Leaving a day of peaceful city protests behind them, G-8 activists created a massive 150-vehicle-convoy along the Trans-Canada Highway Wednesday afternoon, pushing security along the Kananaskis Country perimeter to the limit.
More than 350 activists shouted, screamed and chanted in a demand to be heard by leaders at the table. They said they were outraged by how the site of the summit is so far removed and completely untouchable by the public.
The group, which originated at a Calgary protest at Riley Park, turned off the Trans-Canada and moved through a series of checkpoints along Highway 40 toward Kananaskis Village. They were eventually forced to park their cars and stage a protest somewhere between the Barrier Lake Information Centre and the Trans-Canada.
Waving placards that read Capitalism Kills, Love Your Mother and We H8 the G-8 to the pounding beat of a drum, activists were ultimately stalled.
Police officials said they have the legal authority "to protect international persons," while a lawyer representing the protesters said they had an equal right to "be seen and be heard."
"We want to have a circle and spiral dance to send all the energy through that mountain to Kananaskis into the heart of that conference," said Starhawk, an anti-globalization guru.
"We want to undermine that fortress and bring it down," she screamed over the noise of three helicopters hovering overhead.
At one point, while dancing and celebrating outside the second security checkpoint, the determined pack blocked Highway 40, forcing two vans filled with what was believed to be American and Japanese summit delegates to the side of the road.
Protesters chanted: "Make them walk, make them walk," demanding the van occupants walk past them and identify themselves.
After half an hour, the van eventually turned around, heading back toward Calgary, resulting in thunderous applause from the protesters.
While awaiting permission to travel closer to the site, the activists joined hands, dancing in a circle and singing: "We are the rising of the moon. We are the shifting of the ground. We are the seed that takes root. When we bring the fortress down."
At least five hours after their arrival, the convoy participants took a vote to determine whether they would camp on the road for the night or go back to the city.
Most decided they weren't willing to be arrested and many headed back to Calgary. Others milled about, singing and chanting.
"We want to make this our solidarity village," shouted members of the group.
When initially confronted by the cavalcade at about 5 p.m., police corralled the crowd, demanding they present photo identification and submit to having their pictures taken.
Emma, a young woman from Nelson, B.C., sensed trouble.
"I'm just worried," she said.
"Everything has been so calm, so peaceful up to now."
Others were virulent.
"Let's set up our tents and stay here all night. We came here for a reason, we don't like their system and we should do something about it," one activist said.
Justin Calos from Golden, B.C., joined the cavalcade in Calgary. "There are inherent flaws in the social, political and economic systems as a result of the decisions made by the G-8," he said.
Earlier Wednesday near Kananaskis, RCMP officers held off a busload of postal workers trying to deliver a few hundred G-8 protest letters to the leaders of the summit.
At noon, about 50 postal workers sent two of their envoys ahead on foot to try delivering a handful of the letters. The letters spanned a wide range of issues, such as urging the G-8 leaders to sign the Kyoto climate control protocol, give more funding to HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa and increase public participation in the G-8.
One protester, Calgary postie Darren Steinhoff, stepped around the line and tried to run under a bush at the edge of the parking lot. He was forced to the ground by an RCMP officer and asked to step back behind the line.
When he refused, he was forced to stand up so he could be handcuffed and escorted to a police van. As he stood up, his handful of letters flew out of his hands and scattered on the pavement.
He was then charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Mike Alsterlund of Canmore, originally from Colorado, also wanted to express himself and approached security checkpoints along Highway 40.
He settled for holding a banner with his wife, Jake, near the entrance ramp to the Trans-Canada Highway. The banner implored support for the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, and peaceful solutions to turmoil around the world, and sharing of wealth by G-8 countries.
"I've never protested before, or felt the need to protest," he said. "We're just two old hippies representing nobody but ourselves. I'm tired of being inert.
"The great power to the south is taking our natural resources, and when they are finished, they'll discard us like a stale cookie," he said.
Mat Dunlap, 19, arrived at the Highway 40 and Trans-Canada Highway checkpoint looking for like-minded protesters.
He was surprised to only see a bearded man from British Columbia playing the guitar and a couple from northern Alberta holding a protest sign.
"I was really hoping there would be some action here," Dunlap said.
"Here we have eight very powerful people meeting here and it's like a military lockdown. Where is everyone?"
The bearded man had been standing on the overpass waving his guitar at drivers moving east along the Trans-Canada. RCMP instructed him to move.
For the latest news, go to canada.com/G8
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