Six people were arrested Sunday for violation of the City of Maple Ridge’s court injunction order for Anita Place Tent City, including one man who barricaded himself inside a wooden structure.
Police and bylaws set up a barricade around Anita Place Tent City on Saturday and residents were asked for identification to be put on a list for housing, while the fire department enforced safety regulations imposed by a court order.
Meanwhile, electricity to the camp and heat to its warming tent were cut off Friday, when it snowed, and remained so on Saturday, while heat sources were removed.
Police continued their keep-the-peace duties Sunday during enforcement of the B.C. Supreme Court injunction order, which earlier this month gave the city authority to address fire safety issues in the camp on 223rd Street.
— Against Displacement (@stopdisplacemnt) February 24, 2019
“As always, the primary concerns of police are public safety, police officer safety, and the right to peaceful, lawful and safe protests within the terms set by the B.C. Supreme Court in the injunction,” said Sgt. Brenda Gresiuk.
The B.C. Supreme Court has acknowledged the RCMP’s discretion with respect to enforcing the injunction and police may take enforcement action on a case-by-case basis if there are criminal activities or reports of individuals violating the court-ordered injunction.”
Six people were arrested Sunday for violation of the injunction and other criminal code offences.
Three will be appearing Monday in B.C. Supreme Court for violation of the injunction order. Three others will be appearing on various alleged Criminal Code offences.
Hauling listen out – carrying them and threatening to “drag” them “through needles” on the ground pic.twitter.com/Pvv9xxi5mm
— Against Displacement (@stopdisplacemnt) February 24, 2019
“The police keep-the-peace duties ensure the safety of everyone involved, which include the protesters, police officers, area residents, motorists, media, and City of Maple Ridge Bylaws and fire department employees,” Gresiuk added.
“Police do have common law powers to create a safe operational exclusion zone to ensure public safety and police officer safety, similar to a traffic accident scene or search warrant where the police limit public access. This safe operational exclusionary zone is as small and brief as possible based on security and safety needs with a focus of allowing a safe and orderly working space for the implementation of the court’s order. This is different from the ‘clean-up and return’ full clearing order that the Supreme Court discussed in the court’s decision.”
One Anita Place Tent City resident barricaded himself inside his wooden shelter Sunday morning, refusing to allow entrance to the fire department, police or bylaws who are at the camp enforcing safety regulations imposed by a court order.
Dwayne Martin, one of the original camp residents, was adamant that nobody was going to enter his “house.”
He was later arrested, along with Ivan Drury and Listen Chen, both with the Alliance Against Displacement.
Chen and two others had chained themselves to a ladder outside of Martin’s wooden structure as fire officials and police attempted to take down the barricade.
The city had said firefighters were unable to gain entry to a wooden structure and reported a violation of the court order to the RCMP, who dealt with the situation.
Inspections of tents and structures on the site is to continue Monday. The work will include debris scattered around the site, the proximity of tents and structures to the fence, and to each other, in order to bring the site in compliance with the court order.
On Friday, when the fire department arrived at the site, the electrical service panel for the camp was exposed to the elements and the electrical connections were tampered with, creating a significant life safety risk, according to the city.
In addition to the electrical panel tampering, the fire department noticed the smell of propane in the area.
The propane supplier arrived on site and noted that this was not the first time that the tanks had been tampered with and removed them from the site, according to the city, which did not request such action.
A significant number of propane tanks, patio heaters and gas-powered generators were found and removed from the site, according to the city, along with a chain saw and gas lawn mower, and disposed of.
