Thread by @Lidsville

THREAD: Brutal account of police violence & more from a land defender at #FairyCreek. He has bruised ribs & torn muscles & tendons, & says police left people in nearly closed paddywagons in 37C direct sun for hours. This is on you, @jjhorgan & @mikefarnworthbc. #oldgrowth #bcpoli

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."I am absolutely gutted this morning. My arrest and the arrests I witnessed on Tuesday were some of the most brutal I have seen or experienced in over 30 years of civil disobedience. I have been tuned up by the cops before but, never that bad simply for saying no.." #FairyCreek

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."My body hurts in places I had forgotten that I had, and I can't stop crying every time I see another kid dragged through the dirt for standing up for something they believe in..." #FairyCreek #oldgrowth #bcpoli #policeviolence

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc ..[RCMP] were wearing lead shot-weighted gloves & when shielded from the view of cameras they punched at our hands & elbows in order to make us let go of each other. They finally pulled us apart & threw me to the ground with 3 cops kneeling on me.." #FairyCreek

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."my right arm pinned beneath me in the dirt and a pig inches from my face screaming stop resisting, and applying a pain compliance wrist lock on my left arm all the while shouting at me to give them my arm..." #FairyCreek #PoliceBrutality

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .. "I'm sure someday I will be able to laugh at the absurdity of that situation... But it's not going to be today. Today, as I said... I am gutted. I can't sleep and I jump at the slightest noise. I know what it is..." #FairyCreek

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc "It's a lifetime of violent trauma & petty indignities piled one Atop The Other like some kind of crazy toxic PTSD Tower. I feel absolutely f'g crushed by the weight of it all. But the worst of all is the increasingly inescapable conclusion that Tues was the beginning of the end"

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."All of that sacrifice for nothing. If we had had 10% of the people who front the Rainforest Flying Squad on their social media show up & just lie down on the ground they never could have stopped us..We waited but you never came and now I feel as though we've lost our chance.."

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."I front the causes and do the work I feel called to because I'm trying to be a better person, I want to undo some of the damage I've done but, I'm tired... So f'g tired and I need your help. In the simplest possible terms I want you to care..." #FairyCreek #bcpoli #oldgrowth

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."In the simplest possible terms I want you to care I don't give a f*** what it is you care about, I just want you to care about something. I want you to sacrifice for it, I want you to put your time and money and maybe...even your personal safety towards it..." #FairyCreek

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."Your good works and your children are the only meaningful legacy you're ever going to have. And for some of you it's far past time to grow up and realize this truth..." #ClimateEmergency #FairyCreek #Justice #oldgrowth

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc .."I'm sad, disappointed & angry & also inspired by The Bravery & dedication of the youth... I'm not hopeful but I will be back if only to say no one more time before it's all gone." /

That was verbatim.

So, what now will you do?
#bcpoli #FairyCreek

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc ..One thing I will add: despite the despair of this writer today, he will go back to #FairyCreek & so will many others. Will you? Youth were trenching in Fairy Creek again at 9 pm last night. This is not stopping. This bravery & relentlessness, one year in, is awe-inspiring.

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc And if you want to understand why people are fighting this Amazon-level deforestation and the loss of the old growth, as well as the connection of this brutal forestry to the wildfires sweeping the province, read this. focusonvictoria.ca/forests/90/

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc Please answer to the police violence described above, @BCRCMP @mikefarnworthbc @Dave_Eby. Now. #bcpoli

And why are RCMP doing the bidding of Teal Jones, which now wants to put its own gates on our public roads? Answer this, Eby. You too, @KatrineConroy.

@jjhorgan @mikefarnworthbc @BCRCMP @Dave_Eby @KatrineConroy One last remark from this land defender about how forests are keeping the environment cool and wet: "it's also about the big trees and realizing their cooling effect on the climate, it's... wet and cold up there" #FairyCreek