Organizers of an old-growth logging protest say at least five people blocking the northbound lanes of Douglas Street at Johnson Street in Victoria this afternoon were removed by police.
Some were carried into police vehicles while others walked, said Abbie Sherwood, of the group Save Old Growth.
Just before 5 p.m. there remained one person blocking the road, Sherwood said.
Victoria police officers are on scene and are asking people to avoid the area. A line of police tape was set up across the northbound and southbound lanes of Douglas Street.
One of the people willing to be arrested uses a wheelchair, and Sherwood said an officer put her foot in the spokes of the chair’s wheels to prevent the person from joining those risking arrest.
Activists with Save Old Growth had said they planned to demonstrate along and “possibly block” part of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria this afternoon as part of an ongoing protest against old-growth logging in B.C.
As of 3:50 p.m., the group was crossing the street with the lights but not blocking traffic. By 4 p.m., the northbound lanes had been blocked by protesters.
Around 4:15, police closed the southbound lanes as well.
The group has carried out protests in Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver over the last three weeks, each time resulting in arrests.
Last Wednesday, five people were arrested at Douglas Street and Tolmie Avenue, near Mayfair mall on the border of Victoria and Saanich. That followed a Monday protest in Nanaimo at which three arrests were made.
Similar protests were held in both cities the previous week as well.
Save Old Growth has said it will continue to hold non-violent blockades along the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Revelstoke on an escalating basis all month “or until the government ceases the logging of old growth in British Columbia.”
