Cops mace a group of 60+ peaceful protestors at Fairy Creek, Pachedaaht Territory. Colonially known as Vancouver Island, Canada.

411

This makes me sad...

Actually saw the protests this summer on my way to west coast trail. It's much more complicated than just protesters and native Canadians vs. evil cops. A lot of locals support the logging as it is a huge job and revenue source. And the native bands have equity stakes in the logging projects.

But man I don't want to see a single one of those majestic trees cut down. They are like 800 years old in some cases and may never grow back due to the mono culture planting process.

Sad sad sad...

233

u/Metalt_ 20d ago

Humanity will feel the pain an infinite number of times over for the reckless ecocide we're committing now.

28

u/boy9000 20d ago

amen

6

u/MoneyBeGreeen 20d ago

This.

2

u/ChocoBrocco 19d ago

Facts. It's so sad

3

u/ProphecyRat2 20d ago

🌬💨🌊🏭

0

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

3

u/vbcbandr 20d ago

No, we will. We are already.

53

u/magkrat123 20d ago

If this hot dry summer is any indication of things to come, it may be that those majestic forests are at risk from more than just logging.

I hope things don’t work out that way, but pretty worried, tbh.

152

u/ketamarine 20d ago

Akt-chill-ee..

The old growth forests are almost exclusively near the coasts of BC and tend to be in high precipitation or just high moisture areas (Ex. West coast trail - which is life changingly beautiful btw - hadn't seen rain in weeks when I got there, but there was still mud on the ground due to mist and retained moisture from the actual forest itself. Kind of like the cloud forests in central America) and have the lowest forest fire risk of all types of forests.

SOOOO... In fact keeping old growth forests alive helps significantly to protect against forest fires in their areas. Logged areas have tons of waste wood everywhere and replanted areas are just tinderboxes of small, vulnerable trees. And forest fire risk for those areas is much higher than old growth.

Perversely... Logging actually INCREASES forest fire risk. Which just blew my fucking mind when I learned all of this around my trail adventure and research around these protests and all the insane wildfires...

27

u/awkwardrodeo585 20d ago

I got to travel with an ex into carmanah walbran and it blew my mind. Going through some portions on our way in there were massive areas that had been clear cut and just devastated it was heart breaking to see.

35

u/Bo7a 20d ago

Logging the way we do it is disgusting.

The first time I ever went tree-planting in northern Canada I literally cried.

When we came through the cover trees off the logging road and on to the cutblock it was like walking onto mars. After a bombing...

Everything was grey and dead, and the only things alive were black flies.

That was when I fully understood the seasoned planters' opinion that what we were doing was not replenishing forest, but just taking part in another cycle of industrial-sized farming.

As we worked through the summer we saw a lot of cutblocks in different states. Some were even somewhat beautiful. (fist-sized strawberries growing in a 2 foot deep track rut as far as the eye can see is pretty neat). But nothing ever hit me like that first one.

26

u/awkwardrodeo585 20d ago

I know what you mean, when we first came over the hill around the bend he told me “hey just be prepared it’s pretty bad” we had just recently watched the documentary If a tree falls and I cried. Then I saw my first clear cut and it was horrific, I felt so sick to my stomach and couldn’t believe it. Seeing photos is one thing, seeing miles of nothing but butchered stumps, piles of what the industry declares useless tossed aside and torn up grasslands from massive trucks. I’ll never forget that as long as I live. I actually remember asking him to stop for a minute because I was just sobbing at the horror of how long it went on, I couldn’t get over the fact that we drove for nearly a half hour and it was just swathed.

7

u/MoonRabbitWaits 20d ago

So tragic.

Here in Australia the population debate has been stifled as it is seen as racist by so many.

But we need to be able to talk about the population of countries that are using these resources and come to some agreement regarding sustainable development and population targets to achieve that.

5

u/FreezerGoBRR 20d ago

It's lifestyle and profit incentives, not population. There are billions of people using less resources than hundreds of millions in first world countries.

3

u/MoonRabbitWaits 20d ago

Exactly. Why cant we have a population discussion that acknowledges that?

0

u/Opcn 19d ago

Because invariably the people who want the top 10% income earners to live like the bottom 90% income earners also frequently decry that the bottom 90% live too impoverished lives as a way to guilt the top 10% and you can’t say both that their lives are intolerably bad and that we should all be living like that.

