A tense stand off is ongoing between 200 RCMP, Mi’kmaq blockaders, and about 200 supporters. According to the Stimulator, the chief and tribal council personally blockaded gas company trucks behind barricades. Protesters have hurled rocks and a corporate news tripod at the RCMP. At the moment, RCMP are making mass arrests, SWN vehicles appear to be rolling out of the compound, and six RCMP vehicles have been set ablaze.
Molotov cocktails were thrown from the woods earlier this morning in defense of the land and peoples. The RCMP, some with long rifles, entered the woods. Shots were fired, and screaming was heard. There is an unconfirmed report that activist Steven Gould has been shot. (UPDATE: We are now receiving reports that less-than-lethal rounds have been fired at supporters, as well as tear gas. Pepper spray has been deployed against supporters attempting to get through police lines. The RCMP is currently unloading riot gear.)
Supporters broke through police lines to join the Mi’kmaq (video here). The RCMP have erected a barrier on one side of the blockade, and appear to have the blockade surrounded. More people are coming to support with food and water.
Solidarity blockades have sprung up elsewhere in the Mi’kmaq territory. There are solidarity actions planned at the Canadian Consulate in NYC at 5pm and the Canadian Embassy in DC, as well as Vancouver and Winnipeg.
As of time of writing, arrests have been made, and there is at least one report of police brutality against Mi’kmaq warrior Suzanne Patles, an Ilnu woman and member of the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society. (UPDATE: It appears that mass arrests are currently being made.)
According to the New Brunswick, Anglophone North School District, the RCMP did not notify them of the raid as is legally required. Schools are currently on lock-down.
The Mi’kmaq are blockading Highway 132 near Rexton to halt the activity on the compound belonging to a gas company, SWN Resources Canada. SWN Resources has been illegally trying to frack the land of the Elsipogtog for months, and the tribe has been joined by other tribes of the Mi’kmaq and Wabanaki Confederacy peoples in attempts to take direct action against the gas company.
According to Ellen Gabriel of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, “Forcible removal of Mi’kmaq on their traditional lands, [is] an illegal act by Police who should not enforce.”
Last week, a Canadian judge issued an injunction against the blockade, but the Elsipogtog have sought peaceful negotiation. Today’s raid must be seen as a preemptive action to prevent the October 18 day of action from taking place, which was called by the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society for physical support of the SWN blockade.
The demands of the Warriors Society are the following:
- Produce all Bills of Sales, Sold, Ceded, Granted and Extinguished Lands for New Brunswick.
- Produce documents proving Cabot’s Doctrine of Discovery.
- Produce the Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1686.
- Produce Treaty of Fort Howe 1768.
- Produce consents for Loyalists to land in Nova Scotia/New Brunswick.
- Produce records of Townships created and consents by Chiefs to allow this.
- Produce agreements or consents by all New Brunswick Chiefs who agreed to Confereration of 1867.
- Produce evidence of consents to The Indian Act by all Native Tribes.
- Produce records of Trust Funds.
- Produce agreements for 4% of all mineral shares of finished products in Canada, except coal.
- Produce all correspondence letters pertaining to Numbered Treaties (Promises).
- Produce all documents creating border divisions, that divide the Wabanaki confederacy.
- Produce the Orders from the Lords of Trade to the Governor of the Colonies.
30th September, An ongoing standoff continues to escalate between
30th September, An ongoing standoff continues to escalate between anti-fracking activists and police in Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada.
From Halifax Media Coop:
CMP have currently closed off automobile access to the Irving-owned compound that houses five of SWN Resource Canada’s seismic testing trucks, or ‘thumpers’. The police have closed off both north and south exits to highway 134 off the highway 11, as well as the 134 itself in both directions. Walk-in access to the compound is currently the only way in and out.
Seismic testing is the precursor to hydraulic fracturing [fracking].
Police aggression has already resulted in frivolous arrests and even injuries to the protesters who have converged on the site. The protesters have responded by setting up their own blockade:
Members of the Mi’gmaw Warriors Society, an independently-run group that self-describe themselves as a ‘Homeland Security’ force, have felled several pine trees and are in the process of lighting fires along the highway. One van and numerous pine trees now also block access to the Irving-owned, gated compound that currently houses five of SWN Resources Canada’s seismic testing trucks, or ‘thumpers’. The thumpers are perceived by the activists to be a key piece of SWN’s equipment, without which the Texas-based gas giant will be unable to continue seismic testing in New Brunswick.
Read the full articles here:
Breaking: More Arrests at Ongoing New Brunswick Anti-Fracking Stand-Off
Cop Block Turns to Road Block
Day 48 (Tues 10th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (3:30pm): Protector cut off, arrested and caravan moved. Come down and support the community.
