Border agents pepper-spray Arizona border ‘tree sit’ protesters, arrest activist who locked self to truck

Activists trying to protect a centuries-old cottonwood in the path of border wall construction in Southern Arizona stopped work again Wednesday, after one person locked themselves to a construction vehicle and another remained in the tree.

Border Patrol agents used pepper-spray on the protesters Wednesday evening, while the woman was tethered to a gravel hauling truck used in border wall construction.

That marked the third day the site, dubbed “Camp O:Shad” by the activists, has been raided by Border Patrol agents.

An activist had spent nearly seven hours locked to a gravel hauler used in construction Wednesday evening, and was still locked to it after 9 p.m. when BP agents attempted to take her into custody while using what appeared to be tear gas on surrounding protesters. It took agents about 30 minutes to saw through the device she used to lock herself to the vehicle before she was driven away from the site in a white Border Patrol pickup truck around 10:30 p.m.

Other protesters could be heard on a live stream of the incident, calling “We love you” to her throughout the evening.

Minutes earlier, the activists said, agents started firing pepper balls while pushing the hauler with the person still locked to it. Demonstrators said agents also threatened to take her “to the middle of nowhere where no one can hear you scream.”

Activists said they called 911 Wednesday evening and asked for medical help. Patagonia Fire Department personnel responded, but were “turned away” by Border Patrol officials.

The group has camped at a property in the small hamlet of Lochiel, Ariz., since late July in an effort to prevent a small grove of Frémont cottonwood trees, each estimated to be about 200 years old, from being demolished in border wall construction.

Construction crews this summer razed three of four in a cluster on the side on the United States side of the border. The final one, which the group named “Grandmother,” was knocked down on Monday, the first day of the raid.

The group on Tuesday turned its efforts towards the final tree in the path of construction — located on the Mexican side in La Noria, Sonora — which they call “Abuela.” An activist climbed into that last cottonwood early that morning.

The construction of 27 miles of double-border wall through the San Rafael Valley, south of Tucson, is part of a $334 million contract under U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Demonstrators said, as of Wednesday evening, the final tree was still standing and the person sitting in its branches was still there, though construction crews tried to “cut off material support” to them.

Protesters on Wednesday said agents “tortured” the person attached to the gravel hauler around 3:30 p.m. by twisting her limbs and pushing on her body’s pressure points while they pepper-sprayed people nearby.

Around 5 p.m., a livestream by the group on the @tierralibre_noborders account showed agents placing a reflective emergency blanket over the locked-down protester.

At several points, the truck the person was tethered to turned on and off again, as protesters shouted at agents to keep the vehicle off, concerned that the exhaust fumes could overheat or suffocate the activist.

Each time Border Patrol agents came into Camp O:Shad, protesters say, they failed to show any warrants. Many wore masks and refused to give their badge numbers, they said.

As of Tuesday, the group said, at least 15 people were arrested over two days of confrontations with agents, while 15 more were cited. At least some were cited for violating a road closure order issued by the U.S. Forest Service in September.

It was unclear on Wednesday if any more were charged. Protesters said those arrested were “beaten and abused” while in custody.

Photos depicting a blackened eye with and cuts on a person’s torso were posted to the Instagram page of another activist group, Tucson Anti Repression Crew, which said they were injuries sustained by five Lochiel “land defenders.”

The five were released at the McDonald’s on Craycroft Road in Tucson and sought medical attention shortly after, according to the Tucson Anti Repression Crew.

A spokesperson from Customs and Border Protection, said on Tuesday agents were “mostly peaceful” and “responded appropriately,” while claiming a protester assaulted a federal officer that day. Attempts to reach CBP for comment on the incident late Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.