Protests against Enbridge ’s Line 3 have been ramp up in Minnesota — and so has the response from authorities . A video pop off viral this calendar week of a Department of Homeland Security helicoptersandblasting demonstrator following mass stay . But some police tactics are far less seeable while induce long - term hardship .
Much like the Dakota Access protests in 2016 , societal sensitive has become central to getting the word out about the pipeline ’s opposition , with leaders livestreaming or posting about their confrontation . police force , however , have turn to social medium to direct activistic leader and , in some cases , charge them with crimes , consort to public criminal record obtain by Earther .
The records , which let in thousands of emails and documents from Enbridge , local law enforcement , and res publica authorities sweep from 2019 to 2021 , show that sheriff ’s officers in one Minnesota county at the epicenter of the fight over the word of mouth have used social medium activity on at least one social function to target key dissenter weeks or month after protests take place with trumped up charges .
Police in riot gear face off environmental activists at the Line 3 pipeline pumping station near the Itasca State Park, Minnesota on 4 December 2024.Photo: Kerem Yucel/AFP (Getty Images)
The Line 3 line undertaking , if completed , would carry 760,000 barrels of heavy crude oil from tar Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin fields in Canada into the U.S. The current project is technically a replacement to an existing line in the beginning build in the 1960s , and Minnesota is thelast reach of construction remainingon the switch project . Controversially , the Line 3 permutation go through unexampled district in Minnesota , includingthe Fond du Lac reservationand several pact lands of Ojibwe circle . autochthonic group have led the resistance while police haveworked nearly with — and , in some instance , been reimbursed by — Enbridge for the retiring few years to cook for orotund - scale civil fermentation during the pipeline ’s construction .
On January 9 , a few hundred people gathered at a Line 3 construction site in Aitkin County , one of the first place in Minnesota whereconstruction started up on the pipelinein December . Local news report show footage of a passive gathering of tone and singing ; eight people were nab for trespassing , Minnesota Public Radioreported , after they did not sprinkle following police Order .
But cite Earther obtain from the Aitkin County Sheriff ’s Office show that police used video pour and carry to Facebook to charge high - visibility leaders in the Line 3 movement with several misdemeanor counts , including molestation , trespass , unlawful gathering , and public pain . These charge were filed January 27 , two weeks after the existent protest occurred . ( Charges against demonstrator cop on the view , disjoined summonses show , were filed two day later . )
Indigenous climate activists march to the pipeline construction water crossing section after praying for water during a rally and march in Solway, Minnesota on 3 January 2025.Photo: Kerem Yucel/AFP (Getty Images)
Two charges for the January 9 protest that used livestreamed video as a cornerstone were filed against some of the most visible autochthonal women leaders of the anti - Line 3 movement , include Winona LaDuke , arguably the most fundamental figure in the opposition , and Tania Aubid , who go on ahunger strike in Marchto protest the grapevine . Another summons related to a charge of help and abetting trespassing was post to organizer Shanai Matteson in late May , more than five calendar month later , based on her Facebook activity and alivestreamed videoalso available on Facebook . Per Matteson ’s summons , an policeman watched a livestream recording of a disjoined January 9 event where Matteson encouraged protesters to be stop “ if that ’s what it comes to today , ” and offer resources for gaol support . Matteson told Earther that she did not even attend the January 9 protest at the pipeline land site .
“ You think , ‘ oh , I can just change my Facebook preferences , ’ ” said Marian Moore , another PDA who was at the January 9 protest . “ But then I ca n’t reach multitude who are n’t my friends . It find creepy , and unearthly . ”
Some of the objector charged were on the cops ’ radar before the January 9 event even took place . In an email sent to a citizen discussing a separate incident on a Line 3 site in December , Aitkin County Sheriff Daniel Guida said that he ’d asked a line worker to stop harassing Aubid at a freestanding protest .
