Tag: Dakota Access Pipeline
Standing Rock Tribe Opposes New Draft Environmental Impact Statement on DAPL
Fort Yates, ND β An environmental review of the Dakota Access Pipeline conducted by a consulting firm connected to the pipeline is raising concerns. More than two years after the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) was court ordered to conduct a new environmental…
Prosecutor Seeks 8 Years in Prison and Terrorism Enhancement for DAPL Saboteur Ruby Montoya
Des Moines, IA – Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 96 months in prison for Ruby Montoya, admitted Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) saboteur, which includes a ‘terrorism enhancement’ that could tack years onto her sentence.
In November 2016, on the night of the election…
Supreme Court Declines Appeal in Dakota Access Pipeline Case
Washington, DC – Today the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal brought by Energy Transfer, the energy giant behind the highly contested Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This means that the existing federal court decision in the case, which found the pipeline was…
MN Tapped Ohio, Nebraska Cops During Chauvin Trial, Daunte Wright Protests
Minneapolis, MN – During April 2021, Minnesota authorities flooded the Twin Cities metro area with riot police and National Guard soldiers. This was part of a multi-agency task force called Operation Safety Net that coordinated crackdowns during protests after the police killing of Daunte Wright…
Ruby Montoya Case Raises Questions about Cooperation and Movement Lawyering
Ruby Montoya is doing whatever she can to lighten her punishment after publicly admitting to a string of arson and sabotage attacks against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in 2017.
According to a recent article in The Economist, βMontoya agreed to cooperate with the FBIβ…
Ruby Montoya Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea, Citing Coercion, Entrapment and Mental Health
Iowa City, IA – On August 26, admitted Dakota Access Pipeline saboteur Ruby Montoya filed a motion in federal court seeking to withdraw her guilty plea, claiming she was coerced into signing it by her previous attorneys, movement βleadersβ, and her abusive father. The motion…
DAPL Saboteur Jessica Reznicek Sentenced to 8 Years
Des Moines, IA – On Wednesday, June 30, Jessica Reznicek was sentenced to eight years in federal prison after she admitted to sabotaging the widely opposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in 2017. Reznicek previously had pleaded guilty to the charge of Conspiracy to Damage an…
Water Protector Steve Martinez Released From #NoDAPL Grand Jury Detention
Bismarck, ND – On March 3, Steve Martinez was jailed at the Burleigh County Detention Center after refusing to testify before a secret federal grand jury investigating 2016 protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Martinez is now finally free as of April 12, according to…
Feds Jail, Fine #NoDAPL Witness for Refusing to Testify at Secret Grand Jury
Bismarck, ND – On Wednesday, March 3, Steve Martinez was arrested and imprisoned at the Burleigh County Detention Center after refusing to testify before a secret federal grand jury. Martinez was an eyewitness to a violent police attack on water protectors against the Dakota Access…
Standing Rock’s Wind Farm to Prioritize People, Land, and Nature Over Profit
Standing Rock Reservation – The tribe that led the fight against Energy Transfer Partner’s Dakota Access Pipeline is expanding its commitment as a leader in addressing climate change with the creation of a public power authority to develop a 235-megawatt (MW) wind farm.
Anpetu Wi…
Federal Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline Shut Down
Fargo, ND – After years of ongoing litigation surrounding the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), today District Judge James Boasberg ordered that the pipeline be shut down and emptied of oil within 30 days. Boasberg’s shutdown order is intended to last until the Army Corps…
Lakota People’s Law Project Hosts Panel with Greta Thunberg & Tokata Iron Eyes
Pine Ridge, SD β On the evening of Sunday, October 6, the Lakota People’s Law Project hosted a climate change forum including a youth panel with Tokata Iron Eyes, who is a local Indigenous rights advocate and youth climate activist, as well as Swedish youth…
Two Indicted For Sabotaging Dakota Access Pipeline
Des Moines, IA – Two environmental activists, Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for charges related to acts of sabotage against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in 2016 and 2017.
