Water Protectors Lock Down Inside Line 3 Pipeline

pics via Giniw Collective

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

(Backus, MN) Thursday morning, water protectors locked to each other inside a Line 3 pipe segment, halting construction at an Enbridge worksite as dozens more held space.

The site is a few miles from a large Enbridge man camp operating in the township of Backus, Minnesota. Enbridge is working 24 hours per day at several worksites, as a pending injunction to halt work while tribally-led lawsuits are heard has yet to be decided.

According to several cultural site maps, numerous sacred and significant sites lie in the path of the Line 3 project.

Water Protector Abby Hornberger said, “After moving to Minnesota to attend college and study environmental science, I was excited to be in a place where people valued protecting the earth and finding a viable future. What I found, however, was a state that had formed “ambitious” climate goals yet endorsed one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, tar sands oil. I realized that indigenous ways of knowing and practicing harmony with the environment are continuously ignored. The Line 3 pipeline far outweighs all clean energy initiatives and progress being made in renewable energies. Line 3 will destroy Minnesota’s essential clean water resources for future generations and will ultimately drive us into climate doom. Education and spreading awareness is no longer enough to create meaningful change for me.”
Hornberger continued, “Enbridge’s last ditch effort to build fossil fuel infrastructure is killing people and the planet. I refuse to be complicit in settler colonialist practices, and feel that I have to put my body on the line to protect indigenous communities’ sovereignty and all of our futures. This is not just an issue relevant to some, it affects each of us on a deeper level that goes beyond our daily lives. It determines if we will have a livable future.” Continue reading

They let them in

The hypocrisy displayed today is not surprising but is too much to stomach. Chuds, fascists, and maga losers didn’t “storm” the Capitol, they were let in.

The armed takeover of the Capitol was explicitly white supremacist, violent, and not based in any truth or justice. Their sense of entitlement has been seeded by the disproportionate response they continuously get from the state, the police, the right, and the left establishment. This is just another reminder that in this settler, corporate-owned “democracy”, people in power will do nothing in the face of white supremacist violence and the disintegration of our collective social structures. If this was #BlackLivesMatter… There has already been so much violence towards our comrades for so much less — like literally walking down the street and being Black.

Republicans are reacting with surprise after decades of anti-Black racial agitation and Biden is feebly responding with empty messages of “unity”. We do not want unity without accountability and we do not want peace if there is no justice.

There’s going to be lots of bullshit coming in the next few days. White supremacists and fascists will be more emboldened. People in power and veneered talking heads will point blame and try to justify what happened. The establishment democrats will put out toothless and aesthetic responses and limply hold people accountable. That’s why we need to keep building and mobilizing our power to get everyone free by continuing to root our work in anti-racist principles and collective liberation and chasing fascists the f**k out of town.

Biden said today, “This is not America”… But this is EXACTLY what America is: White supremacy colonizes and reigns. The democratic establishment is not interested in justice. And the state will never protect or respond in the interest of the people.

Our communities and comrades keep us safe. We keep us safe.

Please support any or all of these D.C. groups doing the work to build, mobilize, and protect communities against racism and fascism in the U.S.:

If you can’t donate and have social media, please follow the accounts above and amplify their messages.

Lastly, Cori Bush just put up a petition demanding the resignation of the Republicans who supported the attempted coup today. Who knows what will happen, but it may be worth adding your name to the chorus of people demanding accountability. Keep in mind that Cori Bush and her coalition will send you emails after you sign it.

Here for the fight always, Rising Tide North America

PS: If you’re at a State House or a demo, reply to this email with anything you want us to amplify on our social media channels.

 

Backus, MN: Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Pipe-yard

pic via Giniw Collective

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 28, 2020
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com

Water Protector Ascends Tripod Blockading Enbridge Line 3 Pipe-yard

(Backus, MN) Monday morning, a water protector bravely ascended a tripod high in the air blockading an Enbridge pipe-yard, as dozens of supporters held space below.

Since giving the final green light on November 30th for Enbridge to bulldoze through Minnesota’s watersheds for its tar sands expansion project, the Walz administration has met a series of escalating direct actions with complete silence. Actions have ranged from mass arrest, prayer walks to proposed river drilling sites, tree sits, and locking to heavy equipment.

On December 19th, a Line 3 construction worker was killed at an Enbridge worksite. After an hours-long halt, work resumed.

Before ascending into the air in front of a tar sands pipe-yard, Emma Harrison said, “I’m part of the Line 3 resistance movement because this pipeline embodies everything I believe is wrong with the world. Profits for a few are being privileged over the well-being of all communities near and far, present and future. Stopping Line 3 is a tangible way to fight for the world I want to live in.”

Live updates and photos can be found on Giniw Collective’s Facebook page.

Water Protectors Ascend Trees to Block Enbridge From Drilling Line 3 Tar Sands Under Mississippi River

photo via Ginew Collective

cross-posted from the Ginew Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com
December 4th, 2020
Palisade, MN – Two water protectors began tree sits in the forest set to be logged for the drill pad of Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline at the Missisippi River. These sits are direct blockades to the attempt by Enbridge to drill Line 3 under the Mississippi River.
On Monday, Democrat Governor Tim Walz’ administration approved the final permits for Enbridge’s Line 3, a nearly 1M barrel per day tar sands pipeline transporting oil from Alberta for distribution to foreign market.
Tribal nations and local groups are seeking an injunction to stay construction while pending lawsuits are considered and the massive health risks building Line 3 poses during the COVID-19 pandemic – their request will be heard today at Minnesota Public Utility Commission. As of December 2nd, Minnesota is number one in the United States for number of COVID-19 cases per day. Enbridge has established multiple worksites along the Line 3 route with temporary housing facilities for its workers.
From their platform in the air, Willow said, “As I look out over the Mississippi River, the central artery of life on the Northern half of Turtle Island, I am comfortable in the certainty that we’re on the right side of history following the biological imperative encoded in our very DNA — to cherish life.”
Liam DelMain, 22, of Minneapolis, said, “Water is not invincible. That’s why I am here. Because Line 3 is a threat to the waters I hold dear, and that we all rely on. This pipeline project is violence. It is violence on the water, and on the people. It is a project that disregards the treaty rights of indigenous people, accepts the inevitable toxic spills into waterways, and greatly heightens the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in local communities. I am here, putting my body on the line, because I have been left with no other choices.”