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The Mi'kmaq territories in so called Rexton, New Brunswick.
October 17th 2013.
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You allright?
- Oh no I'm not allright, you assholes!
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At approximately 7:30AM over 200 cops of the Royal Colonial Mountain Police, or RCMP,
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descended on a Mi'kmaq protest camp that have been blockading
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fracking exploration equipment owned by Texas based South Western Energy, or SWN.
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The Mi'kmaq are the original inhabitants of this land,
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and have been engaged in a struggle against SWN and their intent to frack their territories for natural gas since earlier this summer.
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The cops came in guns drawn, with safeties off, and several of them were outfitted with camouflage and carried semi-automatic rifles.
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They had surrounded the encampment where members of the Mi'kmaq Warriors Society were staying.
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They came in through the fire exit, the fire entrance near the highway, with probably about 750-100 cops on that end.
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There were shots fired at one point. I believe one of the people in camo was firing into the air.
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I then saw molotov cocktails being lobbed at heavily armed cops by people hiding in the woods.
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[Woman Screams]
YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING CRAZY!
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I was then kicked out of the conflict zone by a senior officer and threatened with arrest.
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[Senior Pig:] If you do happen to come back, sure I'm just saying, not saying that you are, but if you do, you will be placed under arrest.
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I refused to go behind the police line and kept a position where I could witness the events and avoid arrest for as long as possible.
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[The RCMPigs announce they will arrest everyone]
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[Jason Okay:] So guys do work for SWN.
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So you do work for SWN!
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A tense standoff continued for the next two hours.
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I'm gonna tell my kids, from the grave,
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that I stood up for their water,
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I stood up for you guys kids water too.
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All of your guys kids.
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I could hear supporters gathering from behind the police line in the town of Rexton.
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And we're not leaving.
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Bro, this is Mi'kmaq [land],
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and we have a note here, that we can be on this private land
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so now who's the wrong one brother?
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Mi'kmaq supporters were able to break through the RCMP line and were rapidly headed in the direction of the blockade, while singing songs.
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At this point I could see the police were panicking.
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The cops in camouflage moved in on the warrior encampment and another group of police formed a line to meet the supporters,
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effectively pushing me out of the conflict zone.
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Scuffles between the police and supporters of the warriors followed,
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and a fierce standoff between Mi'kmaq youth and the RCMP continued throughout the day.
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The cops used pepper spray and beanbag rounds on the crowd, which included many underage youth.
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Aww it hurts. It hurts.
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Anger at the police was at a boiling point and in fear the cops abandoned their cars and moved to the safety of the police line.
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At around 1:30PM supporters were asked to put down their cameras, while people set the RCMP vehicles aflame, to the cheers of many.
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Firetrucks were told to turn around and let the cop cars burn.
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The cops continued to amass behind the police line.
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Cops in full riot-gear, armored personal carriers, and dozens of snipers, filled the blockade site.
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But the fearlessness of the Mi'kmaq people was unquestionable and they would not leave until the RCMP invaders were gone.
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Around this time reports started coming in that all SWN equipment had been removed.
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Finally, around dusk, after arresting over 40 people, the cops retreated and left the zone.
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On saturday hundreds of people from all over Turtle island descended on the blockade site.
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The corporate media were told by locals that they were not welcome and they were ordered to leave the area.
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I stood up!
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I stood up, and told them to get the fuck out of here.
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As reports of solidarity actions from around the globe came in, people blocked Highway 11 for several hours,
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signalling the world that resistance against South Western Energy will continue until all frackers are gone.