Protesters at the May blockade of a Chevron property in Burnaby, BC
Back in May, a group of three protesters locked their necks to the front gate of a Chevron facility in Burnaby, BC. They were a ragtag trio, Dan Wallace was filmed a few weeks earlier promoting violence at a May Day Rally, Mia Nissen compared herself to Gandhi in an article in the Vancouver Observer, and not much is known about the third protester Adam Gold.
Chevron got an injunction against the protesters, and police came to cut them off of the gate. They got away with their crimes in the end when the police dropped the charges. Everything looked good for the protesters until a few days ago when Chevron gave them a surprise- they’re not willing to put up with the police’s lack of action, and are pursuing a declaration from the court that the protesters failed to comply with the injunction. This could be the first step towards a civil suit.
The protesters have setup a fundraising page on GoFundMe asking for $5,000 in donations to cover their legal costs. Here’s how they explained the situation:
“Chevron is using Lawson Lundell LLP as their legal representative to push forward oppressive, and illegal charges which provide the real criminal (Chevron) with a sanctuary of impunity from consequences while criminalizing land defenders. From the perspective of Chevron, this will ideally result in the incarceration of land defenders, thereby removing them from their communities and preventing them from taking actions while serving their sentences.”
It is, of course, not “illegal” for Chevron to file a complaint with the courts- that’s what they are there for. But, also of course, these types of wild accusations are a staple of the protest industry and should be expected. The court date is set for September 8th, an update will be posted on this site when more information comes available.
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I love it! These professional protestors don’t seem to mind when their American sponsored legal “defense funds” wage lawfare against Chevron, but when the shoe is on the other foot, it’s somehow ‘illegal’. I doubt these guys have that much in their savings account, but it would be great to find a paper trail proving they were there as employees of a radical environmental organization which could then be included in the civil case.
Author
Good point about the hypocrisy about warfare…
Im disappointed that the minimum donation is a dollar. I want to send them two cents and then leave a nice note hoping that Chevron succeeds.
It’s about time corporations fight back..Those folks have been getting away with these kinds of tactics for far to long .
As I understand it they can protest against Chevron (Standard Oil of B.C) all they alike, but they have to stay off of Chevron’s property if Chevron does not want them there, and they cannot block access to that property. These twist did both, and now they cry fowl when Chevron attempts to exercise their legal right to ask a court to bar the protesters from their property after the protesters locked themselves to the front gate. If these cats were not exercising the political schtick they could get locked up in Riverview for stunts like this.
Author
Indeed, the “movement” is an exercise in mass insanity…