Climate Strike Canada member Emma Lin holds up a sign in protest of revelations that Canadian security forces wanted to train snipers on Indigenous protesters. (Image: Climate Strike Canada/Twitter)
Dec 21, 2019
Revelations from The Guardian's reporting Friday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police wanted snipers to train their weapons on Indigenous water protectors resisting the construction of a natural gas pipeline in unceded Wet'suwet'en territory sparked outrage across the country and led to the worldwide deployment of a hashtag, #WouldYouShootMeToo, from activists in solidarity with the First Nations people.
Climate Strike Canada member Emma Lin was the first to combine the hashtag with a photo of herself holding up a sign with the words on it, sparking a movement of young activists doing the same worldwide.
\u201c#wouldyoushootmetoo @RCMP\u201d— Climate Strike Canada (@Climate Strike Canada) 1576950823
"It's time to hold the RCMP and the Canadian government accountable for their racism," tweeted Ontario-based activist Rayne Fisher-Quann.
Other youth climate advocates across the country and the globe joined in, holding up signs asking the RCMP if they too would be targets were they demonstrating for climate.
\u201cSolidarit\u00e4t mit Wet'suwet'en @Gidimten \u270a\n\n#WouldYouShootMeToo\n\nhttps://t.co/nlszLGwdwf\u201d— Fiona (@Fiona) 1577023688
\u201cSolidarity now. Solidarity always. \u270a\nWe, student strikers, are praised for our activism while Indigenous Land Defenders are threatened with lethal force. The RCMP is working as merceries to secure profits for @CoastalGasLink at the cost of our futures. #WouldYouShootMeToo?\u201d— Climate Strike Canada (@Climate Strike Canada) 1576969176
\u201cHow far is #Canada willing to go to protect the billionaires who run the oil and gas industry? #wouldyoushootmetoo is a campaign by @canada_strike to show solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land defenders who are fighting all of us.\u201d— p a y t o n (@p a y t o n) 1576952195
According toThe Guardian, the RCMP's determination to break the protesters seemed unhindered by concerns for life and safety of demonstrators:
Notes from a strategy session for a militarized raid on ancestral lands of the Wet'suwet'en nation show that commanders of Canada's national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), argued that "lethal overwatch is req'd"--a term for deploying snipers.
The RCMP commanders also instructed officers to "use as much violence toward the gate as you want" ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet'suwet'en people to control access to their territories and stop construction of the proposed 670km (416-mile) Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL).
In a separate document, an RCMP officer states that arrests would be necessary for "sterilizing the site."
In a statement, Gidimt'en spokesperson Sleydo', also known by the name Molly Wickham, said that the conflict was "an issue of rights and title with our sovereign nation, and RCMP are acting as mercenaries for industry."
"With terminology like 'lethal overwatch', 'sterilize the site', and the threat of child welfare removing our children from their homes and territory, we see the extent to which the provincial and federal governments are willing to advance the destruction of our lands and families for profit," said Sleydo'. "The state has always removed our people from our lands to ensure control over the resources. This has never changed."
\u201cMedia Statement re: The Gaurdian article. For media backgrounder please go to: https://t.co/vaxGxC4Adj\u201d— Gidimt\u2019en Checkpoint (@Gidimt\u2019en Checkpoint) 1576898706
As Common Dreams reported Friday, the news that RCMP officers wanted snipers to aid the breaking of the Gidimt'en checkpoint blockade by Indigenous activists fighting the TransCanada-built pipeline was met with outrage from around the globe.
That outrage continued through the weekend and begot the #WouldYouShootMeToo hashtag.
The fight continues, said Sleydo'.
"Here we are, nearly 2020, and we are still being threatened with violence, death, and the removal of our children for simply existing on our lands and following our laws," Sleydo' said.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Revelations from The Guardian's reporting Friday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police wanted snipers to train their weapons on Indigenous water protectors resisting the construction of a natural gas pipeline in unceded Wet'suwet'en territory sparked outrage across the country and led to the worldwide deployment of a hashtag, #WouldYouShootMeToo, from activists in solidarity with the First Nations people.
Climate Strike Canada member Emma Lin was the first to combine the hashtag with a photo of herself holding up a sign with the words on it, sparking a movement of young activists doing the same worldwide.
\u201c#wouldyoushootmetoo @RCMP\u201d— Climate Strike Canada (@Climate Strike Canada) 1576950823
"It's time to hold the RCMP and the Canadian government accountable for their racism," tweeted Ontario-based activist Rayne Fisher-Quann.
Other youth climate advocates across the country and the globe joined in, holding up signs asking the RCMP if they too would be targets were they demonstrating for climate.
\u201cSolidarit\u00e4t mit Wet'suwet'en @Gidimten \u270a\n\n#WouldYouShootMeToo\n\nhttps://t.co/nlszLGwdwf\u201d— Fiona (@Fiona) 1577023688
\u201cSolidarity now. Solidarity always. \u270a\nWe, student strikers, are praised for our activism while Indigenous Land Defenders are threatened with lethal force. The RCMP is working as merceries to secure profits for @CoastalGasLink at the cost of our futures. #WouldYouShootMeToo?\u201d— Climate Strike Canada (@Climate Strike Canada) 1576969176
\u201cHow far is #Canada willing to go to protect the billionaires who run the oil and gas industry? #wouldyoushootmetoo is a campaign by @canada_strike to show solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land defenders who are fighting all of us.\u201d— p a y t o n (@p a y t o n) 1576952195
According toThe Guardian, the RCMP's determination to break the protesters seemed unhindered by concerns for life and safety of demonstrators:
Notes from a strategy session for a militarized raid on ancestral lands of the Wet'suwet'en nation show that commanders of Canada's national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), argued that "lethal overwatch is req'd"--a term for deploying snipers.
