In New Brunswick, Canada, dozens of people were arrested and several police cars were set ablaze as protesters resisted efforts by police to clear an anti-fracking blockade. For more than two weeks, members of the Mi’kmaq First Nation and other area residents have blocked a road near the village of Rexton, cutting off access to an equipment compound used by the Texas-based firm Southwestern Energy. The company is seeking to explore the area for natural gas. Residents say they don’t want their water supplies poisoned by gas fracking, which involves blasting a chemical cocktail deep into shale rock. Scores of Royal Canadian Mounted Police descended on the encampment early Thursday morning to enforce an injunction won by the company. Protesters Mona Lisa Clair and Mark Corbiere described what happened.

Mona Lisa Clair: “We were all in our tents sleeping, and then my sister hollers out, ’They’re coming in!’ And all I could do was rush to get my clothes on. And I come out onto the road, and I could see them starting to come in through the fence.”

Mark Corbiere: “They came in through the far exit, the far entrance, near the highway, with probably about 75 to 100 cops on that end. They are armed with semi-automatic long rifle weapons. There were shots fired at one point. I believe one of the people in camo was firing in the air.”

Police fired pepper spray at protesters, some of whom reportedly hurled Molotov cocktails, setting five police cars on fire. At least 40 people were arrested by the police count. The crackdown has sparked widespread solidarity protests across Canada and in the United States.