need to be felled as part of a £2bn road improvement scheme.

About 2,000 have already been cut down since the Streets Ahead scheme was launched in 2012, although the council says it has replaced them all with younger trees and has planted 50,000 extra trees in 17 new woodlands.

But residents have launched their own grassroots campaigns to defend the roadside trees, some of which are 100 years old, and the dispute is becoming increasingly heated. A protest camp has been set up in a city park and other residents have been rushing out of their homes to disrupt workmen arriving in their streets.

“Residents across the city want to save these trees,” said ecologist and environmental campaigner David Garlovsky, a spokesman for the Sheffield Trees Action Group. “Eight or nine groups have sprung up in different areas. These trees are there for our wellbeing and cutting them down will increase pollution. The council haven’t looked after these trees in the past and they now have a problem on their hands, but there seems to be a blitz on now to cut down as many as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Only last week it was reported that the council was refusing to answer Freedom of Information requests from residents about the trees because the requests were considered “vexatious”.

Sheffield City Council apologised last week after Steve Robinson, the head of highways, was secretly recorded allegedly saying “we’re not interested” in residents’ “nonsense” reasons for saving individual trees.

Residents have spent a month under canvas at a protest camp in the city’s Endcliffe Park to protect 11 lime trees on neighbouring Rustlings Road, which they say are under threat. A petition has attracted 10,000 signatures.

Louise Wilcockson, who lives close to the park, said: “I walk past those trees around five or six times a day. We have to save them – not just for the people on this street but for the entire city.”

Residents in Western Road, Crookes, have also rallied around a London plane tree – one of several planted in memory of war heroes. They say an independent survey has found that the tree is in “reasonable health”, in contrast with a contractor’s report saying it is a “safety risk”.

Sheffield City Council says the aim of the Streets Ahead project is to upgrade the city’s roads, pavements and street lighting as part of a Private Finance Initiative project. Officials say Sheffield is the greenest city in the UK and is in a “unique position” to carry out this “vital work”.

It also says an independent survey identified that three-quarters of Sheffield’s street trees were dead, dangerous or dying, and needed replacing. The contractor, Amey, is working to replace trees that fit criteria known as the “six Ds”, which also include those found to be diseased, damaging or discriminating – obstructing safe passage for prams and wheelchairs.

The main reason that is being given for felling these trees on the individual survey reports is that they are damaging the pavement, not that they are diseased or dying and that it is easier to remove the tree than find any other way of making the pavement flat. Most of these trees are around 100 years old and are species such as Limes and London Panes, and so have a life expectancy of 300-400 years. These trees are teenagers, and will last for many more generations if Sheffield City Council lets them.

I think someone has confused a 2006-2007 survey that said 75% of the trees are over-mature (which does not really mean anything – 100 year old trees, with a 400 year life expectancy fall in to this category – it is a forestry term relating to the value of the timber), and the later survey in 2012 categorized trees according to other criteria (the 6 Ds), including that trees were damaging pavements. I suspect this misunderstanding is the council’s of the survey the commissioned, rather than the journalist, as we have seen it elsewhere. They appear to be felling most of the city’s street trees based on misunderstanding a report…

Sheffield Tree Action Group

Another similar fight in Sheffield -Take Action for Smithy Woods

If you are concerned about the loss of ancient woodland, local green spaces, local wildlife and wildlife sites or worried about inappropriate development in the green belt and erosion of ecological networks then please object to this application. Help us to Save Smithy Wood!

For background information about Smithy Wood and this case click here.

An outline planning application has been submitted by ‘Extra MSA’ group that proposes to build a new motorway service area on Smithy Wood Ancient Woodland and Local Wildlife Site close to Junction 35 of the M1 in the Ecclesfield/Chapeltown area of Sheffield. The development includes a large fast food court, 80-bed hotel, petrol station and car park.

There is now a FINAL opportunity to comment on this application following the submission of further material by the developer. The more objections that are received by the City Council, the more likely the application is to be refused. It does not matter if you have objected previously – you can always refer to your previous submission or re-iterate your points.

You have until the Friday 13th November to submit your objection to Sheffield City Council Planning Dept. This is how to respond to the planning application.

Sabotage at Hambach open-cast mine

On Monday night, we sabotaged some construction machinery at the open-cast mine Hambach, Germany.

29.10.15

On Monday night, we sabotaged some construction machinery at the open-cast mine Hambach, Germany. Five diggers, two bulldozers, one road roller and one other, expensive looking machine ahd their hydraulics and electronic cables cut. the fuel and oil tanks were filled with sand, some mechanic parts damaged and all the windows were smashed. Despite the massive security-measures RWE and the police put up against us, it was still really easy to do serious damage to these tools of destruction.

This action is targeted against the mine’s operator RWE and its accomplices, which are destroying the basis of life on this planet.

