Water Protector Climbs onto Section of Line 3 Pipeline to Prevent Damage to Pipe

cross-posted from Camp Migizi

Water Protector Climbs onto Section of Line 3 Pipeline to Prevent Damage to Pipe

[FOND DU LAC] Late Monday afternoon, three water protectors were arrested for blocking construction of Line 3. Two of the protestors were arrested while blocking the entrance to the site, while the third, Jeff Nichols, climbed onto a section of the pipeline dangling over a trench. Jeff sat on the pipe for nearly five hours, preventing workers from putting the pipe onto frozen sand bags which would have damaged the structural integrity of the pipeline.

In a Facebook livestream from Camp Migizi, a water protector camp based out of Fond Du Lac, Jeff shared that he felt compelled to act when he saw the workers were about to put the pipe into the ground onto frozen sand bags. In the livestream, it was also shared that OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, put out a mandate ordering Enbridge to not use frozen sandbags, as they force the pipe to bend, causing fractures and leading to spills.

On the livestream, Jeff can be heard saying, “It’s not even a question. This one will leak. The sandbags are frozen. You guys have already received violations for that” while other protestors shouted “all pipelines leak.”

Line 3, if built, would cross over 200 hundred bodies of water in Northern Minnesota, including the Mississippi River. Enbridge itself is responsible for numerous oil spills in Minnesota, including the largest ever inland oil spill in North America when nearly 1.7 million barrels of crude oil spilled in Grand Rapids.

For more information, contact Camp Migizi on Facebook.

Tell these advertisers to stop funding Fox News now

On January 6th, we all watched with revulsion as a violent mob of fascists and white supremacists overran the U.S. Capitol. As the weeks have passed, more and more is being revealed. From sketchy Capitol tours by Republicans to the involvement of high ranking law enforcement members, it’s so clear just how embedded white supremacists and fascists are on the right.

If we don’t rise up now against this growing fascist movement, these racist pieces of shit will continue to consolidate their base and radicalize more people with their hate and lies.

That’s why we’re launching our newest campaign to go after the white supremacists’ biggest megaphone: Fox News. If we can send enough messages to the companies giving millions in advertising money to Fox News today, we can send a strong message to some of the biggest U.S. corporations that there are consequences to being associated with hateful platforms like Fox News.

Send a message to the top 12 Fox News advertisers now to demand they stop funding lies, deadly disinformation, and extremist right-wing violence.

Here’s the list of the top 12 companies giving millions of advertising money to Fox News every year: GlaxoSmithKline, Liberty Mutual, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Intuit, NortonLifeLock, Nestle, Kraft Heinz, Progressive, Charles Schwab, Toyota, and Subaru.

According to Media Matters, Fox News has cast doubt on or pushed conspiracy theories about the November election nearly 800 times.

  • Lou Dobbs, on November 16, told Fox viewers that “this is a war, this is a battle for the control of our government and for the future of this nation.”
  • Sean Hannity, on December 18, said that “there’s no doubt this [election] was stolen. No doubt whatsoever.”
  • Jesse Watters, on his Fox show on December 26, said that “when they sabotage a president who actually changed things, we don’t rebel, we don’t march, we don’t resist. … We used to storm the castle over abuses of power like this.”

These repeated lies and incitements to violence led directly and predictably to what happened on January 6th.

This obviously isn’t just a matter of pushing lies about the election — Fox’s lies hurt all of our communities, whether they’re about climate denialism, scapegoating immigrants, undermining COVID public health measures, or saying that Black Lives Matter is going to “come for you” (Tucker Carlson, on June 8). Fox News is the gateway channel to far-right extremism in America.

It’s long past time for us to turn off Fox’s money faucet and the hypocrisy we’re seeing from corporations across the spectrum. At the same time as they’re putting out statements condemning the January 6 attacks, corporations like General Motors, Liberty Mutual, GlaxoSmithKline, and Subaru have continued buying ads on Fox News.

Join our campaign to call out the companies underwriting Fox’s dangerous lies and enabling fascist violence. These companies can either keep on funding Fox’s lies or say that they support American democracy — not both. It’s high time for them to choose.

Please send a message demanding that 12 of Fox News’s biggest advertisers stop funding Fox now.

Water Protector Climbs Into Line 3 Pipeline Trench To Stop Work

cross-posted from Camp Miigizi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 18, 2021
Contact: message Camp Migizi on Facebook

Water Protector Climbs Into Line 3 Pipeline Trench To Stop Work

(Fond Du Lac, MN) Monday morning, Nia Zekan, a water protector, climbed into a pipe trench along the Line 3 Pipeline easement, shutting down work for approximately four hours. Nia halted construction at this Enbridge worksite while dozens more stood around in support of Nia and resistance to Line 3.

The site is located on the Fond Du Lac reservation in so-called northern Minnesota, right next to Camp Migizi, a recently-opened space for water protectors. Continue reading

Why 2021 needs more direct action

BOSTON, MA: June 3, 2020: Thousands take part in a Black Lives Matter march and rally on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

cross-posted from Medium

by Scott Parkin

Back in the first week of June, 2020, soon after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin, I found myself once again in the streets marching in the streets of Oakland, CA and taking action for black lives. I’d been here many times before after the murders of Michael Brown, Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling. Beyond that, I’ve been organized and partaken in campaigns, direct actions and mass protests on a myriad of issues from the war in Iraq to knocking Wall Street banks for their financing of fossil fuels to the Indigenous uprising around Standing Rock for decades.

But that night felt different. The crowd has a ferocious energy. It trashed corporate banks and retail outlets. It tossed back teargas canisters launched by the Oakland police. It stood its ground as the police shot flashbangs. We established a temporary “cop free” zone at 14th and Broadway. When I returned home that night, I saw social media reports coming in from all over the country with similar images. I realized the ferocity was not unique to the Bay Area. A full scale uprising had erupted against various versions of the state — the police state, the corporate state and the federal state, particularly the malignant policies of the Trump Administration. Continue reading