Two people have been arrested after an anti-pipeline protest in Coquitlam blocked equipment and highway traffic at Highway 1 near Brunette Avenue.
A man and a woman were taken into police custody for mischief, according to an RCMP media release.
The protest was made up of about nine people, and it was peaceful throughout Thursday morning, police said.
The RCMP said they were was called to the scene shortly at about 11:15 a.m. when a 22-year-old woman chained herself to a piece of equipment. She and a 23-year-old man were arrested for mischief.
“We have colonial oppressors here trying to enforce their laws that we don’t have permits or rights to be stopping this equipment, and we do, based on the fact that these guys do not have jurisdictions or treaties with Canada, and they are continuing the genocide of the land and the people,” one of the protesters said in a video posted to Facebook.
Mounties said the man was released without charges, but the woman — an Ontario resident — could be charged with mischief.
No one was hurt during the incident, police said.
The RCMP said it is a neutral party in the protests — and that it will work to ensure demonstrators can exercise their rights to peaceful protest and that companies can exercise their right to work.
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