→ More replies

6

u/KatesWickedWays 20d ago

And also selling our resources to other countries. I know that in the PAC. North West as well as Canada BC a lot of the wood goes to Japan. (Of course Japan pays use back by dredging the Northern Waters of all sea life along with killing any whales they can since they no longer have any life in thief’s. I know trade is really important and I’m sure Japan gives us goods too. I’m not trying to bash Japan for wanting to house and feed themselves. I just think you really have a point about population but also we need to start considering the cost of trading the children we do create’s legacy away for electronics.

0

u/Opcn 19d ago

How do we get lumber if not through industrial sized farming? Much of what we have done to reduce tree use has been to shift to plastics which are their own problem. We can also switch to hemp for a little but it requires more processing which means more mining for reagents and metals and more energy. Planted forests are at least left for 45-60 years in the Pacific Northwest and all kinds of wildlife can live stably in the plots in those times.

1

u/Bo7a 19d ago

I do not pretend to know the answer to this. But I can tell you right now that the hell on earth we leave behind is not what we should use as a measuring bar.

There are more sustainable ways to get lumber that doesn't include ten years of wasteland.

1

u/Opcn 19d ago

One of my neighbors had his second growth (~55 years) property logged three years ago just before I moved into the area. It’s gorgeous right now. Verdant, full of Fox glove and fireweed, thimble berries and salmon berries. The Doug for that was replanted is just about 3’ tall but soon I expect it to be off like a rocket and the old butchered stumps will probably be compost in 40-60 years when it’s ready to timber again.

Really the only thing that goes wrong with clear cuts around here that stops them from being beautiful lovely and diverse is that invasive blackberries sometimes take hold and smother everything. The favorite parts of my drive were clear cut in the last 5 years and there are a few that are still great for mushrooming that had been cut about 10 years ago.

2

u/Bo7a 19d ago

That sounds pretty cool. And I did mention in my comment that some blocks were beautiful.

It still won't erase the ones that were 4-5 years in and were 'unlucky' enough to still be a monument to death.

1

u/Opcn 19d ago

Around here everything I’ve seen looks like Mordor for about 3 months, then it looks like spring time, then it looks like wildflowers and baby forest, then it goes through awkward teenage years then looks like mature forest. Do you have anything identifiable about the blocks that keep on looking like death for a decade? Like are they in drier areas? Or where the forest was especially tall and there weren’t any dappled forest clearings to provide a bank of wildflower seed?

→ More replies

6

u/magkrat123 20d ago

Thanks so much for the clarification. I know you are right, our island rainforest seems to have held up much better these past few years than the dry mainland. But with how extreme things seem to be getting (and worse each year), I am still nervous.

The Mount Hayes fire (73 hectares I think) is small potatoes compared to what the mainland has been experiencing. But still, it got bad enough to cause an evacuation alert and took some time to get that under control. That may not be as naturally protected as the more coastal areas, but still concerning. If the summers coming in the years ahead continue to be hotter and drier than the years before, we may reach a point where the natural protection of being a wet rainforest reaches a tipping point.

You are absolutely right about the logging. If I could join the protesters, I would be there. Unfortunately my health issues these days are keeping me close to home.

3

u/ChocoBrocco 19d ago

Old growth forests are so so so valuable (as they are, not as timber lol). They also harbor an incredible amount of different fungi, not met anywhere else, some of which could be lifesaving medicine. They are very poorly researched as is and new species are found almost daily. By destroying old growth forests, we might accidentally destroy a natural cure for brain cancer or alzheimer's...

I learned this from a netflix documentary called Fantastic Fungi. I highly recommend it to everyone. Mushrooms are more amazing than I ever expected!

2

u/letyourmusshang 19d ago

the fungal community and mushrooms are simply EVERYTHING. talk about the building blocks of the earth.

9

u/chezzy79 20d ago

But logging doesn’t help the climate change either, it’s more a vicious cycle

5

u/BigfootSF68 20d ago

Where are gonna work when the trees are gone?

8

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

Thinking ahead isn't allowed in a capitalist system.

If it was, we wouldn't be in the early stages of a complete collapse of civilizatiom and the climate.

-2

u/Opcn 19d ago

There is more forest in North America now than there was 100 years ago.

2

u/BigfootSF68 19d ago

Some forests aren't the same as others.

