Stop Line 3 activists have gotten a restraining order against Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes after activist Winona LaDuke was arrested last week during a protest.
LaDuke is the leader of Honor the Earth, an environmental group that has been protesting Line 3.
As reported by The Minnesota Sun, “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.” LaDuke was released Thursday, prior to the ruling, under certain conditions.
The conditions on LaDuke’s release read, “do not enter any Enbridge Exclusion Zone or any marked areas of Enbridge work sites in Aitkin County or elsewhere, or any Line 3 locations or work areas.”
According to Bring Me The News, LaDuke “sued the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office for ‘repeatedly blocking a driveway’ to the home, violating an easement — or property rights — that she was granted by the county after she purchased the home in 2018.”
One of the issues within the lawsuit was LaDuke transferred the ownership of the property to an activist group. It was not known whether the easement was legally part of the transfer or not.
BREAKING: RESTRAINING ORDER GRANTED.
Hubbard County, Sheriff Cory Aukes, & the local land commissioner in northern Minnesota must remove their unlawful blockade of a camp at Line 3. https://t.co/w1nF1Lf0Nk
📸: @GiniwCollective @ProtestLaw @zhaabowekwe @WinonaLaduke pic.twitter.com/rbY9EWSMM6— EarthRights Intl (@EarthRightsIntl) July 23, 2021
The ruling stated, “it is not clear Ms. LaDuke’s easement was ever extinguished.” The court ordered the sheriff to stop “barricading, obstructing or otherwise interfering with access to the property” unless it was a necessary “pursuant to a valid warrant or for criminal conduct.” The restraining order is only temporary.
As reported by The Sun, “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 claim that the line could worsen climate change and it would increase the risk of spills in areas where Native Americans hunt and fish, negatively impacting the tribal lands and their way of life, thus violating their tribal rights.
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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 “Cory Aukes” by Cory Aukes.
