Judge dismisses #pipeline #protest charges against 3 #Native women
Kirsti Marohn
Brainerd, #Minnesota
September 18, 2023 3:45 PM
"Opponents of the #Line3 oil pipeline are celebrating an Aitkin County judge’s decision to dismiss charges against three Native women related to a 2021 protest.
"Activists #WinonaLaDuke, #TaniaAubid and #DawnGoodwin helped lead rallies as #Enbridge began work on a new #OilPipeline across northern Minnesota more than two years ago.
The charges against them stemmed from a rally on Jan. 9, 2021, when a large group gathered at a pipeline construction site near the #MississippiRiver in Aitkin County.
"The opponents, who called themselves #WaterProtectors carried signs and walked down a county road. Some Native women danced in jingle dresses, a healing tradition.
"Some group members later moved to another Aitkin County location, where they walked along U.S. Highway 169 and refused to leave a Line 3 construction site.
"LaDuke, Goodwin and Aubid were not arrested on Jan. 9. Authorities charged them weeks later by summons after identifying them in social media posts. They faced gross misdemeanor charges of trespassing and harassment, as well as misdemeanor unlawful assembly and public nuisance.
"A jury trial was scheduled to begin this week. But in a forceful opinion filed Sept. 14, District Court Judge Leslie Metzen dismissed all the charges.
"Metzen’s order noted the government’s historical mistreatment of #Indigenous people.
"'In the last 20 years I have come to a broader understanding of what we, the now dominant culture, did to try to eradicate our indigenous neighbors,' she wrote. 'We moved them by force and power and violence off the land where they lived for thousands of years. To make peace, we signed treaties with them that promised many things they never received.'
"Metzen wrote that she finds it 'within the furtherance of justice' to protect the defendants who were peacefully protesting to protect the land addressed in those treaties.
"She wrote that as respected members of #Anishinaabe tribes, LaDuke, Aubid and Goodwin were exercising their #FreeSpeech rights and #spiritual beliefs, including 'their heartfelt belief that the waters of Minnesota need to be protected from damage that could result from the #pipeline.'
'To criminalize their behavior would be the crime,' she added."
Read more:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/09/18/judge-dismisses-pipeline-protest-charges-against-3-native-women
#IndigenousNews #LaDuke #StopEnbridge #NoLine3 #Proestors #ClimateActivists #ThoughtCrime #Fascism #WaterIsLife
DoomsdaysCW /
npub1fp…pzf96
2023-09-20 17:16:45
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"content": "Judge dismisses #pipeline #protest charges against 3 #Native women\n\nKirsti Marohn\nBrainerd, #Minnesota \nSeptember 18, 2023 3:45 PM\n\n\"Opponents of the #Line3 oil pipeline are celebrating an Aitkin County judge’s decision to dismiss charges against three Native women related to a 2021 protest.\n\n\"Activists #WinonaLaDuke, #TaniaAubid and #DawnGoodwin helped lead rallies as #Enbridge began work on a new #OilPipeline across northern Minnesota more than two years ago.\nThe charges against them stemmed from a rally on Jan. 9, 2021, when a large group gathered at a pipeline construction site near the #MississippiRiver in Aitkin County. \n\n\"The opponents, who called themselves #WaterProtectors carried signs and walked down a county road. Some Native women danced in jingle dresses, a healing tradition. \n\n\"Some group members later moved to another Aitkin County location, where they walked along U.S. Highway 169 and refused to leave a Line 3 construction site.\n\n\"LaDuke, Goodwin and Aubid were not arrested on Jan. 9. Authorities charged them weeks later by summons after identifying them in social media posts. They faced gross misdemeanor charges of trespassing and harassment, as well as misdemeanor unlawful assembly and public nuisance.\n\n\"A jury trial was scheduled to begin this week. But in a forceful opinion filed Sept. 14, District Court Judge Leslie Metzen dismissed all the charges.\n\n\"Metzen’s order noted the government’s historical mistreatment of #Indigenous people. \n\n\"'In the last 20 years I have come to a broader understanding of what we, the now dominant culture, did to try to eradicate our indigenous neighbors,' she wrote. 'We moved them by force and power and violence off the land where they lived for thousands of years. To make peace, we signed treaties with them that promised many things they never received.'\n\n\"Metzen wrote that she finds it 'within the furtherance of justice' to protect the defendants who were peacefully protesting to protect the land addressed in those treaties.\n\n\"She wrote that as respected members of #Anishinaabe tribes, LaDuke, Aubid and Goodwin were exercising their #FreeSpeech rights and #spiritual beliefs, including 'their heartfelt belief that the waters of Minnesota need to be protected from damage that could result from the #pipeline.'\n\n'To criminalize their behavior would be the crime,' she added.\"\n\nRead more:\nhttps://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/09/18/judge-dismisses-pipeline-protest-charges-against-3-native-women \n\n#IndigenousNews #LaDuke #StopEnbridge #NoLine3 #Proestors #ClimateActivists #ThoughtCrime #Fascism #WaterIsLife",
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