Land defenders began the protest in late July, taking turns on a platform high in the tree's canopy. They stayed for more than 70 days. At dawn Monday, more than 80 federal agents swarmed the protesters' camp, which sits on private land, and made arrests while blocking people from reaching the tree.
Videos, photos and witnesses describe agents in a steel basket on an extendable crane lift forcibly removing the person on the platform. Witnesses said agents shoved and tackled others who rushed toward the tree. Contractors with Fisher Sand & Gravel, the company building this section of wall, then pushed it over. The trunk cracked and crashed to the ground while land defenders shrieked, cried and yelled at the agents.
Erick Meza, the Sierra Club's Borderlands coordinator, spent months working to save the trees, starting with letters to US Customs and Border Protection. He said watching the fall "crushes your heart." The tree "brought a lot of people together," he said, and he described a community response of outrage. A Turning Point USA team filmed the toppling, apparently embedded with border patrol and free to roam the closed public road.