Opinion ID: 772158
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Bear Creek Protest

Text: 15 The second protest took place on October 3, 1997, when two pairs of protesters, including plaintiffs Michael McCurdy and Noel Tendick, using black bears locked themselves to two Pacific Lumber Company bulldozers at a remote logging site on Pacific Lumber Company property (the Bear Creek protest). Again the special response team was called to the scene. The same officer in charge at the Scotia protest was in charge at Bear Creek. He testified that he told the protesters that the officers were going to use pepper spray on them if they didn't release because we're getting out of here quicker that way. He also testified to his concern that using a grinder would have presented a fire hazard because of the diesel fuel and oil canisters around the bulldozers. He added that protesters hiding in the woods presented an unspecified danger, although the Sheriff's videotape does not show the threatening presence of any other demonstrators. The officers made no attempt to negotiate with the protesters. They simply threatened repeatedly to use pepper spray unless the protesters released themselves from the black bears. But before proceeding, the officers waited more than half an hour for the video grapher to arrive. 16 The Sheriff's videotape reveals that two protesters released themselves from the black bears when threatened with the immediate use of pepper spray. Despite repeated warnings, two others refused. The last warning told the protesters that they had five minutes to release themselves from the black bears. But the actual elapsed time between that last warning and the first application of pepper spray was less than two minutes. The officers applied the pepper spray with a Q-tip to the closed eyes of both protesters. Despite the protesters' pleas for water toflush the pepper spray out of their eyes, one of the officers can be heard on the videotape saying that they will only be given water if they release and that the pain will only get worse in thirty seconds when he sprays the OC in their faces. A minute later, he sprayed the OC directly into both of the protesters' faces in short full bursts from inches away. The videotape reveals that the blast of pepper spray ran down one protester's face and into his mouth. 17 Five minutes later, the protesters again refused to release and the officer in charge said that they have all day to do this . . . [and] all kinds of cans of chemical weapons. Protester Tendick then said, If you've got all day to do this, why don't you cut us out? To which the officer in charge responded, because we are already committed here. The officers then offered to spray water from hand-held spray bottles onto the protesters' faces to try to flush the pepper spray out. Tendick testified that lightly spraying his face with water only made the pain worse because the water caused the OC to drip into his nose and mouth. On the videotape, Tendick can be heard screaming in pain after the water was administered. Thereafter, a Makita grinder was safely used to cut both protesters out. Despite the officers' stated concern for the danger posed by using the grinder around fuel and oil canisters, the officers did not remove the canisters when they decided to use the grinder. No injuries resulted from the use of the grinder.