The two are charged with “one count of…
Infrared Aerial Surveillance Used at Standing Rock to Monitor and Track Protesters
Midwest, USA β Unicorn Riot obtained over 100 hours of infrared (IR) video footage taken by police surveillance aircraft during the 2016 protests in Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Drones, planes, and helicopters were used by law enforcement from multiple agencies to monitor…
Federal Prosecutions From #NoDAPL Movement Continue
Bismarck, ND – Almost two years after the eviction of indigenous encampments resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), federal prosecutions have continued to crack down on some of those involved.
All of the federal #NoDAPL cases stem around events on October 27, 2016, when a…
#NoDAPL Water Protector Michael ‘Rattler’ Markus Sentenced to Federal Prison
Bismarck, ND – A third federal defendant has been sentenced to prison as the US Attorney’s office continues to prosecute indigenous people involved in defending protest encampments opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in fall 2016.
Last Thursday, September 28, Michael Markus, also known as…
Red Fawn Fallis Sentenced to 57 Months in Federal Prison
Bismarck, ND – Red Fawn Fallis, a political prisoner arrested during the movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, was sentenced today in federal court by Judge Daniel Hovland. Fallis was sentenced to 57 months (4.75 years) in federal prison. She will receive a credit…
NoDAPL Water Protector Sentenced to Thirty-Six Months by Federal Judge
Bismarck, ND – Michael “Little Feather” Giron was sentenced by Chief Judge Daniel Hovland to thirty six months for Civil Disorder charges stemming from theΒ October 27th, 2016 defense of the Oceti Sakowin treaty camp during the #NoDAPL movement.
The treaty camp, erected in the…
Red Fawn Fallis Enters Non-Cooperating Plea Agreement
Mandan, ND – Attorneys for Red Fawn Fallis have announced that they have reached an agreement with government prosecutors in her case, which was set to go to trial later this month on January 28th.
Under the agreement announced on Tuesday, Fallis would plead guilty…
#StopLine3: Cedar Avenue Shut Down in Memory of Dennis Banks
Minneapolis, MN – In honor of American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis James Banks, who passed away on October 29, people took and held space in the middle of Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis on Saturday, November 5 slightly after 11 p.m. CDT. The shutdown was also…
Sheriffs’ Association Secretly Waged “Information War” on #NoDAPL Movement
Morton County, ND – A new investigation by DeSmog and Muckrock reveals the behind-the-scenes role played by the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) in crafting narratives for law enforcement tasked with protecting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from resistance by indigenous peoples and their allies.
Emails…
Two Women Claim Responsibility for Sabotage and Arson Attacks to Stop DAPL
Des Moines, IA – Unicorn Riot has received a press release from two women claiming responsibility for arson attacks and valve sabotage against the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the video below, these two women from Iowa publicly state their sabotage actions against the Dakota Access…
Sunoco Faces Backlash After Repeated Pipeline Drilling Spills
West Whiteland Township, PA – Construction of the Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline faces several new obstacles as local authorities and the public respond to a series of drilling accidents.
Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners recently voluntarily stopped construction in certain areas where horizontal directional…
Drilling for Mariner East 2 Pipeline Contaminates Drinking Water
West Whiteland Township, PA – Residents along the construction route of Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners’ Mariner East 2 pipeline are reporting contamination in their water after pipeline drilling accidents led to a chemical slurry compromising a well, which then tainted another well and several aquifers.
Over…
Camp White Pine Blockades Mariner East 2 Pipeline in Central Pennsylvania
Huntingdon, PA – After receiving all necessary permits from state regulatory agencies in February, Sunoco Logistics has been pushing ahead with construction of the Mariner 2 East Pipeline. Sunoco Logistics Partners and Energy Transfer Partners, announced the completion of their corporate merger on April 28.…
“We’ve Got No Choice”: Interview with Elise Gerhart of Camp White Pine
Huntingdon County, PA – In May, Unicorn Riot visited Camp White Pine, a direct action encampment on the Gerhart family’s property in the hills of Huntingdon County, PA. Several tree-sits currently sit on the easement for the Mariner East 2 pipeline, where Sunoco has claimed…
Federal Judge Says Dakota Access Pipeline Environmental Review Was Inadequate
Washington, DC – Federal judge James Boasberg today partially sided with the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes in their ongoing lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
In December 2016, the Army Corps of…