A 200-year-old cottonwood tree near the US-Mexico border, known as the “grandmother”, has been destroyed to make way for the construction of Donald Trump’s border wall, despite a months-long effort by protesters trying to save it.
asserted
tree → know → it
In late July, land defenders began a tree-sit in the ghost town of Lochiel, Arizona, taking turns occupying a platform high in the tree’s canopy.
asserted
defenders → begin → canopy
The group remained there for more than 70 days.
asserted
group → remain → days
Then, on Monday at dawn, more than 80 federal agents swarmed the protesters’ camp, which is located on private land, making arrests and preventing people from reaching the cottonwood.
asserted
which → swarm → cottonwood
Some agents in a steel basket on an extendable crane lift forcibly removed the person in the tree platform, according to videos and photos shared on social media and descriptions of people there at the time.
uncertain
agents → remove → time
Others were shoved and tackled as they tried to rush toward the tree to prevent its destruction, according to witnesses.
uncertain
they → shove → witnesses
Contractors with Fisher Sand & Gravel, a company building this section of wall, then used an excavator to push over the tree, which cracked and crashed to the earth.
asserted
which → build → earth
Land defenders shrieked, cried and yelled at the federal agents.
asserted
defenders → shriek → agents
“Seeing that – it crushes your heart,” said Erick Meza, the Sierra Club’s Borderlands coordinator who has been working to save the trees for months, beginning with a series of letters to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
asserted
who → see → Customs
“That tree brought a lot of people together,” he said.
asserted
he → bring → people
Now, he added, “there’s a community response of outrage.
asserted
he → add → outrage
People are pissed off.
asserted
People → piss → ?
The cottonwood’s toppling was filmed by a team from Turning Point USA, the far-right political group, who appeared to be embedded with border patrol and allowed free access to roam throughout the closed off public road.
asserted
access → film → road
One of the land defenders had scaled another ancient cottonwood tree situated right on the border with Mexico.
asserted
One → scale → Mexico
On Thursday, CBP and Mexican police, who have been present for several days and visibly working with American authorities, removed the tree-sitter’s platform, food and water supplies, according to Alex Chabbott, a land defender who has been present at the camp on and off for over a month.
uncertain
who → work → month
Late on Friday, the tree-sitter came down on their own volition after not being resupplied for several days.
asserted
sitter → come → days
The agents involved include border patrol officers, part of CBP, and a special forces tactical unit called Bortac, whose self-described purpose is to “respond to terrorist threats”.
asserted
purpose → involve → threats
The tree-sit began shortly after contractors knocked over and killed three other ancient cottonwood trees nearby on 27 July.
asserted
contractors → begin → July
Two 30ft-tall walls are being built throughout this area, known as the San Rafael valley, a remote and once idyllic high elevation prairie where the movie Oklahoma was filmed.
asserted
movie → build → valley
The valley, and the Patagonia and Huachuca mountains on either side of it, form one of the most important regional wildlife corridors between the US and Mexico, providing passage to animals including jaguars, ocelots, bears and even beavers and porcupines in recent years.
asserted
valley → form → years
Already, government contractors have finished 88 miles (140km) of secondary wall, which is a second 30ft fence set at some distance from a primary wall of the same height.
asserted
which → finish → height
Another 444 miles of secondary wall are under construction, according to DHS, much of that in Arizona, using billions of dollars allocated by Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
uncertain
miles → accord → Act
Protesters say that construction in the area is progressing rapidly, 24 hours a day.
asserted
construction → say → area
In recent days, Fisher Sand & Gravel has completed the secondary wall, which includes placing 30ft steel panels within a trench filled with rebar and cement, along a part of the private property where the camp is located, including up to the point where the tree stood.
asserted
tree → complete → point
These trees, which depend on a regular supply of water underground, are a hallmark of riparian forests, an endangered ecotype throughout Arizona and the south-west, said Russ McSpadden, an advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
asserted
McSpadden → depend → Diversity
The ecological importance of these trees is one of the animating factors behind the land defenders.
asserted
importance → animate → defenders
Water use for wall construction has depleted wells throughout the south-west, threatening natural features such as Quitobaquito Springs.
asserted
use → deplete → Springs
CBP does not say how much current construction uses, but in 2008 it estimated a smaller wall nearby could use up to 710,00 gallons per mile for construction; the current project likely uses more, as it is larger.
uncertain
it → say → more
‘We are starting a movement’
asserted
We → start → movement
Since Monday, dozens of land defenders have been arrested, many for entering the road between the private property and the border, which was ordered closed by federal authorities in late September due to wall construction.
asserted
which → arrest → construction
Protesters have been doing prayers in the road near the tree every morning.
asserted
Protesters → do → tree
Some of those arrested were physically hit and came back with bruises and black eyes, Chabbott claimed.
asserted
Chabbott → arrest → bruises
Several more people attempted to use nonviolent tactics to halt or delay construction, including one woman who locked herself to a cement truck on 7 August, according to videos shared on social media.
uncertain
who → attempt → media
The protester was sprayed in the face with mace and wrestled by several agents, and her limbs forced into painful positions, according to witnesses and social media videos.
uncertain
limbs → spray → witnesses
The truck was later driven away while the land defender was still attached, and cut from the vehicle later that evening, according to witnesses.
uncertain
defender → drive → witnesses
She is now in custody, according to what authorities have told the land defenders’ lawyers.
uncertain
authorities → accord → lawyers
Julia Butterfly Hill, who spent two years living in a redwood in California’s Humboldt county in the late 1990s, said she was horrified to see how roughly border patrol treated this woman on a livestreamed video, she said.
asserted
she → spend → video
This land defender’s courage and commitment to nonviolent resistance in the face of brutality “brought tears to my eyes”, Butterfly Hill said.
asserted
Hill → bring → eyes
“She’s a hero of the highest order.”
asserted
She → ’ → order
CBP did not respond to a request for comment about this and other clashes, but has previously said that walls in areas like this will help combat unauthorized immigration.
asserted
walls → respond → immigration
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
