BC Civil Liberties Association keeps watch on Kinder Morgan protests
Posted November 22, 2014 8:11 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Friday started with arrests and ended with arrests on Burnaby Mountain as Kinder Morgan workers prepared for drilling and the BC Civil Liberties Association was on hand.
Josh Patterson, the executive director of the BCCLA explains it’s about making sure both RCMP and protesters are staying within their rights and ensuring those rights are being respected. “To be there as sort of an independent witness, an independent set of eyes that can take notes, take video of the interactions between police and protestors in order to provide accountability of what goes on.”
A number of protesters told News1130 they were concerned after seeing some people get thrown to the ground, and others being choked by RCMP. Those types of situations are one of the reasons Patterson says the association was present. “The BC Civil Liberties Association [has] a program called Legal Observers in which staff and volunteers go from time to time to major protests to make sure people’s rights are being respected.”
He adds the six morning arrests went quite peacefully but by the evening, things took a different turn, with at least two other protesters were arrested. One demonstrator was charged with assault after he apparently spit on a Mountie when pressed back from the taped off work site.
