First Nations and environmental groups cancel rally after a man was shot dead by police in Dawson Creek last week outside a public consultation meeting for the Site C dam. 

The local resident, believe to be a member of the loosely-affiliated hacker group Anonymous, was killed at about 7:20 p.m. on Thursday in the parking lot of the Fixx Urban Grill restaurant, according to the BC Coroners Service.

The shooting took place outside a public consultation meeting for the Site C dam. Witnesses say McIntyre was holding a knife and wearing a Guy Fawkes mask at the time of the shooting.

Mike Irmen was in Dawson Creek on business when he witnessed the fatal shooting. He said he had just turned the corner toward the restaurant when he saw two Mounties with their guns drawn. Irmen asked what was going on.

“Just as I said that to them, bang, the cops had shot the guy. He kind of falls down and ends up laying there, bleeding, and he’s got his knife still in his hand,” Irmen said.

From his perspective, it looked like the bullet hit McIntyre in the upper thigh, near the groin. Irmen pulled out his phone and shot video of McIntyre as he lay on his right side, blood pooling beneath him.

“The cops are like, ‘throw your weapon away, throw your weapon away, throw your weapon away.’ They must have said it I don’t know how many times,” Irmen said.

He watched as McIntyre appeared to lose consciousness. The officers then kicked the knife from the man’s hand and handcuffed him, Irmen said.

McIntyre was taken to Dawson Creek and District Hospital, but died shortly after he arrived there, according to the coroner.

A woman who answered the phone Monday at a home believed to be a relative’s residence said she had no comment and asked for privacy for the family.

McIntyre had worked at Le’s Family restaurant as a dishwasher and cook’s assistant, according to a report in the Alaska Highway News. Owner Le Nguyen told the newspaper that McIntyre was a hard worker who seemed like a “normal guy.”

Members of the hacker collective Anonymous have claimed that McIntyre was a member of their group, and threatened to use “vengeance if necessary” against the RCMP on the dead man’s behalf, saying they would shut down RCMP websites and post information of the officer that had shot McIntyre.

On Sunday, the national and Dawson Creek website were down, but by Monday both were operating again. Three RCMP twitter accounts targeted by Anonymous were also operating on Monday.

A police spokesman said the RCMP is aware of the threat and is reviewing it.

McIntyre is believed to be the man behind the Twitter account @JayMack9, which tweeted last week that an Anonymous splinter group planned to attend the public meeting on Thursday. The account regularly expressed support for Anonymous as well as for environmental and First Nations issues.

Despite jaymack9 tweeting a warning of Anonymous protesters attending the Site C meeting, Dave Tyreman, an RCMP spokesman, said that information did not appear to be known to police at the time.

“The only time this group Anonymous came to our attention was after the fact,” Tyreman said.

McIntyre does not have a criminal record in B.C., according to information on the province’s online court record services.

The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is probing the shooting and says a knife has been seized. A spokeswoman for the police watchdog has said that McIntyre approached RCMP officers in an aggressive manner before he was shot.

On Monday, in a written statement, the IIO said its investigators have been in Dawson Creek obtaining physical evidence from the scene, interviewing civilian witnesses, interviewing officers, reviewing video from the scene and from witnesses, and meeting with the affected person’s family.

McIntyre was not known in established environmental and farming groups in northeast B.C. that have opposed the Site-C project.

Peace Valley Environment Association co-ordinator Andrea Morison said she did not know the man and had not seen his name in social media circles that she tracked on environmental issues in the region.

Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley Land Owner Association, also did not know McIntyre and had never heard of his name.

“It’s not like the old days, you used to know everybody up here. Not anymore. There are a lot of people who come here for work from elsewhere,” observed Boon, whose organization has a Federal Court action challenging the Site-C project.

Neither Boon nor Morison had heard of Anonymous being active in the Peace River region.

Both groups also made it clear they did not in anyway condone violence, or the use of masks, to protest the Site C project.

“Peace Valley Environment’s efforts at trying to stop the dam have been, and it’s our intention they always will be, peaceful, non-violent. We would not facilitate any kind of violence in any way,” said Morison.

“I can assure you we were not associated with (Anonymous),” said Boon.

The ripple effects of the Dawson Creek shooting are being felt in Vancouver.

First Nations, including West Moberly and Prophet River, with the support of environmental groups, had planned to stage a demonstration this Thursday at BC Hydro’s offices in downtown Vancouver.

But that protest — dubbed Drums for the Peace River Valley — has been cancelled.

“It has come to our attention that there is a risk that the rally planned for Thursday may become violent so we have decided that it is in everyone’s best interest to cancel it,” said Treaty 8 First Nations worker Verena Hofmann in a Facebook post.

The Vancouver-based Wilderness Committee was helping to organize the Thursday event, meant to highlight Federal Court cases underway this week from First Nations and land owners opposed to Site-C.

“For everybody concerned, let’s keep the most important thing in mind, which is the safety of people in a situation where we don’t quite know what is the situation,” said Wilderness Committee national campaign director Joe Foy of the decision to cancel the event.

While he said he understands there is an investigation underway into the shooting, it’s also important the authorities provide information so people can better understand what happened in Dawson Creek.

One technology expert said the fatal police shooting of a masked man associated with the international hackers’ group Anonymous has set the stage for an unprecedented escalation in online attacks across Canada.

Independent tech analyst Carmi Levy said this incident should be “sounding a very loud alarm,’’ but the Canadian government is failing to take the hazard seriously.

“It’s a whole new threat level,’’ Levy said in an interview on Monday. “And because Anonymous now seems to be very firmly focused on Canadian targets it’s reasonable to assume that Canadians can expect this kind of activity to continue and intensify in the next few weeks and months.’’

Last month, Anonymous had claimed responsibility for an attack on federal government websites, a protest against anti-terror Bill C-51.

Anonymous called supporters to organize and take action over the death of McIntyre. On Twitter, @Anonswedeninfo called for a demonstration in Burnaby on Friday evening. “Bring banners, flags, noise makers, masks and your comrades,” said the message.

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