I haven't seen a lot of 1000 year old trees in a 100 year old forest.

J'accuse you of obfuscation and gish gallop.

-1

u/Opcn 19d ago

I answered your question. You asked where people were going to work in the future I pointed out that we are growing more forests for the future. You pivoted and moved the goalpost.

The gish gallop is where you throw out a bunch of fallacious arguments so your opponent doesn’t have time to address them all. Hard to accuse someone of doing that with a one sentence answer that you get like 10,000 words to respond to.

1

u/BigfootSF68 19d ago

The forests that provide the lumber are disappearing.

But I am down here in Oregon. You Canadian Libertarians are hiring extra loggers?

here is the song

1

u/Opcn 19d ago

I’m in Washington, in the western US the only reason we have less forest for timber is that we have been locking forest up in parks and reserves and monuments. Timber land is down about 7% in the western US but timber land is up across the whole US. You don’t get lumber from forests you get timber which you then process into lumber at a sawmill.

Oregon’s timber harvest is indefinitely sustainable at current levels unless there is a climate related loss of forest land, which has not yet occurred and which is likely to be the result of our use of non-renewable resources, like how we replaced a lot of renewable carbon neutral wood products with non-renewable carbon producing plastic and concrete.

4

u/KatesWickedWays 20d ago

I totally agree. I have recently looked at pictures of the Redwood forest ( Calif.) and I can’t see ANY of the huge trees and flora and fauna of my youth (50 year ago).

3

u/toxcrusadr 20d ago

Is this private or public land?

12

u/ketamarine 20d ago

Logging generally happens on crown land and the loggers have access rights to build roads and camps and then log whatever their permit allows them to.

But it is illegal to block traffic on the roads - which may be on crown land or private land - not 100% sure.

So cops are technically justified in removing the protesters for either trespassing or blocking access to roads on crown land. Not sure what they are charging people with, but it seems like they just keep arresting people and letting them go and many of them go back to the protests.

At the end of the day, fairy creek is just a tiny logging project across and entire province that has just been devastated so that we can all wipe our asses with prime virgin fibres...

But it is indeed special as it contains some of the oldest growth left on Vancouver island that isn't protected.

1

u/toxcrusadr 19d ago

Thanks for clarifying that.

As a wood guy and conservationist...shit.

-8

u/Matty_bunns 20d ago

This is on private Pacheedaht First Nations land, which have repeatedly asked the eco-terrorists to leave. Even supported with a court injunction. The story they’re peddling is so manipulated and full of lies. They don’t give a shit about any law, nation or authority.

3

u/dingodan22 19d ago

Good. Rainforest ecology affects the entire world, not one group of people that have a financial incentive to destroy the environment. You see them as eco-terrorists, I see them as revolutionaries.

3

u/letyourmusshang 19d ago

revolutionaries indeed my friend.

0

u/Matty_bunns 19d ago

Pfffff what a pathetic, childish response. You do know they’re cutting down the trees there that they say they’re defending, right? You know so little about this and are part of the cesspool of misinformation and anarchy. Do you even live in BC? Are you even Canadian?

1

u/blkid 19d ago

WCT is such a nice trail too due to the trees/forests.

1

u/Opcn 19d ago

100% agree that this is way more complicated than people are making it out to be. Something very similar just to the north in Alaska too. Native corporations (which Alaska has in place of tribes) trying to selectively log their ancestral lands to sell the old growth cedar to pay for things like water sanitation systems, it’s hard to say no to that.

-5

u/MoJoDoJo9 19d ago

As you sit in your house that’s apparently comprised of zero wood

5

u/SurlyNurly 19d ago

Right. We should be homeless and scratching our thoughts in the dirt, in order to participate in conversations about the problems in our society.

-8

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

3

u/letyourmusshang 19d ago

you're a fucking idiot. brainwashed government pencil pusher.

-1

u/MoJoDoJo9 19d ago

Okay captain planet

1

u/gengengis 19d ago

I think if you took a minute to read about the issue, you might change your mind. My initial reaction was similar to yours, but this is not your typical anti-everything protest.

My opinion is that BC generally does a very good job at forest management and stewardship. As you said, we all use and need timber products. And there is an awful lot of timber in BC.

These protests are about a logging operation in an untouched, old-growth forest, of which there are few remaining.

