Winnipeg police arrested a man after a large group supporting the Brady Landfill blockade showed up at a residential home on Wednesday night.
According to police, roughly 45 people showed up before 7 p.m. outside the home of Kyle Klochko, who was caught on video dumping dirt on a Red Dress memorial at the blockade on Sunday.
During a tense three-and-a-half hours, protesters painted red hand marks on the fence and doorway of the home and a 19-year-old allegedly threw a rock through a window.
Klochko eventually came outside and addressed the crowd with an apology, the audio winding up on the social media platform TikTok.
“I apologize for my actions for that day I was unaware,” he said.
He was interrupted several times and after a few attempts, his voice was drowned out by the angry mob.
Global News later went to his house, and he spoke about the incident defending his actions at the landfill and his apology. He added that he wasn’t aware that he could go to another landfill to dump his garbage.
“I expected that there were going to be some consequences, but I stand by my words because I said something that I believe is true,” he said.
According to the city, the landfill remains open although visitors must use a temporary detour to enter the facility.
Klochko said police were the ones who told him this protest would happen at his house — he didn’t know until he was almost home from work.
He said he also doesn’t feel the need for the police to check in on him moving forward unless there’s another protest.
During the protest outside Klochko’s house, a neighbour said he was awoken by the commotion. Michael Pale-Hernaez said he walked out to a rather intense, emotional scene on Wednesday night. He was also unaware that Klockho was part of the “controversy.”
“I saw a scene of about 30 people outside, a lot of them were chanting and accusing Kyle of a lot of things,” said Pale-Hernaez. After seeing protesters leave red handprints on Klochko’s property, his neighbour said he thought people would disperse.
“It just continued to intensify,” said Pale-Hernaez.
Winnipeg police said the 19-year-old was charged with mischief after throwing the rock through the window of Klochko’s home.
The Brady Landfill blockade is ongoing. A court hearing on an injunction to end the blockade was adjourned to Friday.
— with files from Global’s Teagan Rasche