Contractors demolished a 200-year-old Fremont cottonwood tree in Lochiel on Monday, bringing an abrupt end to a tree-sit that had hindered border wall construction for more than two months.
Since then, activity in the normally quiet ranching community has exploded — giving way to a new tree-sit, a spate of frenzied border wall construction, the deployment of tear gas and a string of arrests, according to activists who spoke to AZPM.
All the while, masked and armed federal agents have continued to patrol the construction site as a tree-sitter occupies the branches of a towering cottonwood just south of the border in Mexico.
“The morale is still up, perhaps. I mean, besides the fact that we're definitely outnumbered,” Sierra Club coordinator Erick Meza told AZPM Tuesday during a call from Lochiel, noting that he observed 70 to 80 federal agents on site.
In the early hours of Monday morning, activists had been engaged in a prayer ceremony, with some standing in the construction easement, conservation advocate Kate Scott said.
She looked to the east and noticed Border Patrol vehicles driving downhill.
“A huge monster of them jumped out of the truck and said, ‘Now there is border wall construction that has to be done here. You cannot be here. There's a forest closure here.’ Words to that effect. … We said, ‘We're in ceremony.’ I was drumming, and praying, and people were in the easement. They started to be detained, taken away,” Scott said.
Federal agents detained 10 people that day, Scott estimated. They were later released. On Tuesday, federal agents made another round of arrests, detaining five people, Scott said. She added that their whereabouts were unknown for more than 24 hours.
“To not know about our friends is horrifying to all of us. … Because where are they?” she told AZPM Wednesday morning.
Later that afternoon, the five protesters were released, according to activists.
Border Patrol has not answered AZPM’s inquiries about the arrests, including specific questions about how many people were detained and the nature of the charges they face.
‘They are endangering somebody’s life’##
On Wednesday, a protester locked herself to a construction vehicle, halting construction efforts that afternoon and evening, according to an hours-long Instagram live video shared by the group Tierra Libre.
As the protester remained locked onto the vehicle, agents covered the woman with an emergency mylar heat blanket, according to a press release from the Sonoran Desert Press Office, a coalition involved with the protests.
In the Instagram video, the reflective blanket can be clearly seen, blocking the woman from view. It’s not clear why the blanket was used, particularly on a sunny day that surpassed 90 degrees in the valley.
At one point in the livestream, the vehicle began moving, carrying the woman along as bystanders screamed in protest.
“There is somebody who is locked down to this vehicle and they are moving it,” a person behind the camera announced amid the screams. “They are endangering somebody’s life.”
In the same video, Border Patrol agents in protective masks can be seen aiming tear gas canisters at protesters as clouds of white smoke billow into the air.
According to the news release from the Sonoran Desert Press Office, the woman remained locked to the vehicle as Border Patrol engaged in a number of violent tactics, including holding guns to her chest and reportedly threatening to take the woman “to the middle of nowhere where no one can hear you scream.”
The news release also notes that Border Patrol agents zip-tied the woman’s legs. A little past 10:30 p.m., the woman was cut down from the vehicle and taken into custody, activists said.
“Border Patrol agents have unleashed three continuous days of brutality on land defenders in Lochiel,” activists said in a press release from the Sonoran Desert Press Office, a coalition involved with the camp.
For its part, Border Patrol has only provided vague statements to the media, declining to answer specific questions about the activists’ allegations.
In a statement provided to AZPM on Tuesday evening, a Border Patrol spokesperson said the agency conducted enforcement operations in Lochiel “in support of authorized border infrastructure activities on federally managed land.”
“While most activity remained peaceful, agents took appropriate enforcement action in response to alleged violations and an alleged assault on a federal officer,” spokesperson Jessica Turner said.
In response, AZPM sent specific questions on the following topics:
- How many people were arrested,
- the nature of the criminal charges protesters faced,
- allegations that Border Patrol agents used violent tactics against a protester locked to a construction vehicle,
- allegations that Border Patrol pepper sprayed protesters,
- and allegations that Border Patrol agents left the border construction site and stepped onto private property during interactions with the protesters.
The Border Patrol spokesperson did not provide answers to AZPM’s follow-up questions. On Thursday, Turner sent the identical four-sentence statement the agency had shared two days prior.
“(Our) statement is all we have to share,” she added.
‘We were not needed’##
On Wednesday evening, as the protester remained locked to the construction vehicle, Patagonia Volunteer Rescue & Fire arrived on the scene. The news release from the Sonoran Desert Press Office said the PVRF unit was “turned away by Border Patrol agents.” Bystanders called 911 again, the news release said, but were informed that PVRF would not be returning to the scene.
PVRF Chief Zay Hartigan told AZPM his agency had received a 911 call Wednesday evening, and contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection in accordance with Incident Command System protocol.
In response, CBP told PVRF that Border Patrol agents already had two EMTs onsite, “and we were not needed,” Hartigan said.
“Furthermore, the scene was dynamic and not fully secured by law enforcement, which is a prerequisite for medical personnel entering a scene. Both departments stood down their crews based on these conditions,” Hartigan added in a statement.
Due to communication issues, Hartigan added, PVRF sent a unit anyway, and was told by Border Patrol to stand down.
While PVRF was on the scene, the unit “also encountered civilians who were understandably deeply concerned about the individual at the center of the call,” Hartigan said.
Hartigan said a Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy was also present in Lochiel on Wednesday evening. Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway did not respond to a call, voicemail or text message seeking comment.
‘It’s not about winning’##
Alex Chabbott, one of the activists currently based in Lochiel, walked through the San Rafael Valley’s tall grasses Wednesday. That morning, Lochiel was relatively calm. The events of Wednesday evening — including the protester’s lockdown to the vehicle, and Border Patrol agents’ response — had not yet unfolded.
Chabbott stopped in front of a bare patch of earth. Two days earlier, the centuries-old cottonwood, known widely as the "Grandmother," had occupied the space. It was hotter, Chabbott mused, without the shade of the once-massive tree.
Just north of where he stood, brightly colored tents speckled the grasslands — activists continuing to camp on a parcel of private property with approval from its owner. Nearby, Border Patrol vehicles sluggishly drove along the construction easement. Armed Border Patrol agents, their faces obscured by masks, watched as contractors dug trenches for the new border barriers. The construction continued steadily.
“There's definitely people out there that are like, ‘Oh, why are you doing this? Like you're going to lose, or like you're clearly not winning,’” Chabbott said. “And for me, it's not about winning. It's about being on the right side of history.”
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and may be updated as new information unfolds.
