Water Protectors Occupy Work Sites and Lock Down to Line 3 Pipeline Construction
Hubbard County, MN – Dozens of water protectors descended on two work sites for Line 3 construction in Northern Minnesota on the morning of July 1, 2021, stopping construction at both sites for the day. Fourteen people locked down to various construction vehicles including the pipeline itself; twenty-eight water protectors were arrested.
[UPDATE] The official number of arrestees from the two work site actions was 28. All were released Friday evening. Bails were set high at $10,000 without conditions, and $5,000 with conditions. No cash bail at 10% was offered. Many of the activists were charged with felony theft. This marks the second time in the fight against Line 3 that water protectors have been charged with felony theft.
Unicorn Riot documented the situation live from the ground. Watch nearly nine hours of streams from today:
Final approvals in November 2020 gave Enbridge, a Canadian energy corporation, the go-ahead to complete the Minnesota section of what the company is calling the Line 3 Replacement Pipeline. The planned pipeline route stretches across 337 miles of traditional Anishinaabe Territory in Northern Minnesota, beginning at tar sands mines in Alberta, Canada and ending at refineries in Superior, Wisconsin.
Water protectors opposed to the contentious Line 3 pipeline project have regularly staged non-violent direct actions that temporarily stop construction, with several hundred arrested in action campaigns over the last year. In June, 179 people were arrested, and dozens cited, when thousands of water protectors shut down an Enbridge pumping station for two days as part of a multi-pronged Treaty People Gathering in Northern Minnesota.
Participating in the July 1 lockdown, Ginger Cassady, the Executive Director of the Rainforest Action Network, called on President Joe Biden and the financiers of the pipeline project to stop Line 3 construction.
“Im in Northern Minnesota at the Headwaters of the Mississippi protesting Enbridge’s toxic pipeline. This pipeline is not only a direct assault on Indigenous people but it’s also an assault on their local land treaty rights.”
– Ginger Cassady, E.D. Rainforest Action Network
Large numbers of police have arrived to the scene of an ongoing direct action where 14 water protectors are locked down to #Line3 construction equipment. Watch #LIVE here: https://t.co/M9IboVeMMF pic.twitter.com/6GCuQJpKBM
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) July 1, 2021
Earlier this week on June 28, dozens of Hubbard County Sheriffs barricaded the entry into the Namewag Camp, a privately-owned property used by water protectors. This prompted a wave of supporters showing up to the land in solidarity. Nearly a dozen people were arrested near the roadway by authorities during a two-day span before the sheriffs left the property. Some believe the Hubbard County Sheriff’s aggressive, unusual enforcement of a minor clerical issue involving a county road easement by the camp property was timed to coincide with Enbridge drilling one of their crossings under the Mississippi River.
Enbridge plans to have construction completed by the end of the year. Meanwhile, direct actions by water protectors seeking to halt construction are expected to continue through the summer.
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Unicorn Riot's Line 3 Oil Pipeline Coverage:
- Landing Page for all Unicorn Riot Line 3 Resistance Coverage
- Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Speech Disrupted by Water Protectors - October 8, 2021
- Over 50 Line 3 Pipeline Protesters Arrested Outside MN Governor’s Residence - September 22, 2021
- Police Break Up Ceremony and Indigenous-Led #StopLine3 Occupation - August 31, 2021
- Hundreds March from Governor Residence, Urge Chase Bank Defund Line 3 - August 31, 2021
- First Trial from Treaty People Gathering Ends in Acquittal - August 23, 2021
- Line 3 Opponent Sentenced to Thirty Days in Jail - August 19, 2021
- Enbridge Spills 10,000 Gallons of Line 3 Drilling Fluid - August 16, 2021
- Line 3 Fusion Center Data Declared Secret - August 4, 2021
- Judge Orders Sheriff to Halt Harassment of Line 3 Resistance Camp - July 24, 2021
- Water Protectors Occupy Work Sites and Lock Down to Line 3 Pipeline Construction - July 1, 2021
- Hubbard County Barricades Private Property, Imprisons Water Protectors - June 28, 2021
- Indigenous-Led Blockades Occupy Line 3 Pipeline Sites - June 10, 2021
- Rising Up to the Heat: ‘Treaty People Gathering’ Resists Line 3 Pipeline - June 7, 2021
- Activists Serve Denver Wells Fargo Eviction Notice - May 3, 2021
- Appealing Line 3 Pipeline: Supply and Demand at Root of Hearing - March 23, 2021
- Caravan Disrupts Line 3 Construction Routes, Carlton County Triggers Backlash - March 13, 2021
- Treaty Rights Asserted During Creation of White Earth Camp - March 13, 2021
- 70 Water Protectors Cited, 1 Arrested During Line 3 Commemorative Rally - March 4, 2021
- Bipod and Car Blockade Jam Up Line 3 Construction - March 2, 2021
- Three Lock Down Inside Line 3 Pipeline For 6+ Hours - Feb. 21, 2021
- Lockdown to Keep it in the Ground: Line 3 Resistance - Feb. 15, 2021
- Court of Appeals Denies Motion to Stop Line 3 - Feb. 3, 2021
- Opposition to Line 3 Mounts - Jan. 29, 2021
- Resistance to Line 3: Direct Actions Aim to Stop Construction - Jan. 11, 2021
- Enbridge Line 3 Construction Blocked by Activists in Northern Minnesota - Nov. 18, 2020
- Protests After Permits for Line 3 Oil Pipeline Approved - Nov. 17, 2020
- ‘No KKKops, No Pipelines’ Banner Dropped in Minneapolis - Oct. 6, 2020
- “Divest from Climate Change!” Chase Bank Branch Protested on Opening Day - Nov. 7, 2019
- March to Protect The Sacred on Indigenous People’s Day 2019 - Oct. 14, 2019
- Hundreds Rally in Opposition to Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline in Minnesota - Sept. 28, 2019
- Direct Action in Minnesota as Line 3 Pipeline Approval Reversed - June 3, 2019
- Multi-Agency Task Force Prepares “Rules of Engagement” For Line 3 Protests - Feb. 11, 2019
- ‘Valve Turners’ Shut Down Enbridge Oil Pipelines in Minnesota - Feb. 4, 2019
- Arts, Culture, and Hip Hop Resist Line 3 as Lawsuits Against Approval Continue - Dec. 29, 2018
- Minnesota Police Train at Military Base as Line 3 Pipeline Protests Escalate - Oct. 25, 2018
- Judge Accepts Water Protectors’ Climate Change Necessity Defense - July 18, 2018
- Line 3 Oil Pipeline Approved By Minnesota Regulators - June 28, 2018
- As Line 3 Oil Pipeline Decision Looms, Indigenous Resistance Increases - June 26, 2018
- Interfaith Community Delivers Letter of Line 3 Opposition to Minnesota Government Offices - June 4, 2018
- Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Requests Line 3 Schedule Change - Jan. 10, 2018
- Rally Against Line 3 Minnesota Pipe Yards - Dec. 11, 2017
- Resistance to Line 3 Pipeline Seeks to Save Sacred Manoomin - Oct. 9, 2017
- Direct Action Ramps Up Resistance to Line 3 - Sept. 18, 2017
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