from Earth First! Newswire
The RCMP have cracked down against a blockade erected by Mohawks to protest the Canadian government’s inaction regarding murdered and missing indigenous women.
At least twenty police officers, armed with high powered rifles, arrived at the scene to disperse the protestors. In the ensuing conflict, a police car window was smashed, and four protestors were arrested.
“During the arrest no one was injured,” Sgt. Kristine Rae said. “[T]he suspect at that time did hurt themselves and an officer received a minor injury as a result of the glass.”
The police have not released the names of the arrestees yet.
Highlighting the irony of police repression on International Women’s Day, one activist commented, “Canada protects its railways better than it protects our women.”
The blockades began on Sunday Night at Shannonville Road in Tyendinaga Township, but this morning, the blockade moved to the CN rail lines, holding up freight and passenger traffic for hours.
13 trains in total were affected by today’s blockade. According to one witness, after the tracks were cleared, the first train through was carrying oil tanker cars.
Today’s blockade was a result of the Canadian government’s tabling of an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, which has been compiling testimony for over a year.
Mohawk activist Shawn Brant commented, “We couldn’t get justice for our women. If we can’t have justice, at least we can have honor.” This is not the first time the Mohawks have taken to the rails.
Mohawks blocked CN railways for hours seven years ago, causing around $100 million in “economic damage,” according to a heavily redacted Canadian Security Intelligence Service memo.
Brant stated at the time, “When we have women that are going missing everyday and when we have communities that don’t have access to clean drinking water and our women and children are suffering… [i]f we have to take actions to bring out some concrete resolutions and changes to our society and our people, then that is what we have to be doing.”
