Tag: direct action

April 29th: #FloodTrump is Coming to Washington DC!

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April 29th: #FloodTrump is Coming to Washington DC!

As we near the 100-day anniversary of Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands will converge in Washington DC for the People’s Climate Mobilization.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1807213426198166/

Alongside the major PCM march for jobs, justice, and climate, it’s time to take direct action to keep fossil fuels in the ground, stop dirty oil and gas pipelines, and build a just and sustainable future. Sign up to Flood Trump with action: http://bit.ly/FloodTrump

On SATURDAY, April 29th, immediately following the march, we’ll Flood Trump – we’ll meet up near the National Mall (15th and Constitution) by the Washington Monument. Follow the blue flags to join in, and bring your friends and a message from home to leave with Trump and his oily climate-denying friends. Join a mass sit-in as we share art, music, food, and stories of resistance and strategy about our work back home.

Trump’s ugly agenda of hate and climate denial has made it more clear than ever that climate action must come from the people. The lines in the sand have been drawn, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The climate showdown is coming – let’s Flood Trump.

SIGN UP HERE: http://bit.ly/FloodTrump

BREAKING: Dakota Access Pipeline Construction stopped again in Iowa

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iowaFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BREAKING: Dakota Access Pipeline Construction stopped again

October 14, 2016

CONTACTS  Alex Cohen: 314-971-6304, Ruby Montoya : 602-769-9332, MississippiStand@gmail.com

Keokuk, IA – At approximately noon a water protector, Cameron Kennedy, 27, of Minneapolis locked onto the drilling waste vehicle Dakota Access Pipeline has been using to transport drilling byproduct to an unlined earthen pit near the Des Moines River on Johnson Street Road in Keokuk, Iowa.

Samples from this earthen pit have been taken and are currently being tested to report levels of contamination allowed in an unlined earthen pit per standards of the EPA. This vehicle has been key in DAPL’s drilling underneath the Mississippi River here in Keokuk, Iowa.

“This truck is essential to the operation of the horizontal directional drilling occurring under the Mississippi. When the sludge tank is full, it must be transported and emptied before work continues,” Joe Byson of Colorado said today.

Kennedy locked onto the back frame of the truck. Initially, according to footage obtained, the driver of the truck refused to stop his vehicle. One arrest has been made of another supporter in the area. Yesterday, Krissanna Mara, another water protector, and Jenn Siege, an accredited member of the press were released from Lee County Sheriff’s custody. As of 1:30PM Kennedy is still reported to be locked on, hampering construction of DAPL.

This event continues to be a part of Mississippi Stand, a nonviolent direct action campaign in Keokuk, Iowa with aims to stop the drilling underneath the Mississippi. The camp, known as Mississippi Stand, has been in place since August 31st and was established in solidarity with Standing Rock, a Lakota camp challenging DAPL in North Dakota, and other Native American efforts to keep DAPL from destroying sacred and traditional lands. Workers are boring under the Mississippi river 24 hours a day. About 150 people have been arrested while peacefully protesting at the site to date. Public input was not allowed during planning for the pipeline route and permits were hastily granted without proper environmental studies. There are major community concerns around the safety of the project for the quality of the Missouri, Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

“There is another way, we have the technology, we have the infrastructure, we cannot continue to destroy our resources so that a select few from big oil can profit. We invite others to take a stand and say “no more” to big oil.” Alex Cohen.

Tonight the community in Keokuk, Iowa plans to rally through downtown to inform the public and stand in solidarity with these water protectors across the country. Images available at https://www.facebook.com/MississippiStandCamp/

Iowa Dakota Access Construction Shut Down By Another Water Protector

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iowaIowa Dakota Access Construction Shut Down By Another Water Protector

October 12, 2016

CONTACTS  Alex Cohen: 314-971-6304,  Ruby Montoya : 602-769-9332, MississippiStand@gmail.com

Keokuk, IA – After a string of shutdowns and demonstrations this weekend, another Water Protector shutdown a construction site in Keokuk, Iowa this afternoon. Krissana Mara, 31, of Thailand, arrived as a water protector of Mississippi Stand about a week ago and locked down to an excavator earlier this afternoon at a Dakota Access Pipeline in Keokuk. At approximately 1PM Mara arrived at the construction site. Pipeline workers left the site and police, fire department, and ambulance arrived shortly after.