The logging company involved has an old claim to the area. But this is not your typical logging operation to buck out some 4x8s. Here's the logger describing why they want the old-growth trees:

So why harvest old growth trees in the first place?

Teal-Jones says it's because the wood is easier to work with for high-value products.

The tighter the grain the better, and old-growth timber provides that tighter grain, meaning it won’t crack when it is dried out to make specialty products.

“We produce a wide range of products,” said Gardner. “Dimensional lumber, decking, fencing, timbers and even guitar tops. These types of trees are important for products that we do rely on.”

There are 200,000 hectares logged in BC every year. This is a focused protest about an area of 1200 hectares, of which only 200 are part of the logging claim.

It's just one untouched, virgin area, among the last of its sort, that people would like to see protected.

36

u/Tokoyami8711 20d ago

Every forest needs to be protected especially the old growth forests. Everything on the planet is interconnected and interdependent.

2

u/letyourmusshang 19d ago

balance is EVERYTHING.

1

u/ambsdorf825 19d ago

Thanos did nothing wrong

26

u/Deep-Ecologist 20d ago

A large portion of the duties of police officers is protecting capitalistic power structures. This is a great example. You want to protect the destruction of the environment? Well my boss is getting paid from the logging/mining/oil companies so you're gonna have to get maced for that.

49

u/bsmdphdjd 20d ago

Looks like "Canada Nice" doesn't extend to cops.

47

u/stefantalpalaru 20d ago

Looks like "Canada Nice" doesn't extend to cops.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maplewashing

8

u/CosmicCactus42 20d ago

Thanks for this, never knew about any of this stuff

6

u/HaveAtItBub 20d ago

only thing being maple washed should be my pancakes

12

u/pomod 20d ago

It's almost like the public don't want that old growth forest cut down. I saw another sign asking Trudeau how this fits in with his climate and first nations commitments?

1

u/KosmicKanuck 19d ago

No surprise, immediately before the election it is suddenly on their agenda to protect old growth.

189

u/geeves_007 20d ago

Police exist to defend capital. The sooner this is broadly understood, the better.

-26

u/msccust 20d ago

It’s better than defending the party

4

u/Everything_is_Ok99 19d ago

If you're an American, both parties defend capital over people

0

u/msccust 18d ago

Private ownership of capital better serves human welfare than state, community, and collective ownership of capital.

1

u/Everything_is_Ok99 18d ago

Is there any support to this claim?

0

u/msccust 17d ago

Yes. A seminar work in Economics called “The Ownership of Enterprise” by Hausman.

45

u/twohammocks 20d ago

These timelapse satellite images of vancouver island make me sad. https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/ Watch the big hungry clearcut monster eating all the lush green away..

12

u/LafayetteHubbard 20d ago

That takes me to a glacier retreat in Alaska

2

u/Ecstatic_Carpet 19d ago

https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse#v=49.56083,-125.0957,6.753,latLng&t=0&ps=50&bt=19840101&et=20201231&startDwell=0&endDwell=0

1

u/LafayetteHubbard 19d ago

1984 isn’t even a good time to start. Logging was probably worse in the mid 1900s

1

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

1

u/LafayetteHubbard 17d ago

Yeah of course. I was actually trying to look up when logging was at its worse and didn’t find anything definitive in my quick search

-16

u/comfort_bot_1962 20d ago

Don't be sad. Here's a hug!

5

u/VLXS 20d ago

Bad bot

-15

u/comfort_bot_1962 20d ago

Don't be sad. Here's a hug!

5

u/VLXS 20d ago

Bad bot

-13

u/comfort_bot_1962 20d ago

Don't be sad. Here's a hug!

7

u/VLXS 20d ago

Bad bot

-14

u/comfort_bot_1962 20d ago

Don't be sad. Here's a hug!

8

u/TheDuckSideOfTheMoon 20d ago

Bad bot

6

u/DualitySquared 20d ago

Ban this bot.

-15

u/comfort_bot_1962 20d ago

Don't be sad. Here's a hug!

101

u/iSoinic 20d ago

I start to think the police isn't there to protect and serve the people.

17

u/notsohappymeel 20d ago

They're there to protect the capital.

(Another Redditor said that I just wanted to sound smart I'm sorry whoever said it you're the smart one)

36

u/Jenkins007 20d ago

Careful there, you're into the truth

11

u/pucklermuskau 20d ago

our national shame playing out. tragic.

