The demonstration organized by Extinction Rebellion's Vancouver chapter began at noon at City Hall, from where about 150 demonstrators marched to the bridge—"a major artery to Downtown Vancouver," police pointed out, adding that protestors "blocked traffic in both directions and caused major disruptions."
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said its officers allowed the group to peacefully assemble on the bridge before eventually asking participants to step aside and allow for traffic flow to resume. Four adult women and two adult men who refused to move were arrested for mischief and intimidation by blocking a roadway, according to police.
The six individuals were taken to jail and released from custody upon promising to appear in court at a later date.
Extinction Rebellion Vancouver had issued fair warning about its members' plans to occupy the Cambie Bridge and disrupt weekend traffic. On Thursday, the group dropped a banner over the bridge railings to announce that they intended to engage in "peaceful civil disobedience" on March 27.
The action was purposefully planned to take place on the same day as a mass mobilization at the B.C. Legislature that's calling for an immediate end to old-growth logging, particularly at the Fairy Creek watershed on historically Pacheedaht lands, near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.
Prior to reaching the bridge, demonstrators in Vancouver also staged a "die-in" at Cambie and Broadway Saturday. Organizers said the act "symbolizes death, a pause to think about the small sacrifices we can make to avoid further catastrophe in this mass extinction."
Exactly one month ago, three of the group's "rebels" were also arrested after staging a similar Saturday afternoon sit-in that blocked the Hornby and Smithe intersection in downtown Vancouver.
Extinction Rebellion is a global movement that began in the U.K in 2018. It claims to use non-violent civil disobedience to call for increased climate action, which group members say is necessary "to halt mass extinction and minimise the risk of social collapse."