Press was on the scene and one credentialed member of the press was arrested for trespassing as well. This is the second member of the Press that has been arrested within a week by Lee County Sheriff’s Department.

This direct action follows Mississippi Stand’s stance as a nonviolent direct action to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. Mississippi Stand states that it is a nonviolent direct action campaign with aims to stop drilling of the Dakota Access Pipeline through the Mississippi River. Mississippi Stand states that theirs is a strategic location as it is the only known site where Dakota Access is drilling underneath a major aquifer. Opposition to Dakota Access Pipeline continues to grow, as yesterday actress Shailine Woodley was arrested on film while joining water protectors in North Dakota.

Dakota Access Pipeline has obtained additional permits from the Army Corps of Engineers to continue drilling until December 31st. “This was expected, and we are prepared to stand on the right side of history — against big oil and the desecration of our resources until this pipeline is stopped,” said Jim Arenz, a media coordinator at Mississippi Stand.

Mississippi Stand claims their numbers have quadrupled since the eviction notice served last week and that their supporters continue to grow both locally and nationally.

Mississippi Stand plans a rally in downtown Keokuk Friday evening starting at 5:30PM, starting at Victory Park to march up Main Street to the courthouse steps where there will be speakers from the local community talking about the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Footage of the member of the press being arrested can be found on following this link and Mississippi Stand’s Facebook page.

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Sheriffs to Evict Water Protectors from Mississippi Stand Camp near Dakota Access Site

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callinFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct 4, 2016

Sheriffs to Evict Water Protectors from Mississippi Stand Camp near Dakota Access Boring Site

CONTACTS  Alex Cohen: 314-971-6304,  Ruby Montoya : 602-769-9332, MississippiStand@gmail.com

Keokuk, IA – Tuesday evening as the sun set over the Mississippi river near Sandusky, Iowa, Suarez, the local Sheriff served an eviction notice to the Mississippi Stand camp where last Saturday over 200 people from local communities and across the country protested peacefully to challenge the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Energy Transfer, the company building the pipeline, is boring under the Mississippi River against the wishes of many local residents.

In the face of such broad support, the Sheriff’s office, Suarez, and county attorney, Micheal P. Short, have decided to take the side of Energy Transfer, which has used eminent domain against local landowners and which threatens sacred and traditional Native territories along the pipeline route.Energy Transfer’s pipeline would move approximatly 470,000 barrels oil per day with capacity to move 570,000 barrels daily from the Bakken fields of North Dakota to be exported out to the gulf. The entire pipeline is projected to create only 40 jobs.

The Sheriff will arrive at the Mississippi Stand camp Thursday, October 6th  in an attempt to evict dozens of campers and local community supporters. Those at Mississippi Stand have vowed to continue taking action to stop pipeline construction as Energy Transfer’s October 31st deadline. With their numbers swelling each day, the camp plans to remain strong and continue its mission in spite of Thursday’s eviction threat and will offer an alternative location for those wishing to support.

The encampment known as Mississippi Stand has been in place since  August 31st and was established in solidarity with Standing Rock, a Lakota camp challenging DAPL in North Dakota, and other Native American efforts to stop construction from destroying sacred and traditional lands. Workers are boring under the Mississippi river 24 hours a day. About 100 people have been arrested while peacefully protesting at the site to date. Public input was not allowed during planning for the pipeline route and permits were hastily granted without proper environmental studies. There are major community concerns around the safety of the project for the quality of the Missouri, Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

Protectors are calling on supporters to come to camp and to call county attorney  Micheal P. Short at 319-524-9590. Camper Jim Arenz, a 54-year-old from Milledgeville, IL has answered the call stating,  “I’m here for my children and my grandchildren. We have a responsibility to leave them a better world than we inherited. More than 30 million people depend on the Mississippi River for drinking water. None of us get the economic benefits of this pipeline, but when it ruptures all of us will pay the cost.”

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