TORONTO -- Four people have been charged in connection with a blockade that erected along the rail tracks in Hamilton earlier this week.
On Monday, about 30 people gathered near the Bayview Junction in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en blockades in British Columbia.
The protest prevented GO Trains from moving through the area, cancelling service between Aldershot and Hamilton along the Lakeshore West GO Line.
Police served the protesters an injunction the following day and ordered them to leave the area. The group remained on the tracks until about 5:15 p.m. the next day, at which point they left the area in two large groups.
In a news release issued on Thursday, police said that officers “observed two fires on the railway lines and the tracks were also covered with ropes and signage.”
Police said that following an investigation three people were taken into custody on Wednesday and another individual turned herself in on Thursday morning.
Hamilton residents Barry Conway, 34, Woodrow Fraser-Boychuk, 25, Patricia Mills, 35, and Erin Warner, 38, each face mischief charges for damage to property and interfering with the lawful use of property.
Hamilton Police respect everyone’s right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” police said in the news release. “The primary goal during the protest was to preserve peace and maintain a safe environment for everyone. Police used discretion to balance the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly while also upholding the law.”
The blockade in Hamilton is one of numerous protests being held across the country organized in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, who argue they have not provided their consent for a pipeline to be built through their territory in northern B.C.
After demonstrators left Hamilton, another blockade formed on the tracks east of Kipling GO Station. Service was completely suspended along GO Transit’s Milton line.
Several people were arrested at the demonstration.
