RCMP video footage of raids on Wet’suwet’en pipeline blockade shown in court

Video footage captured by RCMP during a two-day police raid to enforce an injunction on the Coastal GasLink pipeline was shown in court Wednesday during the trial of three people accused of taking part in a blockade on Wet’suwet’en territory.

Among the accused is prominent Wet’suwet’en leader Sleydo’, also known as Molly Wickham, who has been the public face of a high-profile Indigenous land rights movement. She is a Wing Chief of Cas Yikh, a house group of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

Sleydo’ stands trial alongside Shaylynn Sampson, a Gitxsan woman with Wet’suwet’en family ties, and Corey Jocko, a Mohawk member of the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy from Ontario. They each face one charge of criminal contempt of court. 

The trial began in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers, B.C., on Monday.

The Crown called RCMP Cpl. Kelly Grant to the stand Wednesday.

Grant testified that he took photos and videos of the two-day enforcement action that saw the arrests of dozens of people who took part in a blockade opposed to the construction of a 670-kilometre pipeline to carry natural gas across northern British Columbia to a terminal in Kitimat, B.C., for export to Asia.

Coastal GasLink signed benefit agreements with 20 elected band councils along the project’s route in 2018, but several Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders refused to allow the pipeline to cross their territory. 

Pipeline opponents, who call themselves land defenders, launched a series of protests and blockades on behalf of the hereditary leaders. 

The three accused were arrested on Nov. 19, 2021, when RCMP moved in on a resistance camp that had been occupying a key pipeline worksite. 

RCMP arrive at tiny house and cabin 

Video shot by Grant on the day of the arrests was shown in court on Wednesday.

A series of short video clips showed RCMP officers approaching a tiny house, knocking on the door and informing the occupants of the injunction. 

In the video, one of at least three RCMP officers at the scene identified himself as Ken Floyd, who at the time was the RCMP bronze police of jurisdiction commander for North District stationed in Prince George. 

Floyd testified Wednesday that he was the one in the video who knocked on the door of the tiny house and read from a script to inform the occupants of an injunction granted by the B.C. Supreme Court in December 2019 that bars anyone from impeding work on the pipeline. 

In the video, someone inside the cabin can be heard yelling back at Floyd.  

Floyd identified the voice in court as Sleydo’. Floyd said she told him he was trespassing on Wet’suwet’en territory and asked if he had a warrant to enter the tiny house. 

The next clip showed four RCMP officers arriving at a small cabin structure with Floyd knocking on the door and reading the script to the people inside.

“You are under arrest for civil contempt of court,” Floyd said in the video. 

Someone from inside the cabin responded, “You are trespassing on Wet’suwet’en territory. ” 

RCMP officers then walked around the cabin before the video clip ends. 

Police break down the door 

In the next clip filmed by Grant, several RCMP officers are seen back outside the tiny house.  

The video shows one of the officers in tactical gear holding a barking police dog and another officer using a chainsaw to cut the door of the tiny house. Grant said in court he was unsure if the officer brought the chainsaw or was using one found at the location. 

When the door is removed, RCMP arrested several people who had their hands up, two of whom appear to be Sleydo’ and Sampson. 

A female voice heard in the video says, “You are choking me, get your hands off my regalia.” It is unclear from the video what happened during the interaction. 

One person was carried out of the tiny house by his hands and legs by four RCMP officers and arrested. 

Two people identifying as members of the media came out of the tiny house and were arrested, the video shows. They appear to be photojournalist Amber Bracken, who at the time was on assignment for news outlet The Narwhal, and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano.

The rest of the video shows the individuals being searched by RCMP and arrested. 

RCMP drone footage shown in court shows more than a dozen police officers at the site of the tiny house to arrest around six people. 

Neither Grant nor Floyd were at the second smaller cabin location when arrests were made. Among those arrested was Jocko.  

RCMP drone footage shown in court showed the door of the cabin smashed in and about four people being arrested by police. 

The Crown concluded its case Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Crown called several Coastal GasLink workers to testify about their role during the two days of police raids. 

Court will resume at 10 a.m. Thursday in Smithers, B.C.