“ I do n’t appreciate her violent speech and blatant Trygve Halvden Lie towards my office , ” Guida compose in the email . “ Today she tell I had snowy hate groups on my paysheet and was directing them to harass Indians . … If she only make love how firmly I ’ve fought to protect her rights . ”
In an email , Guida told Earther that Aubid “ has rationalize to me for assail me on camera . She has been very nice off television camera . I apprize her Department of Energy towards things she is passionate for and I am a friend of her menage and hope to keep being one . One Anishinaabe core value is Gwekwaadiziwin ( Honesty ) and I go for our interactions can be based on truths . ”
Aubid was afterward charge with gross infringement harassment that police force allege happened at the January 9 protest , which the summons says was caught on livestream . While her process does not observe the specifics for her molestation boot , the statement says that policeman observed Aubid on the livestream telling grammatical construction workers “ get queasy little boy . You do n’t belong here . ” LaDuke was also charged with harassment . Her summons states that she and Aubid were “ disrupting the construction doer ” at the site , with no specifics .
Guida aver that “ everyone has their own opinion what constitutes torment ( victim ) and my office does investigation to those complaint ” and that charging decisions are made by county attorneys .
In late January , just a few day before the charges for LaDuke and Aubid were file , Guida was curl in by a metropolis executive on an email to Mattheson after she was denied a permit for an outdoor community assemblage unrelated to Line 3 . In reply to her questions as to why she was refuse an outdoor permit for a public education gather that would travel along covid-19 guidelines , Guida told her that she had been “ directly involved with illegitimate meeting place , ” and that the metropolis “ has every right to use that against you , but they did not . ”
“ I ’ve been part of mass meeting and Mar , and other public advocacy against Line 3 , ” Matteson wrote back . “ I ’ve never been reference or prosecuted for outlaw gathering or any other illegal activities associated with it . ”
In response , Guida differentiate Matteson that her activity had been “ documented , read , and very well might result in criminal charges . Because you did n’t get arrested or a citation does not mean the act is not illegal . And not being dealt with immediately does not mean it will not bechance . ” Guida narrate Earther that Matteson was already under investigation for the January 9 charge when he sent this email .
Matteson enounce that the conspiracy charges against her — which were filed right before large action organized by telephone line 3 opposite for ahead of time this calendar month , including one event where more than 200 mass were pick up — mean she could face up to a yr in jail and thousands of dollars in fines . “ They ’re seek to carry me responsible as an PDA , ” she said of the January 9 events . “ I ’m not one of the movement leaders , but I do a lot of organizing and have slew of public opinions , and I live here and have lots of ties in the community . They want us discredited and criminalise in the community of interests . ”
At Matteson ’s first appearance on Wednesday , a judge set a contested hearing escort for October . Matteson was bring out on her own recognizance with the caution that she not pass along with any Enbridge employee or be near any pipeline worksite , significantly hampering her chance for organizing in the summer .
supervise societal medium for Line 3 dissenter appear to be part of a broad effort by Aitkin County officials . Other emails show that on January 13 , a week after theCapitol Hill debauchery , Guida wrote a mass e-mail to county staff about civic unrest and social media .
“ We all have anxiety about demonstration groups total to Aitkin County , as well as the rapidly change issue in the USA , ” Guida publish . “ … Over the last yr , a orotund part of my time has been dedicate to predicting energy and planning on how to deescalate that energy to protect our community . A vital component in that process is former intervention . ”
Guida then repose out a table of more than two dozen events , most of them posted on Facebook and scheduled for January and February , with information on the locations , hosts , and estimate number of attendees . Among them were four line of credit 3 line protests , including a “ Salsa Tuesdays ” event that severalize recipients to “ come and place upright and salsa for the rivers , our water . ”
“ I have added a list of the coming presentment so you may see this has turned into a normal thing for Law Enforcement across the nation , ” Guida add together .
He told Earther that he “ on a regular basis update[s ] my faculty with coming event , so they can be disposed and ready to keep the peacefulness . ” He also added that most of the arrests in his county have been “ very peaceable , ” and that “ another Anishinaabe core value Mnaadendimowin ( Respect ) has been very observable toward the people on both sides of this military issue . ” But as more attending is being ante up to how cops are treat protesters on the soil this summertime , it remain to be seen how they ’ll keep up their attack online on organizers ’ master line of communication .
“ It ’s quote - unquote understandable that [ police ] are come orders to absent people from Enbridge ’s right - of - room , ” tell Moore . “ It is a whole other kettle of Pisces the Fishes for them to be proactively prevent organize to inform the great unwashed about the egregious actions that this corporation is taking . ”
Correction 6/10/21 9:49 a.m. : This post has been updated to correct the spelling of Shanai Matteson ’s last name .
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