44

u/Zetavu 20d ago

I continue to be amazed that people forget that this is how police have been responding to protests since forever, don't you guys watch the footage from the Chicago democratic convention when police opened firehoses on peaceful protesters, or Ohio state where national guard fired on student protesters and killed 4? If anything, they are much more subdued today, but remember, police are nothing more than government security, their job is to keep the peace, not protect the public, and if you are in their way and don't move, they are going to mess you up.

7

u/mossberg5 20d ago

It was Kent State not Ohio State, both are in Ohio though.

But the point you were making is spot on 👌

4

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

Historical Fun Fact(For Usanians at least):

George Washington utilized mercenary soldiers to put down a group of protesting workers and militiaman when they refused to work without pay.

81

u/silasoulman 20d ago

ACAB only protects $.

4

u/BuyHaunting5996 20d ago

Truth

7

u/Dangerous_Ad7552 20d ago

Heroes of the community. How would we ever survive without the protection they provide?

7

u/Invalid_Ninja 20d ago

When the scum of society are given uniforms and weapons... this is what happens and I fear that will never change

6

u/-HappyToHelp 20d ago

Its an international war crime to use chemical weapons but police use it on natives and theres no consequences. Thank god this is a functioning democracy /s

6

u/spitz81 20d ago

"Police Brutality at Fairy Creek" would be silly enough for Monty Python. But no, it's just a headline in 2021.

38

u/Thatsplumb 20d ago

Don't stand in the way of the wheels of capital, that's terrorism.

4

u/ProphecyRat2 20d ago

Civilization is a Holocaust Machine

6

u/ChuckChuckelson 20d ago

Fuck cops.

6

u/vbcbandr 20d ago

Canadian's probably called officers in America and were like: "how would you handle this so that we come off looking like pieces of shit?"

No tree that is 800 years old should be cut down. Like, wtf, are you smoking? It isn't confusing at all...don't do it.

46

u/KosmicKanuck 20d ago

There's other footage, I assume before this, where some cops are reaching into the line and ripping off masks. Guaranteed far-right proudboys.

-34

u/grade-A-benchwarmer 20d ago

No, these are authoritative people trained to force compliance through any means... In the coming months in the very same province, you will see the exact same measures taken against a right-wing issue(vaccinations and lockdowns) these same cops will be every bit as forcefully to right-wingers as we saw in this video.

The people in power polarize issue to divide the public, its easier to manage

20

u/recyclopath_ 20d ago

You didn't see this in the US on January 6th. You sure did against left leaning protestors earlier that year though.

27

u/KosmicKanuck 20d ago

No, we won't be seeing the exact same measures in those protests because there won't be any masks to rip off lol. The pepper spray and other force, yes we will hopefully see that, but just reaching into a lineup of people and doing absolutely nothing other than tear a few of their masks off? That was not subduing in any way. Nothing changed whatsoever other than the person having a higher possibility of getting sick. Which is of no advantage to the cop. There was no attempt to grab or arrest the people. Straight to the mask and toss it on the ground. Completely unnecessary, dickhead move by someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

2

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

Is that why they helped a murderer walk free and an insurrection into federal buildings?

3

u/KosmicKanuck 19d ago

Wrong country, but same breed of selectively recruited trash.

3

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

I left it intentionally vague since nearly every cop has murdered somebody on the job and wanted to see what they would say in defence of canadian cops.

1

u/grade-A-benchwarmer 19d ago

this is British Columbia Canada, stop viewing everything through an American worldview. You most likely dont understand our dynamics here and the discrimination that took place against indigenous people, as well as Asians(during the construction of our railway system. The cops here are not all "racists", but they are authoritarian

2

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

Cops are cops everywhere.

Note how I didn't say the murderer's name? I'm sure Chantel Moore really appreciates you trying to make canadian cops somehow different and 'nicer'.

3

u/EarthlingReba 20d ago

Hard to watch

4

u/R_Planchette 20d ago

What could be more predictable?

4

u/Environmental_Cry402 20d ago

What. In. The. Fuck.

9

u/thecoffeejesus 20d ago

Fuck every single cop from now until forever I will die on this hill

24

u/Stockholmbarber 20d ago

The common ‘badcopnodonut’ localised but deadly strain of American police appears to have mutated.