Day 48 (Tues 10th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (3:30pm): Protector cut off, arrested and caravan moved. Come down and support the community.
Update (2:00pm): Cuadrilla fracking truck blocked by Protector locked onto caravan in Balcombe. Community Protection Camp is still going strong despite increased police harassment.
Update (12:45pm): Ambulance takes one Protector to hospital with leg injury caused by Police violence
Update (12:15pm): First fracking truck of day arrives and is being blocked by Protectors.
Update (12:00pm): Community Protection Camp still holding strong. Situation pretty calm at moment. Lots of people here to support Balcombe but do come down to help if you can.
Update (11:00am): One of the three people arrested for singing outside Cuadrilla’s fracking site is a Balcombe resident.
Update (10:30am): Police trying to intimidate camp but not here in large numbers at present. Three arrests. More people would be good. Come down and support the community if you can.
Update (10am): The day has started quietly. Despite media report to the contrary the Council has no powers to evict the camp and would need to go through a court process to try. Threats by the police to use a Section 14 CJPOA to evict the camp are clearly illegal (though obviously that is no guarantee they won’t try) but the camp is holding firm. Come down and support the community if you can.
One Man Stop – 2nd September – Day 40
Update (14:45am): One protector locked on to fracking truck at the gate of Cuadrilla site in Balcombe.
Update (11:45am): Two protectors arrested defending Sussex from fracking.
One Man Stop – 2nd September – Day 40
Update (14:45am): One protector locked on to fracking truck at the gate of Cuadrilla site in Balcombe.
Update (11:45am): Two protectors arrested defending Sussex from fracking.
Update (9:30am): Police trying to force fracking truck through the community protection blockade. Come down and support the community.
Protector Locked On To Fracking Tanker Blocking The Gate Of Cuadrilla Site In Balcombe – Video
More info and photos here
Day 41 (Tues 3rd) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Protector Locked On To Gate Of Cuadrilla Fracking Site In Balcombe – Video
"I study environmental science, I know this is wrong, I know this is mad and it's just about money. I've chosen this action because nobody is listening. I've signed petitions, I've written to the EA. I've been here peacefully protesting for the last 6 weeks or longer. The government's just not listening to its people. Once they start putting those chemicals down into the water table they cannot get them out. I don't want to leave this mess for the next generation and I certainly don't want to say I didn't do anything to stop it."
Day 43 – 5th September Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Breaking: #Balcombe Community Protection Camp now has a tripod blocking the road. Some cars can pass… looks like no trucks for a while… #GreatGasGala #Frack_OFF #Cuadrilla
Day 43 of the Community Blockade in Balcombe. This morning one Protector is blocking fracking trucks from entering the Cuadrilla’s site with a tripod. The camp in Balcombe is fight the threat of thousands of fracking wells spreading across Sussex and the UK.
Videos
Helpful Information for groups considering action
Day 37 (Fri 30th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (10:30am): One protector arrested defending Sussex from fracking.
Update (9:30am): Police trying to force fracking truck through community blokade.
Day 34 (Tues 26th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Day 37 (Fri 30th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (10:30am): One protector arrested defending Sussex from fracking.
Update (9:30am): Police trying to force fracking truck through community blokade.
Day 34 (Tues 26th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (5:00pm): One protector arrested today as police continue to force fracking trucks through the blockade for Cuadrilla.
Update (10:30am): First fracking truck of the day.
Day 28 (Wed 21st) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (3pm): All Protectors who were in Crawley Magistrates Court today have been given bail conditions that allow them to return to the camp.
Update (1pm): Forest camp evicted by police.
Update (12pm): Police are trying to illegally evict (without a court order) the forest camp (smaller camp in woodland next to the Cuadrilla rig site, not main camp on grass verge) at Balcombe. Come support the community!
Day 27 (Tue 20th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex
Update (10:40am): Another fracking truck being blocked.
Update (9:30am): Fracking truck forced through community blockade by police. One Protector arrested.
Days 25/26 – the Reclaim the Power blockade and more updates/photos here
A Rolling Blockade of the Balcombe fracking site, 1st September – 28th September
Fracking company Cuadrilla’s governmental licence to drill in Balcombe ends on September 28th. The government may be allowing them to drill but they have no social licence from the people of Balcombe to frack their land and threaten their water supply. Neither do they have any mandate to begin an entire wave of fracking across the country. The vast majority of people in the UK want cleaner, greener energy.
After the upsurge of climate activism at Reclaim the Power in August, let’s make these last 28 days count. Let’s halt their work at Balcombe, and also send a strong message to those wanting to frack elsewhere.
