Arizona Border Tree Protesters Detained as Century-Old Cottonwood Is Toppled
Aug 4, 2026·Location: Lochiel, AZ

Protesters who had staged a more than two-month tree-sit in Lochiel, Arizona, to save a roughly 100-year-old Fremont cottonwood from border wall construction were removed by law enforcement on Oct. 6, after which contractors brought in equipment and knocked down the tree. According to Sierra Club borderlands coordinator Erick Meza, who has served as a spokesman for the protest group, more than 50 Border Patrol agents entered the encampment on private property before dawn, and a crane was used to pull a demonstrator from a platform about 60 feet up in the tree's branches. Meza said roughly a dozen people were arrested, some of whom were later released; Customs and Border Protection confirmed the tree's removal. Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway said his office was not involved in and was not notified of the raid beforehand.
Sources
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