The RCMP has now released video footage of who they are calling the "attackers" of a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline work camp near Houston B.C. on Feb. 17. Those attackers are terrorists, full stop.
Dressed in white hazmat suits, surely so that no DNA would be left behind to identify them, a group of 20 or so people stormed the camp and terrorized workers, attempted to light a truck on fire while workers were in it, then proceeded to trash the place surely to send a message - spread further by media coverage of the event - that they don't want the pipeline project there.
RCMP Chief Supt. Warren Brown characterized the actions as "a calculated and organized violent attack that left its victims shaken and a multi-million-dollar path of destruction," stopping short of calling it what it was.
He went on to say: "While we respect everyone's right to peacefully protest in Canada, we cannot tolerate this type of extreme violence and intimidation."
Most politicians have been condemning the attack on social media, as has a local First Nation, which characterized the incident simply as "violence" or an "attack," tiptoeing around the fact that this was clearly an organized terrorist action, planned and executed by a group. An as-yet-to-be-named one, but this was clearly well-planned out by a group of like-minded individuals.
A group of terrorists.
According to the Government of Canada, Section 83.01 of our Criminal Code defines terrorism as an act committed "in whole or in part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause" with the intention of intimidating the public "…with regard to its security, including its economic security, or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act."
It's unclear why the RCMP has yet to categorize the attack as such when there's no question that it falls very firmly within the definition, checking every single one of the boxes.
Perhaps they don't want to stoke more division, or they're strategically trying to make the terrorists involved let their guard down and talk to people about their actions so they can nab them easier.
If there were in fact 20 people involved eventually one of them will let it slip.
In the meantime, let's be sure to assign these "attackers" a proper title. They're terrorists.