A blockade has been on-going at the drilling site, but trucks have still been getting through. Now it’s time to up the ante.
We invite groups from around the country to come and play a part in a 28 day rolling blockade.
Think creatively and act responsibly. Pick a weekday before September 28, gather friends and useful kit get yourselves to Balcombe.
Fracking is stoppable, another world is possible.
* People are reminded that this is a peaceful blockade and that the Balcombe camp is alcohol-free.
* For further information please contact 28dayslater.balcombe@gmail.com
* Follow us on Twitter (@28_dayslater) and like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/28dayslaterrollingblockade)
A short story of No Dash for Gas, Reclaim the Power and how people from across the country stood in solidarity with Balcombe to oppose Cuadrilla and the dash for gas…
A short story of No Dash for Gas, Reclaim the Power and how people from across the country stood in solidarity with Balcombe to oppose Cuadrilla and the dash for gas…
It all began last year, when 21 activists occupied and shut down EDF's gas fired power station in West Burton for over a week. It was time to stop the 'Dash for Gas' which would smash our climate targets and push up energy prices…
The protesters then formed a human circle around the site, joining hands, chanting and singing, while Cuadrilla's workers looked on from inside their razor-wire fence.
Back at the camp, the children at Reclaim the Power (we were a gathering of all ages!) went on a bus ride to Balcombe village to speak to local people about the dangers of fracking to everyone's future.
Above from here
Good video
18th August 2013
18th August 2013
People came from all over the UK to protest against fracking, and in solidarity with the villagers of Balcombe and the road-side protest camp who've been 'Locking the Gate' for three weeks now. Police have been increasingly harassing camp residents, arresting seemingly at random times picking people off as they come out of the toilet or are eating lunch, and putting severe pressure on the rig-side forest camp. Meanwhile the Reclaim the Power camp had landed in a field about a 30 minute walk away, and has been building up to the action days this coming week.
Well over a thousand people marched – the first wave left Reclaim the Power, passed through the original protest camp and made it's way up to the station. No sooner than a line of yellow came into view ahead through the trees lining the road, a cheer rose and people at the station came streaming down. The police withdrew from between the crowds – fearing a Blakelock Sandwich – and took up position at what had been our rear, and now was the front. We slowly marched down, to the beat of a band of drummers, a samba band, and sound systems, down to the gate, where along with the lines of police from various forces, people listened to speeches by communities fighting the fracking threat and public figures there in solidarity.
Pictures
Local 'democracy' (AKA corruption) of Balcombe parish council – Private Eye
17th October 700 RCMP are currently reported at the scene of the Mi’kmaq blockade with an armored personnel carrier. Talks have failed. Snipers with the RCMP have been seen pointing their scopes at groups of young supporters, drawing intense criticism from observers. In a statement, one RCMP officer declared, “the Crown land belongs to the government, not fucking Natives,” revealing the systemic contempt for treaty rights with First Nations and international agreements. RCMP are now lined up with riot shields, as the standoff continues to maintain the blockade that is currently keeping “thumper trucks” from destroying the land in Mik’maq territory. Chief Aaron Sock of the Elslipogtog has been released by the RCMP after being arrested while blockading the compound of Texas-based SWN Resources. However, over 40 Mi’kmaq warriors remain in custody, as the RCMP continue to use pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets in attempts to break up the blockade. 
Canada is clearly in violation of international treaties with this war-like act against a peaceful nation engaged in lawful direct action against the theft and destruction of their land by a multinational energy company. According to Submedia, “During my short stay [at the two-week-strong blockade] I’ve witnessed the co-operation between natives and settlers, a partnership that has kept this blockade fully stocked and operational. Food, wood, hot coffee, tents and other supplies keep streaming all the while SWN berates the police in the media for not arresting the protesters.” In retaliation against the invasion, which comes one day before an international day of solidarity with the Mi’kmaq Blockade and two days away from a meeting set to continue peace talks, unknown persons have set six RCMP vehicles ablaze, hurled stones at the police line, and confiscated fracking equipment. In related news, SWN stock hit a sharp decline today on the New York Stock Exchange. As of this time, the RCMP is not letting media in. However, reinforcements continue to swell the numbers of supporters at the blockade. The Mi’kmaq have issued a call for continued international solidarity, and for increased support for the blockade.
17th October 700 RCMP are currently reported at the scene of the Mi’kmaq blockade with an armored pe
…and those from the local community who'd been resisting Cuadrilla for weeks!
August 19 2013: Balcombe Solidarity Sunday anti-fracking protest
On Monday morning, our Day of Action began!
