The Ontario Provincial Police have moved in on the rail blockade near Belleville, Ont., where protests by the Mohawks of Tyendinaga have crippled passenger and freight train traffic for more than two weeks in solidarity with anti-pipeline protests in northern B.C.

Police and CN Rail had warned protesters to clear the area by midnight Sunday. Police and the railway ordered the camps dismantled, warning protesters would face charges if they disobeyed.

The CBC’s Olivia Stefanovich is on the scene and described it as a tense time as dozens of police officers moved in on the camp around 8:15 a.m. ET.

The solidarity protest began Feb. 6 in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their efforts to stop construction of a $6-billion Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.

Earlier this month, B.C. RCMP enforced a court injunction against those preventing contractors from accessing the area for construction.

RCMP in British Columbia moved its officers out of an outpost on Wet’suwet’en territory to a nearby detachment in the town of Houston on Friday, but won’t stop patrolling the area — a move that partially addresses a demand set by the nation’s hereditary chiefs late last week. 

The Mohawks of Tyendinaga had said they would remain by the railway until the RCMP withdrew from Wet’suwet’en territory. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes must come down after two weeks of calls for patience and stalled attempts at negotiation. 

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