CLARIFICATION: Monday, Nov. 28, 2022 at 8:12 p.m.- The original version of this story referred to the anarchists as the Anarchist Federation. The Anarchist Federation has no affiliation with the Smithers arson, as it is a separate group in Britain. Rather, the website the blog post was made to was called Anarchist Federation News, which is based worldwide. The Western Standard regrets this error. .A group of anarchists have claimed responsibility for committing arson against RCMP vehicles in the Smithers Sunshine Inn parking lot in Smithers, BC, located about 371 km west of Prince George, BC, on October 26. .“There are no words to be shared with government or industry that can change the core of their nature,” said the anarchists in a blog post to Anarchist Federation News..“These institutions are not people.”.The blog post said these institutions have no soul, ethics, and conscience. It said their driving force is “profit at any cost, and they cannot be negotiated or reasoned with.”.A massive police investigation began unfolding after a fire broke out on October 26 at the Smithers Sunshine Inn parking lot, leading to extensive property damage..READ MORE: Police cruisers, service vehicles torched in Smithers, BC.Multiple vehicles were damaged by the time firefighters and emergency crews arrived.."Preliminary investigation indicates this is an arson and we are asking for the public's assistance in providing information so the person, or persons involved may be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Prince George RCMP Cpl. Madonna Saunderson. .The blog post said Coastal GasLink is drilling beneath the sacred headwaters of the Wedzin Kwa. It said for every tremor of earth as Coastal GasLink drives their borehead and blasts their explosives through riverbed and rock, tremors of pain and rage reverberate for people who have the space to feel it. .The blog post went on to say death surrounds people. It added climate change runs rampant while large projects turn the world into a nightmare. .This group of anarchists said people are passing out of this world too soon. They said all of these deaths are “the manifestation of the unbearable pain, suffering and violence brought on by colonialism and the state.”.According to the blog post, the RCMP are who defend and enforce this violence. It is the RCMP Community-Industry Response Group who have raided, surveilled, and harassed protestors on behalf of businesses. .This violence enacted by industry and enforced by police will damn the world to climate disaster, said the blog post. Recognizing each person has a stake in this struggle means understanding the importance of acting with their own agency, autonomy, and urgency..Liberals and centrists want politics to be neat and tidy, within the bounds of respectability. The blog post said labelling actions outside of these bounds as a false flag operation limits Antifa’s ability to broaden its scope and challenge state violence. .It said burning police cars is easy. Taking the steps to prevent arrest is less so. .“It has always been the time to fight,” said the group.
