Drop The Charges!

22 June 2022

Walz-Flanagan Administration, County Prosecutors, Minnesota Leadership:

As you know, hundreds of water protectors are currently facing criminal charges in Minnesota for standing against Enbridge’s Line 3 expansion. They did so in defense of safe water, habitable climate, and Anishinaabe treaties, having exhausted every alternative.

More than 1,000 arrests were made in Minnesota to discourage opposition to this Canadian tar sands oil project. Police repression wrought egregious civil and constitutional rights violations, including surveillance, harassment, “pain compliance” torture, use of “less lethal” weapons against unarmed people including rubber bullets and pepper balls, denial of medical care, strip searches, solitary confinement, and credentialed journalists arrested without warning.

Hundreds of people are facing thousands of charges for protecting Minnesota's water, including dozens of dubious “felony theft” charges, “felony aiding attempted suicide,” and “conspiring, aiding and abetting” for publicly encouraging others to help protect the drinking water of millions from Line 3 tar sands. Some defendants may be crushed with fines over $3 million or jail time over a decade. Nearly 100,000 people have signed a petition requesting all charges be dropped. One district court judge requested a legal brief on dismissing charges “in the interest of justice.”

Law enforcement executing these arrests have been reimbursed $8.6 million through a “Public Safety Escrow Trust” directly funded by the Enbridge Corporation. The largest recipient of these reimbursements has been the MN Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Despite Enbridge’s agreement with the MN Public Utility Commission not to engage in counterinsurgency tactics, Minnesotans were heavily surveilled, harassed, and targeted by the Northern Lights Task Force, an intelligence operation comprised of Enbridge private security and law enforcement.

In response to this repression, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination took the extraordinary measure of requesting a response from the United States regarding allegations of human rights violations against the Anishinaabe associated with Line 3 construction. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders also met with Indigenous leaders over human rights concerns, specifically, violations of rights in the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in addition to Free, Prior and Informed Consent as outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Rapporteur’s investigation is ongoing.

Water protectors should not be criminalized for peacefully upholding treaty rights protected by UN conventions, the US Constitution, and affirmed by the US Supreme Court. With the climate in “code red” and the expanded Line 3 emissions equivalence of 50 new coal-fired power plants, it is critical we heed – not prosecute – those who put their bodies and their freedom on the line to defend a habitable planet.

Clearly, the concerns of tribal nations and peoples of all walks of life were justified. Enbridge’s rushed construction caused dire, ongoing damage to pristine aquifers, waters and wetlands, raising the need for a robust Line 3 federal Environmental Impact Statement to an emergency level.

According to the MN DNR, Enbridge violated permits and punctured three ancient artesian aquifers during Line 3 construction, causing extensive undisclosed damage to groundwater resources, losing nearly 300 million gallons to the surface. The most serious confirmed breach has yet to be fully stopped, and additional breaches are suspected.

The DNR ordered Enbridge to pay $3.32 million for its Clearbrook aquifer breach, and referred the matter for criminal prosecution. This puts Minnesota in the duplicitous position of criminally prosecuting both the multinational corporation damaging precious domestic water and those who tried to protect that water. 

Other unresolved concerns include at least 28 “frac-out” spills of significant quantities of toxic drilling fluid, polluting ground and surface waters, vegetation and wildlife. The company polluted surface water at 63% of HDD sites, including at the Mississippi headwaters, and released an undisclosed volume of toxic drilling fluid into aquifers.

Another day, this could well be Canadian tar sands poisoning rivers, including the Mighty Mississippi, from Minnesota on down through 10 states to the Gulf of Mexico, endangering the water millions rely on daily. Who will be blamed then, and who will pay? Tar sands oil, among the world’s dirtiest extreme fossil fuels, is nearly impossible to clean up because it sinks to the bottom of waterways.

