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1/16 Protesters set up a camp on a CN rail line on 231 Street in west Edmonton on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 2/16 Protesters block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. 3/16 Protesters set up a camp on a CN rail line on 231 street west of Edmonton on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 4/16 Protesters block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 5/16 Protesters block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 6/16 A protester who would only give the name Poundmaker holds an eagle feather as an Edmonton police vehicle passes by at a blockade set up across the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. The protesters had set up the blockade in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs. 7/16 A drummer sings as protesters block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. 8/16 A protester who would only give the name Poundmaker poses for a photo at a blockade set up across the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. The protesters had set up the blockade in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs. 9/16 Protesters block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 10/16 Protesters block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. 11/16 A protester puts up an upside down Canadian flag with the words RCMP Out spray painted on it, as they block the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 12/16 A protester tries to block counter protesters from tearing down a blockade at the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. Protester put up the blockade in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs. 13/16 A counter protester wearing a Make Canada Great Again tears down a blockade along the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. A separate group of protesters had set up the blockade in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs. 14/16 A counter protesters tear down a blockade along the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue, in Edmonton Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020. A separate group of protesters had set up the blockade in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs. Photo by David Bloom 15/16 Counter-protesters tear down a blockade along the CN rail line near 231 Street and 110 Avenue, in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. 16/16 Protesters perform a round dance as they prepare to end their blockade at the CN rail line near 213 Street and 110 Avenue on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Previous Image Next Image

Conflicts with counter-protesters at the site led the protesters to abandon the blockade in the afternoon. When an employee from the law firm representing CN served court documents submitted by the rail company in seeking the injunction to protesters, some of the roughly 30 counter-protestors in the area began dismantling the barricade.

The two groups argued but did not become violent, even as one counter-protester backed a trailer up to the tracks so that others could remove and haul away the wood pallets, barrels and signs that made up the barricade.

“This is the violence. See, this is the violence,” said a protester, who had his face covered.

“This is not violence. I am just trying to remove some garbage,” the counter-protester responded.

Lorena Harris, a lawyer representing CN at the court hearing, said the rail company received an anonymous tip about the Edmonton blockade in the early morning. A freight train that was “bearing down on that location imminently,” below the speed limit, was able to stop about 20 freight cars before the blockade, she said.

David Bloom/Postmedia

Eastbound and westbound cars carrying perishables, industrial products and flammable products were stopped. “All of these products are critical to the Canadian economy,” Harris said.

The impact is “severe” and would compound every hour the line was blocked, since it would take several days to deal with the backlog of goods created for customers, according to an affidavit signed by superintendent of network operations Jason Hilmanowski on behalf of CN.