While the big mass of people in germany is sitting silently in front of their television screens, distracted from the daily destruction of our lives by smart entertainers and prophets of constant growth, hundrets of thousands of people are dying on the other side of the world through the effects of climate change.

While most people should be aware that we can’t go on like this, it is unfortunately only a small minority that is acting against this destruction, risking their health and freedom in the process.

Three of these eco-defenders are currently imprisoned in Aachen and Cologne, for their attempts to stop the clearcutting of the Hambach forest throughthe energy-giant RWE.

All three were heavily abused during their arrests, either by police or RWE’s private securities, with one person even getting their nose broken and several teeth smashed in. Therefore we want to dedicate our action to the imprisoned people of Hambach and send our solidarity to them.

Also we want to make it clear that we will not be scared into submission and hope that more people will be motivated by our action, to commit similar acts of resistance against the brown-coal-death-machine.

The Chaos Engineering Crew

Peruvian Land Defender Killed After 48-Hour Anti-Mining Strike

October 29th, 2015

Seven rural communities organized a general strike that immobilized completely the activities in Puquio, capital of Lucana province, and resulted in the unfortunate death of a young member of the Cccollana community: Erick Mendonza Tumaylle, age 22. The conflict occurred at the site of one informal mining project where toxic run-offs lead directly into fields used by the community for agriculture.

Leaders of the community have reported Juan Pariona of Ccollao injured as a result of being held hostage by the informal mining company in the San Andrés zone.

This theme of conflict is a recurring one throughout the entire southern territories of Ayacucho, Ica, and parts of Arequipa. Some community members are suing Laytauma Corporation for being the main storage facility for explosives, for being the main source of income for informal transient workers, and for being the sole purchaser of feed produced in Sancos district.

People are worried about how thousands of informal workers are affecting the Yuariviri lagoon, the many springs and water sources. It has been made apparent that the center storm of this conflict has moved to this zone of the country.

by Observatorio de Conflictos Mineros en el Perú / Conflictos Mineros

translated by Earth First! Newswire

French Monsanto Research Site Damaged in Suspected Arson Attack

A Monsanto research center in western France suffered heavy fire damage in a suspected arson attack early Wednesday morning, the official in charge of the site said.

October 28th, 2015

A Monsanto research center in western France suffered heavy fire damage in a suspected arson attack early Wednesday morning, the official in charge of the site said.

The official, Jakob Witten, said police investigators “strongly suspect it was a crime as no electrical or other sources were found.”

The fire was ignited from two different places at the site, where about 10 people work and which is specialized in corn research. The smell of gasoline lingered near the building, which had heavy damage in its reception hall and offices.

“No Monsanto sites in Europe have so far been the victim of fires of criminal origin, this is unprecedented violence,” Witten said.

However, forty tons of GM sugar beets were torched in Oregon, sparking an FBI investigation, so the sentiment behind this latest arson, if it indeed was an act of violence, is not unprecedented.

The Creve Coeur-based company is the frequent target of criticism in France over concerns about genetically modified crops it has developed.

The government said last month it would use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of GM crops in France remains in place.

Anti-Dam Activists Celebrate Two Years of Blockades in Malaysia

On October 23rd 2015, indigenous communities from around the world gathered on the banks of the Baram River in Sarawak, Malaysia in the context of the second year anniversary of the indigenous-led blockades against the proposed Baram Dam. Two years ago indigenous communities set up two blockades and chased workers and researchers from the site. The works on the dam have come to a standstill and last month the government of Sarawak announced a moratorium.

Indigenous anti-dam activists from Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brazil, the US, Honduras, and from around Malaysia united at the blockades to stand in solidarity with the resistance against the Baram Dam and to strengthen ties between their communities. The week-long event is called the World Indigenous Summit on Environment and Rivers, WISER Baram 2015, and was hosted by the grassroots network SAVE Rivers.

During celebrations at the two blockades, the proposed dam site, as well as at a conference in the town of Miri, the participants were united by the similarities between their struggles. “I have gained a lot of experience from all of the delegates. And with such information, I am confident enough such experiences will be fundamental to us – the Baram People – and our strategies to continue to fight and stop the proposed Baram Dam,” said James Nyurang, who hosted the delegates at his village.

According to Berta Cáceres, 2015 Goldman Prize winner from Honduras, “this summit on indigenous peoples and rivers has a special value in that its actions give strength to the historic resistance of our peoples and makes visible the grave aggression and conflict generated by the privatization of rivers and the construction of dams within Indigenous communities and regions.”

The declaration also calls on governments and institutions to stop presenting dams as climate neutral, and recognize that dams emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, including methane.