Enbridge’s violations in Minnesota have compounded the oil giant’s admission it will not abide by agreed conditions to obtain liability insurance or establish an escrow fund to mitigate damages from future spills. Moreover, Minnesotans continue to wait for the stipulated decommissioning plan – a standard Enbridge follows in Canada, with over $1 billion paid. Together, these failures on Line 3, aka Line 93, leave landowners and taxpayers holding significant liability. Enbridge’s record includes the largest inland oil spill in US history and over 800 spills in the past 15 years. 

We urgently invite and implore you to stand responsibly on the public-trust side of history. Do everything in your power to support dropping the charges against water protectors.

For any charges not dropped, we specifically call on the Walz-Flanagan Administration, under Minn. Stat. § 8.01, to appoint Attorney General Ellison as special prosecutor for the most egregious cases, including those in which the State is extending inconsistent plea offers to water protectors. 

The fossil fuel era is over, time is short for managing its decline and building just green economies. Use your power to demonstrate concern for integrity and justice, water and climate, people and future. 

~ Signatories ~
Indigenous Leaders:
Tania Aubid, Welcome Water Protector Center, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
Nancy Beaulieu, MN 350 Northern Minnesota Organizer, Leech Lake Reservation Enrollee
Sasha Beaulieu, Red Lake Treaty Camp Founder, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Line 3 Construction/Cultural Monitor, Red Lake Nation Cultural Advisor
Julia Bernal, Director, Pueblo Action Alliance, Sandia Pueblo and Yuchi 
Carole Blodgett, Founder and Director of Nurture The Children and their annual Water is Life Walks, Water Walker, Penobscot and Lakota
Crystal Cavalier, Founder and Executive Director, Missing Murdered Indigenous Women Coalition of NC, Citizen, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation
Sherry Couture, Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Anishinaabe 
Paul DeMain, Chairman of the Board, Honor the Earth, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
Louise Erdrich, writer, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, Owner Birchbark Books
Ashley Fairbanks, White Earth Anishinaabe, Artist & Activist
Jennifer K. Falcon, Lakota, Nakoda, Dakota, and Ashley McCray, Oglala Lakota, Absentee Shawneee, Ikiya Collective 
Cherri Foytlin, Executive Director, Movement Training Network 
Dallas Goldtooth, Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network, Mdewakatonwan Dakota
Dawn Goodwin, 1855 Treaty Authority Board Member, Anishinaabe/White Earth
Amy Gray, Senior Climate Finance Strategist, Stand.earth
Roy Walks Through Hail (Broncheau), Red Lake Treaty Camp, Red Lake Nation Cultural Advisor, Nimipuu
Siihasin Hope, Giniw Collective Member, Diné/Navajo Nation 
Tara Houska, Giniw Collective Founder, tribal attorney, Couchiching First Nation Citizen 
Winona LaDuke, Honor the Earth Executive Director, Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg of the White Earth Reservation Enrollee 
Sarah LittleRedfeather, Honor the Earth Media and Marketing, Anishinaabe resident of 1855 Treaty Territory 
Thomas Lopez, Youth Direct Action Fund Manager, Future Coalition, Sicangu Lakota, Otomi (Xicano) 
Mary Lyons, Humanitarian, Author, Wisdom Keeper, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Enrollee 
Kelly R Maracle, Haudenosaunee water protector, land defender 
Taysha Martineau, Camp Migizi Founder, Water Protector and MMIW Activist, Gitchigumi Scouts Co-Founder, Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Anishinaabe 
Gina Peltier, Honor the Earth Organizer, Anishinaabe of the Turtle Mountain Pembina Band 
Matt Remle, editor and writer for Last Real Indians and LRInspire, Co-Founder, Mazaska Talks, Hunkpapa Lakota 
Love Sanchez, Co-Founder of Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, Member of Karankawa Kadla, Gulf Coast Tribe of Texas  
Simone Senogles, Indigenous Environmental Network Leadership Team, Anishinaabekwe from the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe

Ron Turney, Traditional Artist, Photographer, Indigenous Environmental Network Media, White Earth Nation