The RCMP commanders also instructed officers to "use as much violence toward the gate as you want" ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet'suwet'en people to control access to their territories and stop construction of the proposed 670km (416-mile) Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL).
In a separate document, an RCMP officer states that arrests would be necessary for "sterilizing the site."
In a statement, Gidimt'en spokesperson Sleydo', also known by the name Molly Wickham, said that the conflict was "an issue of rights and title with our sovereign nation, and RCMP are acting as mercenaries for industry."
"With terminology like 'lethal overwatch', 'sterilize the site', and the threat of child welfare removing our children from their homes and territory, we see the extent to which the provincial and federal governments are willing to advance the destruction of our lands and families for profit," said Sleydo'. "The state has always removed our people from our lands to ensure control over the resources. This has never changed."
\u201cMedia Statement re: The Gaurdian article. For media backgrounder please go to: https://t.co/vaxGxC4Adj\u201d— Gidimt\u2019en Checkpoint (@Gidimt\u2019en Checkpoint) 1576898706
As Common Dreams reported Friday, the news that RCMP officers wanted snipers to aid the breaking of the Gidimt'en checkpoint blockade by Indigenous activists fighting the TransCanada-built pipeline was met with outrage from around the globe.
That outrage continued through the weekend and begot the #WouldYouShootMeToo hashtag.
The fight continues, said Sleydo'.
"Here we are, nearly 2020, and we are still being threatened with violence, death, and the removal of our children for simply existing on our lands and following our laws," Sleydo' said.
Revelations from The Guardian's reporting Friday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police wanted snipers to train their weapons on Indigenous water protectors resisting the construction of a natural gas pipeline in unceded Wet'suwet'en territory sparked outrage across the country and led to the worldwide deployment of a hashtag, #WouldYouShootMeToo, from activists in solidarity with the First Nations people.
Climate Strike Canada member Emma Lin was the first to combine the hashtag with a photo of herself holding up a sign with the words on it, sparking a movement of young activists doing the same worldwide.
\u201c#wouldyoushootmetoo @RCMP\u201d— Climate Strike Canada (@Climate Strike Canada) 1576950823
"It's time to hold the RCMP and the Canadian government accountable for their racism," tweeted Ontario-based activist Rayne Fisher-Quann.
Other youth climate advocates across the country and the globe joined in, holding up signs asking the RCMP if they too would be targets were they demonstrating for climate.
\u201cSolidarit\u00e4t mit Wet'suwet'en @Gidimten \u270a\n\n#WouldYouShootMeToo\n\nhttps://t.co/nlszLGwdwf\u201d— Fiona (@Fiona) 1577023688
\u201cSolidarity now. Solidarity always. \u270a\nWe, student strikers, are praised for our activism while Indigenous Land Defenders are threatened with lethal force. The RCMP is working as merceries to secure profits for @CoastalGasLink at the cost of our futures. #WouldYouShootMeToo?\u201d— Climate Strike Canada (@Climate Strike Canada) 1576969176
\u201cHow far is #Canada willing to go to protect the billionaires who run the oil and gas industry? #wouldyoushootmetoo is a campaign by @canada_strike to show solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land defenders who are fighting all of us.\u201d— p a y t o n (@p a y t o n) 1576952195
According toThe Guardian, the RCMP's determination to break the protesters seemed unhindered by concerns for life and safety of demonstrators:
Notes from a strategy session for a militarized raid on ancestral lands of the Wet'suwet'en nation show that commanders of Canada's national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), argued that "lethal overwatch is req'd"--a term for deploying snipers.
The RCMP commanders also instructed officers to "use as much violence toward the gate as you want" ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet'suwet'en people to control access to their territories and stop construction of the proposed 670km (416-mile) Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL).
In a separate document, an RCMP officer states that arrests would be necessary for "sterilizing the site."
In a statement, Gidimt'en spokesperson Sleydo', also known by the name Molly Wickham, said that the conflict was "an issue of rights and title with our sovereign nation, and RCMP are acting as mercenaries for industry."
"With terminology like 'lethal overwatch', 'sterilize the site', and the threat of child welfare removing our children from their homes and territory, we see the extent to which the provincial and federal governments are willing to advance the destruction of our lands and families for profit," said Sleydo'. "The state has always removed our people from our lands to ensure control over the resources. This has never changed."
\u201cMedia Statement re: The Gaurdian article. For media backgrounder please go to: https://t.co/vaxGxC4Adj\u201d— Gidimt\u2019en Checkpoint (@Gidimt\u2019en Checkpoint) 1576898706
As Common Dreams reported Friday, the news that RCMP officers wanted snipers to aid the breaking of the Gidimt'en checkpoint blockade by Indigenous activists fighting the TransCanada-built pipeline was met with outrage from around the globe.
That outrage continued through the weekend and begot the #WouldYouShootMeToo hashtag.
The fight continues, said Sleydo'.
"Here we are, nearly 2020, and we are still being threatened with violence, death, and the removal of our children for simply existing on our lands and following our laws," Sleydo' said.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.