Chaos erupts at protest in New Brunswick

A councillor with a Native reserve in eastern New Brunswick says, “all hell broke loose” when police moved in to enforce a court injunction to clear a highway blockade.

The RCMP say at least five of their vehicles have been destroyed after they were set on fire, molotov cocktails were thrown at officers, and at least one shot was fired by someone who isn’t a police officer.

The Elsipogtog first nation representative says RCMP arrested over 40 people and used pepper spray on a crowd protesting shale gas.

The protesters want the energy company to stop seismic testing and leave the province. Opponents of the shale gas sector say the process used to extract the resource could pollute drinking water.