Patrick Yancey said there's an international period of rebellion over the next two weeks, so more demonstrations could be in the works

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion is calling Monday's protest at the Macdonald Bridge "a huge success."

Dozens of demonstrators met up at the Bridge Terminal parking lot, walking to the Dartmouth side of the bridge at around 7:30 a.m.

Halifax Regional Police then closed off access to the harbour crossing, including the bicycle and pedestrian lanes. They said it was for public safety reasons.

Shortly before 11 a.m., officials told the group they had 10 minutes to vacate the area or be arrested.

Many cleared out, but 18 people ended up being taken into custody.

One of the demonstration organizers, Patrick Yancey, was the first person arrested.

He said the group was taken to police headquarters, handed tickets, then soon released.

"We could pay the fine, but I think most of us will plead not guilty as a group together," Yancey said.

"We're going to be consulting with our attorney first, but a lot of these protests and actions around the climate crisis we've seen over the past year, often times defendants will use the necessity defence," he told NEWS 95.7's The Rick Howe Show. "That's where you argue your actions were necessary in order to prevent a greater danger. In this case, that greater danger of course is the upcoming climate crisis."

Those arrested ranged in age from their early 20s to seniors.

"One young man was talking with a cracking voice about how he feels like he can't have children because he's bringing them into this world where they'd face this nightmarish scenario of societal collapse," Yancey said.

Yancey believes being arrested was worth it because the group was able to make a statement, despite being criticized by some who thought the protest would hurt their cause and others who felt the demonstration wasn't disruptive enough.

"The only thing we regretted was [police] felt the need to close down the pedestrian walkway and the bike lane," he said. "Our intention was always to keep those open, we did not want to block those."

Police Chief Dan Kinsella told Rick Howe their response plan had to be fluid and flexible in order to protect public safety.

"That was a decision that had to be made based on the environment, based on the actions of the protesters, based on people coming and going," Kinsella said. "We wanted to make sure that everyone's safety was protected. Once it became apparent that safety was in question, we had to shut down the entirety of the bridge."

Kinsella is proud of how his officers handled themselves during the action.

"The professionalism, the patience, the respect, the courtesy that was afforded, but the end goal here was to make sure we were able to affect this operational plan without any injuries."

Yancey said there's an international period of rebellion over the next two weeks, so more demonstrations could be in the works.

"I don't think this is going to be the last action we're going to have to do," he said. "I think there might be a few more left before it's all said and done, before we're on a course where our governments aren't trying to kill us with the amount of carbon they're putting in the air."

When asked if there could be another bridge blockade, Yancey said, "anything is possible."

"We're going to try to do whatever tactics we think will be most disruptive to the key decision makers and the overall economy, in order to get them to stop hitting the snooze button on the fire alarm on this and take some serious action."

Kinsella said officials will deal with any future demonstrations on a case-by-case basis, with public safety being the priority.

He said people have a right to protest peacefully, but if they don't, they should expect the law to be enforced.

"If individuals continue to escalate their behaviour ... there could be future escalation of charges, it just really depends," he said. "But at the end of the day, our focus is on public safety."