New video is giving a closer look at a heated moment at a blockade in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs staged on a Vancouver Island highway on Monday.
One man among a group of mask-wearing people was arrested for obstruction during the dispute, after trying to dismantle the blockade on Highway 19 near Courtenay.
Video from the scene also appeared to show a truck driving through a protest barrier at the site.
The video, which police confirm they are investigating, appears to be taken from within the truck, and gives a new perspective on the incident.
In it, a pickup truck with a Confederate flag on the dashboard can be seen driving the wrong way up one of the highway’s off-ramps as Mötley Crüe’s “Live Wire” plays over the stereo.
WATCH: Video shows the incident from another angle
As it approaches what appears to be one of the demonstrators’ already-dismantled blockade points, a man on the side of the road in a red hoodie shoves a piece of what appears to be plywood in front of the truck.
The truck continues up the highway in the wrong direction, before crossing the grassy centre median into the correct lane.
“The RCMP are investigating the actions of this driver and if anyone recognizes this truck, and can identify the registered owner please contact the RCMP,” said Cpl. Chris Manseau in an email.
Demonstrators eventually ended their blockade due what they described as “serious, violent racial threats.”
“We have received threats online from individuals, so what’s really important is the safety of our people here and that we make decisions based on that peace being first and foremost in the direct action we’re taking in support of the Wet’suwet’en people,” said Kiyoshi Koski, one of the people blockading the highwway.
RCMP said the other man who was arrested at the scene was released without charge.
Monday’s blockade was one of dozens of protests that have sprung up in B.C. and across Canada in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline.
The company has signed agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous councils along the pipeline’s route, but hereditary chiefs claim sole authority over decisions on unceded traditional territory.
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