Signing in Support of Indigenous Leaders:
Gillian May Boeve, Executive Director, 350.org
Kathleen K. Harr, Steering Committee Member, 350 BucksCounty PA
Mary Kay Benson, Steering Council Manager, 350 Butte County
Sherry Pollack, Co-Founder, 350 Hawaii
John Greenler, Executive Director, 350 Madison
Carolyn Britt, 350 Mass
Rebecca Beaulieu, Communications Director, 350 New Hampshire
Dorian Fulvio, Steering Committee Member, 350 NYC
Nicole Grant, Executive Director, 350 Seattle 
Daniel Villa, Volunteer, 350 Tacoma
Karen Bearden, Coordinator, 350 Triangle
John Greenler, Executive Director, 350 Wisconsin
Shanai Matteson, Writer/Organizer, 5th-generation Aitkin County resident
Karen Bueno, Leaders Team Member, Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action
Erika Thi Patterson, Campaign Director, Climate and Environmental Justice, Action Center on Race and the Economy
Mark Ruffalo, Actor and Activist
Nancy Treviño, Associate Director for Network Power, Alianza Americas
Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch
Sarah Stewart, President, Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc.
Kate Sugarman, MD, Arm in Arm
Heather Cantino, Steering Committee Chair, Athens County's Future Action Network
Ted Glick, Author and Activist, Beyond Extreme Energy
Jane Kleeb, President, Bold Alliance
Marie Venner, Co-Chair, Businesses for a Livable Climate, Chair, Small Business Alliance
Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations - Minnesota 
Kyle Rosenthal, Coordinator, Catholic Divestment Network
Stefanie Klass, Co-Chair, CatholicNetwork US and Call to Action Colorado
Kierán Suckling, Executive Director, Center for Biological Diversity 
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director, Center for Protest Law & Litigation, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
Allison Connelly-Vetter, Sabbatical Director, Center for Sustainable Justice
Abigail Waldron, Change the Chamber*Lobby for Climate
Mary McAvity Cerulli, Founder, Climate Finance Action
RL Miller, President, Climate Hawks Vote
Laura Gardner, Chair, Climate Reality Massachusetts Southcoast
Jim Smith, Co-Chair, Colorado Businesses for a Livable Climate
College Climate Coalition
Fred Kirsch, Director, Community for Sustainable Energy
Francisco Segovia, Executive Director, Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina
Tom Swan, Executive Director, Connecticut Citizen Action Group 
Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, General Manager, Cooperative Energy Futures
Gracie Brett, Co-Director, Divest Ed
Mary Gutierrez, Director, Earth Action, Inc., and Earth Ethics
Eileen Flanagan, Campaign Director, Earth Quaker Action Team
Ka Hsaw Wa, Executive Director, EarthRights International 
Rev. Keith Olstad, ELCA pastor, retired
Cedar Schimke, Executive Director, Slow Food Minnesota
Katie Bowers, Managing Director, Fandom Forward
Jane Fonda, Founder, Fire Drill Fridays
Rev. Arif Mamdani, First Universalist Church of Minneapolis
all core organizers, Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard
Shannon Smith, Executive Director, FracTracker Alliance
Mary-Ellen Maynard, Co-Leader, Fremont County CO Indivisible
Katharina Maier, National Coordinator, Fridays for Future U.S.
Stephen Dock, Presiding Clerk, Friends Meeting of Austin, Religious Society of Quakers
Chris Paine, Film Director, Friends of the Earth 
Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager, Friends of the Earth US
Erich Pica, President, Friends of the Earth-US
Susu Jeffrey, Founder, FriendsofColdwater.org 
Codi Norred, Executive Director, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light
Nichelle Taylor, Program Director for Policy Development and Implementation, Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance
Fran Teplitz, Executive Co-Director, Green America
Andrew Butts, Founder, Green Neighbor Challenge
Amy Bruckner, Board Secretary, Guardians of the Brandywine
Madeleine Jacobs, MD, Health Care for All Fremont County
Brenna Doheny, PhD, MPH, Executive Director, Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
Keri Pickett, Filmmaker/Photographer, Honor the Earth
