Two protesters arrested during a 56-day occupation of the Coastal GasLink drill pad near the Morice River have been sentenced to community service.
Justice Michael Tammen made the ruling on November 2 in Smithers, sentencing couple Hannah Hall and Logan Staats to 225 and 75 hours of community service, respectively.
Hall and Staats were arrested between November 18 and 19, 2021, at the Gidimt’en Checkpoint and Coyote Camp, charged with criminal contempt for violating a court injunction received by Coastal GasLink to prevent protesters from trying to interfere with the pipeline’s construction.
Hall and Staats both pled guilty to their charges. Staats is a 35-year-old Mohawk musician from Six Nations in Ontario and has a 10-month year old child with 27-year-old Hall, who is not indigenous.
Defence counsel requested Gladue factors to be considered for Hall, despite not being indigenous, in the interest of not depriving the child of their mother and avoiding a custodial sentence.
Justice Tammen denied the request, as he did not feel it was applicable under the law.
Additional trial dates are expected in late November for the remaining people charged and are expected to wrap up in January 2024, including for Sabina Dennis, who gave testimony last week of her account of the arrests and interactions with RCMP.
