Winona LaDuke, the leader of the Honor the Earth environmental group, was arrested along with six other women while protesting the Line 3 pipeline. As was reported on WCCO, three of the arrested water protectors “locked down one of Enbridge’s drills on Tuesday morning, halting drilling under the Shell River.” The women are facing trespassing charges. These arrests bring the total number of protesters arrested to over 600.
The Line 3 pipeline has been controversial since the start, with many environmentalists concerned about the potential impact of the line on the lakes and rivers it will flow through. The activists also say the line would worsen climate change and having the line would increase the risk of spills in areas where Native Americans hunt and fish, impacting the tribal lands and their way of life.
As reported by The Minnesota Sun, one weekend in June, around 250 water protectors were arrested at a protest that drew activists from around the country. “Activists have been coming to protest the pipeline from across the nation, claiming that it will negatively impact the environment, despite the measures in place to protect Minnesota wildlife.”
The activists claim that the line is a violation of the rights of Native Americans and disproportionately affects their land. They write that it is harmful because the line “would carry 700,000 barrels of tar sands oil from Canada each day. It would have a climate impact on par with Keystone, and pose an existential threat to waterways like the Mississippi. It would also violate Indigenous treaty rights.”
Some of those arrested have been bailed out with thousands in cash, as reported by The Sun. Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes said, “Time and time again, a protester makes a phone call and someone shows up with a duffel bag full of cash to bail them out. A bag full of $100 bills; in fact, $52,000 on one occasion. That is a lot of cash to be carrying around in a duffel bag.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network and The College Fix. She graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Winona LaDuke” by Winona LaDuke.