Participants in the summit collectively produced a declaration that acknowledges the widespread suffering and destruction caused by dams, and stresses the importance of obtaining Free, Prior, and Informed Consent from communities impacted by dam building. It urges all stakeholders to act in full accountability, transparency, and compliance of all human rights principals and values.

The indigenous defense of the Baram river stands united with other communities’ struggles for land, livelihood, spirituality, identity, and community cohesion.

Hambach Forest, Germany: Ecodefenders blockade several targets in Europe’s largest open-cast mine

The last weekend saw a series of blockades, that halted work in several parts of the Hambach open-cast-coal-mine.

8.10.15

The last weekend saw a series of blockades, that halted work in several parts of the Hambach open-cast-coal-mine.

On Saturday morning, at around 2:30, several people occupied on of the huge excavators and stopped it for several hours.

One day later, around the same time, four people stopped the two main conveyor-belts that are used to load the coal onto the trains, with one group climbing around on top of one, while the other two people locked-on to the structure of the other. After being hosed with water for several hours by angry mine workers, all people were evicted at around 11:00 and taken to the police station in Düren, where they were released about one hour later, without giving their identities.

On Monday morning, again at around half past two, another group of people occupied on of the giant excavators, again being evicted a couple hours later and realeased without ID-check.

This was followed by jet another conveyor-belt blockade, which was evicted more brutally this time. One of the persons is still in police custody.

It seems the police and the energy company RWE are getting more and more annoyed by activists constantly slipping through the holes in their security net.

For more information check out: hambachforest.blogsport.de

Phantom solar panels haunt streets of Westminster

September 17, 2015

The phantom image of a solar farm has appeared overnight on the pavement outside the main Department of Energy and Climate Change offices on Whitehall.

This morning we used clean graffiti to turn paving-stones into solar panels, kicking off our Keep Fits campaign to help ordinary people challenge planned cuts to renewable energy.

The whole government consultation process is pretty off-putting to anyone other than a professional lobbyist, so we’ve developed a dedicated website to make sure everyone who loves renewable energy can have their say on the proposed cuts.

Pressure has been mounting ever since the government released their proposal (sneakily, while we were all away on summer holidays). Last week a coalition of energy firms, investors, trade bodies and NGOs published a statement calling on the government to urgently reconsider the proposed changes. And the Mayor of London Boris Johnson is one of several MPs to have publicly voiced concerns over the jobs these cuts threaten, as well as the environmental impacts.

“The government’s own figures show there will be nearly a million fewer solar rooftops over the next 5 years if they go through with these cuts. The government wants to pull the plug on Britain’s solar revolution just as it is getting going.

Amy Cameron

Renewable energy is consistently popular amongst the UK public. According to the latest DECC polling, only 1% of the UK public strongly oppose renewables. In contrast a whopping 71% agree that renewable energy industries and developments provide economic benefits to the UK.

Using high-power washers and a stencil, clean graffiti removes dirt from dirty pavements rather than adding paint. How quickly these ghostly images fade depends on local environmental conditions, but we’re hoping they will last right up until the consultation closes on the 23rd October.

If you’re walking past today, why not share a photo of yourself standing on the panels. #StandWithSolar.

Update The panels survived until lunchtime, when they were washed off!

protest against British Columbia Hydro Dawson Creek dam – unconnected person wearing anonymous mask gets shot dead

Anonymous member in Guy Fawkes Mask Shot Dead by RCMP; “#OpAnonDown” Anons Vow Revenge

Sept 23, 2015

Terry Hadland, a Peace River farmer, says he should have got the police bullet that killed a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask outside a Site C open house this summer.

“He created a diversion so I could get away,” Mr. Hadland told The Globe and Mail in an interview. “He stepped up and took that shot for me, that’s for sure.”

RCMP were called to the open house in Dawson Creek on July 16 after getting calls about a man causing a disturbance at the British Columbia Hydro public information session.

One day after the hacker group Anonymous vowed to “avenge one of our own” following the shooting, the group is claiming to have crashed parts of the RCMP website on Sunday morning.

A Twitter account associated with the global activist group has posted photos showing the Dawson Creek RCMP website server status listed as “down.”

– See more at: http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/dawson-creek/police-mum-on-link-between-police-shooting-anonymous-group-1.2005056#sthash.SbEOrEJA.dpuf

Mr. Hadland said he was the man causing trouble, but he left before police arrived, and officers confronted another man, who was reportedly carrying a knife and wearing the trademark mask of the hacktivist group Anonymous. Moments later, shots were fired, and James McIntyre, a dishwasher at Le’s Family Restaurant, was dead outside the Stonebridge Hotel’s Fixx Urban Grill.

In response to the shooting, Anonymous promised retribution, subsequently posting a 2014 Treasury Board memo about Canadian Security Intelligence Service funding, and threatening to leak more material.

