Downtown Seattle Rail Lines Blocked in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders
Mass Protests Currently Erupting Across Canada, Spreading Globally
SEATTLE, WA – Today, on Sunday, February 16, dozens of people in downtown Seattle blockaded the rail lines to show support for Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs who evicted Coastal Gas Link Pipeline workers from their territory in early January.
Starting on February 7th, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police used assault rifles, snipers, dogs, sound cannons and helicopters to carry out a four-day militarized police raid to remove peaceful Indigenous land defenders from their homes on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory.
The removal of Indigenous people from their homes has sparked mass protests throughout Canada. Indigenous peoples and allies are gathering at government buildings throughout the country, blockading the offices of Coastal GasLink and its financial backers, and shutting down ports, streets, bridges, and rail lines in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. These actions, particularly those targeting the railways, are having a huge impact, with large portions of the Canadian rail network shut down.
“It is important these actions take place. They help to bring attention to the atrocities that these fossil fuel companies are inflicting against Mother Earth and vulnerable communities,” said Rachel Heaton, member of the Muckleshoot Tribe and founder of Mazaska Talks. “We stand with Wet’suwet’en People in this fight against these greedy corporations and the Canadian government, and we uplift them, because their fight is our fight.”