Nearly 70 People Arrested for Resisting Line 3 at Rally Outside Minnesota Governor’s Mansion

Written by on August 31, 2021 in Activism, Conscious Living, Environment, Environmental Hazards with 0 Comments
image_pdfimage_print

Indigenous leaders and their water-protector allies protest the Canadian oil-and-gas-transport company Enbridge, which is expanding the controversial Line 3 pipeline. (Photo: Indigenous Environmental Network/Twitter

By Julia Conley | Common Dreams

Environmental justice campaigners expressed solidarity over the weekend with nearly 70 people who were arrested Saturday by Minnesota law enforcement as they assembled outside Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's home, demanding the Governor take action to stop the construction of the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Protesters were loaded into buses after police threatened dozens with pepper spray, rubber bullets, and a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) for peacefully protesting the pipeline, which violates the treaty rights of the Anishinaabe people as well as threatening water safety in northern Minnesota.

RootsAction urged supporters to donate to bail funds for the campaigners, many of whom have been arrested multiple times for standing up for Indigenous rights, public health, and the future of the planet.

On Saturday, more than 100 people marched to Walz's mansion from the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, demanding the governor live up to campaign statements he made opposing the pipeline and intervene in the permitting process for Line 3.

Walz has expressed support for moving “away from fossil fuels,” but since taking office he has declined to stop construction, which is now on the verge of completion.

“If we’re gonna transport oil, we need to do it as safely as we possibly can with the most modern equipment,” said Walz on Friday as thousands of demonstrators camped out on the grounds of the state Capitol.

At the rally in front of the governor's home on Saturday, Indigenous water protectors read a statement demanding action from Walz and President Joe Biden, who advocates say should suspend the permit allowing construction of the Line 3 pipeline under the Clean Water Act and “undertake a thorough review” of the federal permitting process and the project.

“Line 3 violates treaties by threatening water, manoomin, and our climate, leading to the loss of usufructuary and cultural rights,” said the organizers. “President Biden, as well, has failed to uphold treaties and the principle of free, prior, and informed consent by allowing the project to proceed without nation to nation consultation with sovereign tribes opposed to the project.”

Organizers including Taysha Martineau, one of the Anishinaabe women leading the resistance to the pipeline, chained themselves to the gates in front of Walz's mansion before the arrests.

“I'm here locked to the fence demanding that Governor Tim Walz speaks to us,” Martineau said. “We’re calling on Governor Walz to pull the permits for Line 3 and demanding a federal Environmental Impact Statement for the project. Water protectors marched 256 miles from the headwaters of the Mississippi River to speak with this gentleman. He has not come to listen to their voices and so we came here. We’re here demanding that they hear us.”
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

 

Tags: , , ,

Subscribe

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe now to receive more just like it.

Subscribe via RSS Feed Connect on YouTube

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

FAIR USE NOTICE. Many of the articles on this site contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making this material available in an effort to advance the understanding of environmental issues, human rights, economic and political democracy, and issues of social justice. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law which contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. If you wish to use such copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use'...you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. And, if you are a copyright owner who wishes to have your content removed, let us know via the "Contact Us" link at the top of the site, and we will promptly remove it.

The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Conscious Life News assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms.

Paid advertising on Conscious Life News may not represent the views and opinions of this website and its contributors. No endorsement of products and services advertised is either expressed or implied.
Top
Send this to a friend