Lochiel, AZ
10/09/2026
At 10 pm on October 8, under the watch of border patrol, Fisher Industries drove an aerial lift machine to the base of the tree sit that demonstrators have named "Abuela". Firefighters from the Mexican side of the border climbed into the machine using a ladder. The machine was being operated by a Fisher employee.
As the aerial lift was raised, the climber ascended higher into the canopy, out of reach of the machine and its occupants. 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.
The climber was left in the tree with nothing but a harness and a damaged safety line. Seven hours later, they remain perched precariously on a branch above where the platform used to be. So far border patrol has done nothing to ensure the safety of this person and has no plan on how they will get them down safely.
“She’s effectively stopped construction, which is why they’re torturing her this way,” said a land defender on the ground. Land defenders overheard Border Patrol agents saying that “they were depriving the tree sitter of necessary provisions like food and water to get her to comply. They knew it was dangerous to leave her up there, and that they didn’t care.” A land defender said, “it’s very clear to us that they don’t care if they murder her, they’ll just say it was justified like they are doing with Oscar Belgal in New York right now and with everybody else Border Patrol and ICE have murdered.”
The tree sitter remains dedicated, strong, and in incredibly high spirits, despite dehydration, hunger, and inability to use a toilet for the 8 hours without supplies or a tree sit platform at the time of writing. She described her condition as “resilient and defiant as ever.”
The cottonwood branches are fragile and prone to breakage, yet the brave tree sitter remains perched over 100 feet in the air. “The cottonwoods shed their branches, and [Border Patrol, Fisher Industries, Mexican State authorities] know this,” said the land defender on the ground. “For them to take the [tree sit] platform is straight-up attempted murder.”
Land defenders attempted to persuade Border Patrol to send their aerial rescue. BP refuses, claiming they’re “handling it.” Yet BP has repeatedly used brutality to force land defenders to comply. On the night of October 7, BP agents attempted to suffocate and torture a land defender who was locked down to a Fisher Sand and Gravel truck by tying her limbs in a stress position, covering her with a space blanket duct taped to her body, and turning the truck on and off to trap the vehicle’s gaseous fumes inside the blanket.
On Monday’s raid on the camp, another tree sitter’s life was threatened by the murder of the US-side’s Grandmother tree. “They yanked the tree sitter out, with no safety provisions or protocols in place. They invaded the camp in order to do all of those things.”
This recklessness and lack of care for the tree sitter’s safety reflects with Fish Sand and Gravel’s existing track record of corruption and unaccountability. Their workers’ and CEO’s practices are historically littered with OSHA violations, tax fraud, and even child pornography.
The bravery of the tree sitter “is why they’re becoming so desperate and reckless.” Land defenders are calling for supporters to return this tree sitter’s dedication back to her, and help defend her life.
Photo: A tree sitter perched high in the branches of the cottonwood tree stands without a platform, slowly dehydrating to protect the life of the ancient Grandmother tree. Photo credit: Sonoran Desert Press Office.
#Lochiel #treesit #BorderWall #FisherSandAndGravel #CBP