This new strain, known now as ‘Donut21’ appears to be a highly contagious variant of the same family and instances have now been spotted appearing in neighbouring country Canada.

Officials have yet to comment

7

u/Jastook 20d ago

Is this Canada? Woooooah, i thought you guys had a decent state, this is dystopian as fuck.

-10

u/Matty_bunns 20d ago

This video is highly manipulated and lacks critical context. On purpose. What these morons don’t show you is the officer that was assaulted and knocked unconscious before they sprayed to regain a safe perimeter to tend to the officer. He was medically evacuated out to hospital. The escalation has always been by the protesters, who are illegally there and defying court orders. The RCMP are simply upholding those orders. You’re being fed a false narrative by these so called environmentalists that makes you feel anger and hate toward what is standing in their way. Don’t buy into this. There is much more to this story than what the OP and eco-terrorists want you to know.

4

u/[deleted] 19d ago edited 7d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Matty_bunns 19d ago

Normally, entertaining that discussion would be beneficial to understanding someone’s point of view. But, when a group blatantly ignores court injunctions to leave the first nations territorial land, discredit the authority of the Pacheedaht peoples, manipulate media and lie to garner public support, instigate and provoke police officers to the point of officers being assaulted then gaslighting… the list goes on and resembles acts of eco-terrorism. They don’t deserve to be heard any more. Yes, their actions can cause people to feel negatively. They deserve prison and shame, nothing more.

2

u/[deleted] 19d ago edited 7d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Matty_bunns 19d ago

No I don’t. What is actually being ignored is the law, the wishes and requests of the First Nations people and the truth by these activists. Even after breaking the law and court injunctions, the activists actually got what they initially demanded. Did they leave? No. They began demanding more and inciting violence to achieve that goal.

1

u/Akari133 19d ago

Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones has repeatedly invited protestors and witnesses onto his family's traditional (non-reserve, so elected council does not have jurisdiction over the land, see: Wetsu'wet'en protests) lands and his niece(?) Whale-Tail Jones currently swings under a bridge on their unceeded familial lands trying to stop industry from moving forward through Camp LandBack.

For non-Canadian onlookers: this is an incredibly common story for the First Nations of these lands; the elected council system was specifically implemented to disrupt our traditional governance systems, it was only given jurisdiction in Canadian law over specifically set aside 'reserve' territories (that for a long time FN people were not allowed to leave without written permission from the Indian Agent), and is a divide-and-conquer strategy. My own nation faced this down with the Klabona Keepers who ran (sat?) our last elected president out of town for selling salmon spawning grounds to Royal Dutch Shell for open bed coal pit mining. If you're interested in learning more about the colonial nature of the elected chief & council system, Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia should be your starting point.

3

u/fluentinimagery 20d ago

Keep that shit up… watch what happens.

5

u/Excellent-Doubt-9552 20d ago

In America if you protest for the environment you’re a terrorist. I dare you to film a farm… see what happens.

10

u/clorox2 20d ago

I smell bacon.

19

u/maybemason88 20d ago

Pigs dont deserve that comparison.

5

u/Waitingfor131 20d ago

ACAB

2

u/leftist_kuriboh 19d ago

A 🐷 is as a 🐷 does

2

u/letyourmusshang 19d ago

so how do we stop this because obviously doing it peacefully isn't doing a whole lot. It sure isn't below me or many of you to do something violently. I'm not talking inflicting any harm to human life, but let's mobilize a group to absolutely fucking destroy all equipment and inventory. I wanna show the gov that the real terrorists in this country are those acting on behalf of the environment because this is disgusting and it fucking enrages me to no end.

2

u/JimmiferChrist 19d ago

Peaceful protests will never work when the opposition is violent. Bring protection to your protests.

7

u/Lawls91 20d ago

Fucking pigs, just the foot soldiers of capital. ACAB

3

u/markdmac 20d ago

I have to wonder why a crowd that size allows for cops like this to do this. That crowd could have and should have disarmed the cops and sent them running. I am not condoning any violent retribution, but they should have been sent running.

2

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

If that happens, other cops in the backline get to open fire with lethal rounds.

So IF it happens, it's a tipping point between quiet submission and the beginning of a revolt or a revolution. Most people won't make that kind of long-term decision without knowing they have the support of those around them.

4

u/kombinacja 20d ago

Land Back

7

u/travis01564 20d ago

The era of peaceful protests needs to end. They want violence we should give it to them. War crime for war crime style. They like pepper spray? I like chlorine gas.

