Vancouver Police and Extinction Rebellion protesters met up again today, this time near Lions Gate Bridge.
The climate action group, made up of a couple of dozen activists, marched from Devonian Harbour Park, adjacent to Stanley Park, down West Georgia Street down the sidewalk along the side of the street.
As they approached the actual span of Lions Gate Bridge Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers blocked them and blocked one side of the road (where the protesters were). The VPD had dozens of officers on site.
Around 3 p.m. police detained a handful of people. Shouts from the crowd called the police action "bullshit" as others questioned whether they could be arrested while staying on the pedestrian portion of the roadway. One woman appeared to claim to be injured and remained on the ground until they cut the wires in the pedestrian fence to transport her to a police van.
The group was then urged south along the sidewalk toward a pedestrian overpass where climate protesters had hung a banner and watched from above. Police cleared the pedestrian bridge and continued to push the group south, using bicycles as the group began to spread out a bit.
On Facebook, Extinction Rebellion Vancouver writes five people were "unjustly arrested by police." They state they were seated on the sidewalk but were told they would be arrested for blocking a highway. Much of the interaction was live-streamed on Facebook from inside the group.
The protest was part of the group's 'Spring Rebellion,' a series of protests starting May 1. On Saturday they blocked a downtown intersection; on Sunday they blocked the Granville Street Bridge.
