Update: The five people arrested at Oppenheimer Park on Thursday have been released from police custody and will not face criminal charges, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Police arrested three women and two men who allegedly refused to leave the park and attempted to interfere with city workers dismantling the remaining tents in the encampment there.
On Thursday night, police said they were considering charges of obstruction and breach of a court injunction against the five people, but by Friday they had changed their minds.
Police said their goal was to enforce a B.C. Supreme Court order that campers must vacate the park without criminalizing the campers. They said they decided not to recommend charges after “reviewing all of the circumstances, and with the public interest in mind.”
Original story: Park rangers and fire officials began dismantling empty tents at Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park Thursday as police supervised and recorded the event.
While a lot of people left voluntarily in the past 24 hours, a number of remaining campers vowed to stay and get arrested.
A court-ordered deadline to clear out came and went at 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
Vancouver police officers walking through the park after the deadline were met with boos and yelling, but an anticipated showdown between campers and authorities did not materialize.
Police say they are only at the site to observe, and don’t want to make any arrests – but they might have to if things get out of hand.
“We do have some plans in place. But those plans can change as circumstances change,” said Const. Brian Montague following the eviction deadline. “We’re going to continue to encourage people to leave the park voluntarily.”
City spokeswoman Rena Kendall-Craden said more than 100 people have already been moved from the tent city into shelters and housing units, and some shelters will be opening early Thursday to accommodate more campers.
But some people at the site told CTV there aren’t enough spaces.
“The people we’ve talked to say they’ve called the city’s 211 shelter hotline, there aren’t enough shelter spaces for them is what they’re telling us. Or in some cases the beds are just for males or they can’t bring their partners with them,” reporter Nafeesa Karim told CTV Morning Live.
“A lot of people say they have nowhere else to go.”
DJ Larkin, a lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society, said there was a “risk of conflict” as authorities move in and try to move the campers who stayed beyond the deadline.
“People are feeling very destabilized,” said Larkin.
Larkin said an increased number of people are accessing a nearby resource centre because they’re feeling “so stressed out over the move.”
A man was found dead inside a tent at the park just hours before the court deadline. His death isn’t believed to be suspicious, but authorities speculated that the 69-year-old could have been there for several days.
The Oppenheimer Park encampment started in July as a protest against shelter conditions and housing availability in Vancouver.
The city filed for a B.C. Supreme Court injunction to clear it out last month, citing health and safety concerns in the park. Drinking, drug use, and the discovery of weapons and buckets of feces were among the chief issues named.
A judge granted the injunction last week after the city promised there would be shelters and housing options for park inhabitants to relocate to.
