The B.C. government says it will seek an injunction against Occupy Vancouver after protesters set up camp at the provincial courthouse.
Attorney General Shirley Bond said that government lawyers will head to court on Tuesday. Premier Christy Clark tweeted that government lawyers will "work all night to prepare the case."
Protesters vacated their encampment at the Vancouver Art Gallery property Monday, only to relocate to the courthouse one block away.
The court property is owned by the province and therefore not subject to an injunction obtained by the city that gave the protesters until 2 p.m. to clear out from the art gallery. The city says it has no role in the courthouse land and its sole focus is ensuring that the encampment at the art gallery is dismantled.
Clark tweeted that she is, "very disappointed to learn that the spirit of the court's ruling is being ignored."
Protesters marched to the courthouse at around 2:45 p.m. and began erecting some of the same structures and canopies they had been utilizing down the street less than an hour earlier.
A large crowd of Occupiers gathered at the new encampment site, where protester Sarah Beuhler said the atmosphere was "exhilarated."
"People thought this was the end of Occupy, and it turns out it's just the beginning of a new chapter," Beuhler said.
Tension mounted between protesters and police around 4 p.m. after an arrest at the intersection of Robson and Howe streets. Officers closed off traffic to the area as demonstrators chanted slogans like "Mainstream media, tell the truth."
Police say the 40-year-old Richmond man assaulted an Occupy Vancouver "peacekeeper" who had stepped into the middle of an argument between him and a firefighter. The peacekeeper did not want to proceed with charges against the man, but officers arrested him for breach of the peace.
The arrested man has been released from custody without charge.
After the arrest, two protesters remained seated in the middle of the intersection for more than two hours as police directed traffic around them. Some other protesters surrounded the seated men, and told CTV News they would move after the arrested man was released. Others said they had not intention of leaving.
The location of the secondary protest site was a highly guarded secret kept from the vast majority of protesters prior to Monday's brief march.
Several tents have also been erected at the site, and protesters expect to have a fully functioning encampment set up by the evening – including food preparation and medical services.
Back at the art gallery, where the Occupy tent city was erected on Oct. 15, a handful of tents remained despite B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie's 2 p.m. eviction deadline.
Police officers have told protesters that anyone found inside a tent will be arrested, spurring many of the young protesters to pack up.
"Frankly, I don't want to get a criminal record for this," protester Cam told CTV News.
At the injunction hearings last week, lawyers representing Occupy protesters argued that the tent city must stand because of the food, shelter and medical attention it provides to the city's homeless.
At a Monday morning press conference, Occupier Eric Hamilton-Smith called on the municipal, provincial and federal governments to replace those services.
"As of nine o'clock this morning, there were zero available shelter spaces in Vancouver for men or women and a huge waiting list for social housing," Hamilton-Smith said.
Meanwhile, protesters claim volunteers have been serving 1,000 meals and helping 100 patients per day at the encampment. Hamilton-Smith said about 30 homeless people have been living there.
Protesters also announced "Phase 2" of the protest, which they said could include "flash occupations" around the city. Those could take place in SkyTrain stations, malls, coffee shops and public spaces.
"Future occupations may take many different forms; some community based, others more disruptive," protester Suresh Fernando said.
Over on Vancouver Island, only a handful of protesters remained at Occupy Victoria on Monday. An injunction order issued by a judge in the capital city had given demonstrators until 7 a.m. on Saturday to clear out their tents and other structures.
It wasn't until Monday, however, that the city was granted an enforcement order to vacate the encampment.
