'Tree-sit' protester left with just harness for safety after authorities remove platform

For hours late Thursday and into Friday morning, Mexican firefighters used equipment operated by an employee of border-wall contractor Fisher Sand & Gravel to disassemble the platform that was supporting the protester in the tree, located south of Lochiel, Arizona, activists said in a news release Friday.

The protester reportedly climbed higher into the tree to avoid authorities, who took her supplies and damaged her safety rope in the process, the release said.

"The firefighters intentionally cut the support lines of the tree sit platform and removed the platform — including all food, water, and life-sustaining supplies. In the process, they damaged the safety line the climber was attached to. She has no way to safely descend from the tree," according to the statement from the Sonoran Desert Press Office, a volunteer media team supporting the activists.

As of Friday morning, the woman was still in the tree, despite "dehydration, hunger, and inability to use a toilet for the 8 hours," said the release, which claimed Border Patrol agents made the decision to remove the tree-sitter's platform and supplies "to get her to comply."

Officials with Fisher, which was awarded more than $300 million to build 27 miles of wall through the San Rafael Valley and Lochiel, did not immediately respond to the Star's Friday requests for comment.

A spokeswoman for Border Patrol's parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, did not immediately respond to the Star's Friday afternoon query on the situation in Mexico.

Escalating tensions

Since Tuesday, the tree-sitter in La Noria, Sonora, Mexico, has blocked construction of one of the U.S. border walls under construction there, even after the last remaining "grandmother" cottonwood tree on the U.S. side was finally knocked down Oct. 5.

That day, Border Patrol agents moved to crack down on protesters who had for months blocked removal of the last tree on the U.S. side, deploying tear gas and making about 18 arrests, without warrants, over two days, activists said.

The enforcement action came days after an emergency closure order from the U.S. Forest Service, blocking public access to sections of the border during border-wall construction. The blocked areas include Forest Service land east and west of the state-managed San Rafael Valley State Natural Area, and also lands west of Nogales, stretching to the eastern boundary of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

U.S.-based protestors, whose encampment in Lochiel is on private land, had occupied the century-old Fremont cottonwood tree since July 29, after workers brought in by North Dakota-based wall contractor Fisher felled three other cottonwoods growing in the 60-foot-wide strip of federally owned land, known as the Roosevelt Reservation.

The Lochiel demonstration has expanded to include a protest site on the Mexican side of the border.

The Trump administration is building a double border wall through the San Rafael Valley, despite a vanishingly small number of migrant crossings there. Environmentalists say wall construction in the San Rafael Valley will seal off nearly the entire southern border from the Pacific Ocean to the Rio Grande.

No details on 'alleged assault' of officer

Jessica Turner, spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has not responded to the Star's queries about the number of arrests made at the protest site and whether anyone has been charged criminally.

On Friday morning, Turner also declined to comment on reports of protesters chaining themselves to Fisher's construction equipment earlier in the week.

In a Thursday statement on the arrests made earlier in the week, Turner said: "U.S. Border Patrol personnel conducted enforcement operations in the Lochiel, Arizona area in support of authorized border infrastructure activities on federally managed land. The operation was conducted in coordination with partner agencies to maintain public safety, protect personnel, and ensure compliance with applicable federal laws and land-use restrictions. While most activity remained peaceful, agents took appropriate enforcement action in response to alleged violations and an alleged assault on a federal officer."

Turner did not provide details on the alleged assault on an officer.

"U.S. Border Patrol respects the public’s right to lawfully express their views. Individuals are expected to comply with lawful orders and avoid conduct that endangers others or interferes with authorized federal operations," Turner said in the email.