6

u/CPM17 20d ago

Chlorine gas is a good way to kill yourself if the wind changes direction the wrong way

11

u/real_bk3k 20d ago

I wouldn't go that far, and luckily you don't need to. The problem isn't peacefully protesting, but the false notion that " peaceful" must equal "defenseless". My strong stance in against gun control (civilian disarmament) originates from me watching what happened to the unarmed Occupy Wall Street movement and the heavily armed open carrying Tea Party protests. OWS got their teeth kicked in. But no one wants to start a fight with an armed mob. No officers want to risk dying themselves. But unarmed (defenseless) protestors before police are like dangling a sheep before wolves.

Many times since this was proved. Various European protests. More US protests like Starving Rock. But the armed protest all stay peaceful. Not only predominantly white ones either. In the same summer of 2020 where protests against police brutality where met with extreme police brutality, there where completely peaceful prominently black protests - they marched while openly carrying their guns.

And that's the answer. Well ORGANIZED, well armed, well prepared protests. Don't start anything, but if they do then you finish it. But they won't. Bullies don't like victims that can fight back.

5

u/CosmicCactus42 20d ago

This sounds just like the Trumpers saying the same thing

4

u/drevolut1on 20d ago

Fucking chlorine gas, are you serious?

Two wrongs do not make a right. And chlorine gas is definitely a worse wrong than mace. Holy fuck.

If you had any idea what it did to the human body, you would not be saying that. I've worked around and with chlorine. Don't fuck with it.

None of this is to justify or somehow lessen the atrocity being committed against protesters here -- only to point out the insanity of this argument.

0

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

2

u/drevolut1on 20d ago

You're advocating for the lethal gassing of people. A war crime.

Gas doesn't discriminate. It could just as easily blow back over protesters.

-3

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

1

u/drevolut1on 20d ago

Again, two wrongs don't make a right. Even if it did, a gas mask may not even be enough to protect you - chlorine gas is denser than air, so you could still suffocate with one on and no oxygen supply.

And do you not anticipate the insane escalation any police or military entity would have in response the use of gas against them? It would escalate into a bloodbath, and it isn't the protesters winning that fight, let me tell you.

You'd also turn any hope of public sympathy against your cause. You'd crater potential funding and any actual hope of achieving your goal to save the trees -- and for what? A few dead cops?

I am outraged, but I'm not an idiot. This take is pure idiocy.

-1

u/MayTagYoureIt 20d ago

It's not about tit for tat, it's about achieving the ends. If two wrongs save the old growth, gas 'em.

1

u/Fireplay5 19d ago

And everyone else in the immediate area, the animals, the trees, the entire region.

You won't save shit and will be rightfully denounced as a terrorist with delusions of glory.

2

u/pucklermuskau 20d ago

i'm not sure what your end game is.

2

u/ProphecyRat2 20d ago

Surviving

5

u/svencle 20d ago

Capitalism is the best!

2

u/revenant925 20d ago

Bold title op.

-1

u/Brenvt19 20d ago

Well thats why peaceful protests are worthless. Peace has failed and so has reform.

4

u/pomod 20d ago edited 20d ago

That's not true; but more people need to be engaged. Cops actually brutalize protesters to discourage other protesters from turning out; if they can provoke a reaction from the protesters the better to spin it to further justify their violence and undermines the legitimacy of the cause. We see this all the time. Consider how Antifa have played into the rights propaganda war against social justice.

0

u/CaptGatoroo 20d ago

Wait so this was Canadian Cops? I thought this kinda thing only happens in America

2

u/Akari133 19d ago

There's a reason everyone calls us America's little hat/America 2.0/etc, and this is it. The RCMP were literally created to brutalize Indigenous folx & drag Indigenous kids to assimilation camps, and this is just the modern expression of that old intent to wipe out the Indians. When you look at those Old Growth forests, remember that's an Indigenous kitchen/supermarket, and it was deliberately shaped to be maximally productive by long-dead ancestors.

1

u/CaptGatoroo 18d ago

Woa. I had no idea. Who do you even approach for your rights to protest there?

-5

u/Interesting_Ant2134 20d ago

I believe you're colonially known is an asshole

1

u/vinnievintage2020 20d ago

Fucking peaceful protesters…

You’re never going to get anything accomplished until you do it by force.