One day after the hacker group Anonymous vowed to “avenge one of our own” following the shooting, the group is claiming to have crashed parts of the RCMP website on Sunday morning.

A Twitter account associated with the global activist group has posted photos showing the Dawson Creek RCMP website server status listed as “down.”

– See more at: http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/dawson-creek/police-mum-on-link-between-police-shooting-anonymous-group-1.2005056#sthash.SbEOrEJA.dpuf

One day after the hacker group Anonymous vowed to “avenge one of our own” following the shooting, the group is claiming to have crashed parts of the RCMP website on Sunday morning.

A Twitter account associated with the global activist group has posted photos showing the Dawson Creek RCMP website server status listed as “down.”

– See more at: http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/dawson-creek/police-mum-on-link-between-police-shooting-anonymous-group-1.2005056#sthash.hTyGNWmh.dpuf

Anonymous has already begun its retaliation campaign, knocking the main RCMP websites offline for several hours on Sunday (19 July).

This is part of the group’s campaign to “remove the RCMP cyber infrastructure from the Internet” as it calls on members to “march, create and sign petitions, hack, dox [until] all demand and justice is met”.

The hackitivst collective has also offered to raise funds for the victim’s burial.

Doxxing

The group leading the campaign – Operation Anon Down – also tweeted on Monday (20 July) that it had accessed documents marked “secret” inside the Canadian government, warning: “It’s not just a DDoS op anymore kiddos.”

#AnonDown has accessed docs marked “secret” inside Canadian government. It’s not just a DDoS op anymore kiddos. More tomorrow. Night all.
— Operation Anon Down (@OpAnonDown) July 20, 2015

In an emailed statement released over the weekend, Anonymous vowed to “identify the RCMP officer involved, thoroughly dox him – and release that dox on the Internet. Because the world has a right to know every detail about killer cops.”

Anonymous has a patchy history with “doxxing” police officers accused of shooting members of the public however, with one member of Anonymous having incorrectly identified the officer accused of shooting Michael Brown in Ferguson last year.

Mr. Hadland, 66, said he did not know Mr. McIntyre, 48, and regrets that his actions inadvertently brought police into conflict with him. “It’s tragic, that’s for damn sure,” he said. “They were trying to get me.”

Mr. Hadland said if police had found him instead of Mr. McIntyre, the incident would have ended peacefully. “I would have obeyed them,” he said.

Mr. Hadland, who lives off the grid on a farm in the Peace River district, said he went to the open house to protest against the controversial Site C dam.

“I’d been planning it for a couple of weeks,” he said. “I walked into the room … I thought, ‘I’m just going to push them a bit.’”

Mr. Hadland said BC Hydro officials were talking to members of the public at information tables covered with pamphlets, maps and posters.

“I flipped a couple [of tables],” he said. “I ripped up the rest of the maps …. They had placards. … I started breaking up those.”

Mr. Hadland said he was quickly surrounded by BC Hydro staff, but the confrontation did not become violent.

“They didn’t try to push me,” he said. “I made my statement and I walked out.”

Mr. Hadland said he assumes 911 calls were made during his protest, but added that if anyone reported a violent incident, then the police were misinformed and may have arrived expecting serious trouble.

“It was all very peaceful,” he said. “The police could have showed up and been amicable.”

When it was suggested that tipping over tables and tearing up posters might seem threatening to some, Mr. Hadland agreed.

“Oh, it could have been,” he acknowledged.

Mr. Hadland said he passed within metres of Mr. McIntyre in the parking lot but did not see a knife or a mask.

“I thought he was a BC Hydro person [because] he kept turning away and trying to hide his face,” he said.

Mr. Hadland was worried police were coming, so he jumped in his vehicle and drove away without looking back. He said he went to the RCMP the next day, identified himself as the man who disrupted the meeting, and told police he was concerned someone had made a 911 call “that wasn’t valid” because his protest was not violent.

Arthur Hadland, a former director of Peace River Regional District, confirmed his cousin was the man who disrupted the Site C open house.

The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. is investigating the police shooting of Mr. McIntyre.

“It is not our practice to provide specific details about an investigation while it is still active – what I can say is that while we obtain all accessible and available information we believe is relevant to the IIO investigation, our focus is on the actions of the police officers,” Kellie Kilpatrick, an IIO spokesperson said in an e-mail.

“Since our investigation of the initial disturbance is a parallel investigation to that of the IIO’s investigation which is still ongoing, it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time,” Corporal Dave Tyreman of the RCMP’s North District said in a separate e-mail.

BC Hydro spokesman Dave Conway declined to comment on Mr. Hadland’s version of events.

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July 2015:

B.C. Hydro Site C protest in Vancouver cancelled due to concerns about violence

Rally organizers say they’re concerned about reaction to the recent death of a man in Dawson Creek

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Further info