1

u/Therisingdawn2021 20d ago

Everything has to go before we realise it‘s too late to survive in the future. But keep on making babies and let it be the middle point of your small existence.

-17

u/Alden_Is_Happy 20d ago

Only good cop is a dead one

-3

u/PA_limestoner 20d ago

Canadians are so polite. Everyone probably apologized to each other after this. I’m sure of it.

-1

u/MrxDerp 20d ago

Lol I can't believe some people can't detect sarcasm

-2

u/Kind-Character7342 20d ago

This is such BS. The police on Vancouver Island are over all an excellent group. I have zero personal affiliation. I live here. And it's called Vancouver Island. That's it. That's the name.

What's next, I have to rename myself? Because it's offensive to someone somewhere.

0

u/JunkFace 20d ago

Talk about Bang for your buck with that can of mace…

-4

u/benny90246 20d ago

Or they could have just left....

-1

u/sporabolic 19d ago

colonially known as...

groan

This is why you aren't taken seriously by normal people

-1

u/Stuart517 19d ago

Colonially...lol

1

u/OptimusTrajan 20d ago

All Cats Are Beautiful

1

u/_eyne 20d ago

Wow looks like the USA...

1

u/AlmoBlue 20d ago

Vindication will be bitter sweet in the end.

1

u/Crumbdizzle 19d ago

Colonially or Colloquially?

1

u/t_mall 19d ago

Finally this is getting traction out in the world.

1

u/maddasher 19d ago

Honestly surprised to see this in Canada. On the other hand, in the US this could have been considered gentle.

1

u/oryus21 19d ago

The deforestation is and has caused the hotter climate.

1

u/Singlehusband7 19d ago

I’ll die for the trees 🌳 🌲

1

u/alexandre1981 19d ago

Pretty soon it’s gonna be very difficult to tell Americans and Canadians apart.

1

u/malzel_tv 3d ago

Sympa

-20

u/stefantalpalaru 20d ago

Why post that here? Do you think the noble savage is part of the fauna, or something?

4

u/awkwardrodeo585 20d ago

Noble savage? Dafuq

4

u/lukekarasa 20d ago

I think the "colonially known" term is what they're referring to

5

u/revenant925 20d ago

Which is odd, cause that is...pretty unquestionable?

0

u/lukekarasa 19d ago edited 19d ago

Referring to it as "colonially known" is unquestionable?

I get the point being made about native heritage but I also find it a bit ridiculous. Are we going to rename every place in the United States & Canada now? I feel like there are better ways we can put energy into addressing these impoverished native American communities

1

u/stefantalpalaru 20d ago

Noble savage?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

-1

u/awkwardrodeo585 20d ago

Some comments don’t exactly come across with the sense the poster meant. I understand now my bad, thanks for the wiki reply goon. Smooches.

0

u/stefantalpalaru 20d ago

Some comments don’t exactly come across with the sense the poster meant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

-1

u/awkwardrodeo585 20d ago

No please go on, I have nothing to do anyway ya goon.

1

u/stefantalpalaru 20d ago

I have nothing to do anyway

Big surprise there, Karen. How's your Etsy store?

0

u/awkwardrodeo585 20d ago

Karen? Really? Slow your roll there scooter, I’m as much a Karen as you are a basement dwelling ass clown. But by all means tell me more about how I wanna complain to a manager over my misinterpretation of your comment? Go on, THEN I’ll get the manager.

-5

u/Matty_bunns 20d ago

This video is Absolute BS! They sprayed them because the protestors attacked and pushed an officer over and knocked him unconscious! The police immediately needed to set up a perimeter to protect the downed officer, who was med-evacd to hospital. OP and all those who are trying to leave this critical context out are there real problem. Your efforts to manipulate people with strategically placed cameras and instigation are deplorable. You’re disgusting and deserve zero sympathy. I hope you and your cause are labeled as domestic terrorists.

2

u/Akari133 19d ago

https://www.instagram.com/p/CS2naMTBxo4

That didn't look like a push to me.

-12

u/lumberjackoff1 20d ago

Good. Bums.

-13

u/rds6969 20d ago

Lol

-9

u/iceicebeavis 20d ago

Lol

-7

u/Drew10358 20d ago

Deserved it

-5

u/MoJoDoJo9 19d ago

Lol