David Huckfelt, Musician, Water Is Life Festival Organizer, Honor the Earth
Sue Mossman, Chair, Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship's Climate Action Campaign
Rachael Lehman, Chair, Healthy Communities, I-70 Citizens Advisory Group
Sharon M Day, Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Task Force
Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers
Philip Beck, Co-Founder, Indivisible Ambassadors
Jennifer Arnold, Co-Director, Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia
Sue Blythe, Coordinator, Interfaith Climate Group
David Cooley, Friend and Volunteer, InterNātional Indigenous Initiative for Transformative Collaboration
Harrison Ashangwa, Executive Director, International Student Environmental Coalition
Jim Schulman, Principal, Jim Schulman Architecture
Marian Moore, Co-Founder, Jubilee Gift
Rev. Matthew James Obadiah Allen, Justice Frontline Aid, Nur-D
Faith Smith, Curator, Lac Courte Oreilles 
Jill Linzee, Co-Chair Climate Change Issue Group, Maine Unitarian Universalist State Advocacy Network
John C Miller, President, Mana Pacific; Veteran, US Navy; Plaintiff Representative, Wai Ola Alliance 
Amy Petré Hill, Founder/Community Chaplain, Mental Health & Inclusion Ministries
Cheryl Nenn, Riverkeeper, Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Ben Connelly, Reverend, Minnesota Zen Meditation Center
Theresa "Tee" McClenty, Executive Director, MN350 
Anne Hedges, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Montana Environmental Information Center
Emmett Hobley, Co-Chair, Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association
Bonnie Raitt, Musician/Activist
Dr. Karen E. Wills, Executive Director, MN Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
Dr. Steven Norris, NC Alliance to Protect People and Places We Live
Rev. Susannah Tuttle, NC Council of Churches / NC Interfaith Power & Light
Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director, New Energy Economy
Anni Hanna, Director, New Mexico Climate Justice
Dr. Virginia Necochea, Executive Director, New Mexico Environmental Law Center 
Carol E Gay, President, NJ State Industrial Union Council
Jerry Rivers, Environmental Scientist, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment
Kristi Douglas, Commerce City Councilor and Co-Chair, North Range Concerned Citizens 
James William Reents, Water Protector, Northern Water Alliance 
Mike Tauber, Director, Northern Water Alliance of MN
Courtney Vail, Campaign Director, Oceanic Preservation Society
Ronnie Cummins, International Director, Organic Consumers Association
Emily Martin, National Policy and Programs Manager, Our Climate
Catherine Hunt, PDA NJ Chapter
Laurel Tumarkin, Organizer, People's Climate Movement - NY
Nomi Green, Ordained Buddhist, Plum Village community of engaged Buddhism
Nathalie Peña, Communications Coordinator, Power Shift Network 
Matt Nelson, Executive Director, Presente.org
Elizabeth M.T. O'Nan, Director, Protect All Children's Environment
Shelley Tanenbaum, General Secretary (Director), Quaker Earthcare Witness
Michael Martin, Founder/CEO, r.Cup / Effect Partners
Pallavi Phartiyal, Deputy Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network
Cheryl Barnds, Co-Chair, RapidShift Network
Jeff Hart, Co-Founder, Save EPA
Erik Wallenberg, Acquisitions Editor, Science for the People
Camille Rullán, National Secretary, Science for the People
Janet MacGIllivray, Co-Executive Director, Seeding Sovereignty
Dan Chu, Acting Executive Director, Sierra Club
Christy McGillivray, Political and Legislative Director, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter 
Kamau Wilkins, Chair, Sierra Club North Star Chapter
Laura Lane and James Davies, Co-Chairs, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter
Jackson Browne, Songwriter
Shannon Francis, Executive Director, Spirit of the Sun, Inc.
Brannen Basham, Co-Owner, Spriggly's Beescaping
Lori Cocking, DIW Board Member, St Luke Presbyterian Church
Matt Krogh, US Oil & Gas Campaign Director, Stand.earth
John B. Schmid Jr., Standard Clay Products Co.
Maura Stephens, Coordinating Committee Member, System Change Not Climate Change
Timothy Edward Duda, Director, Terra Advocati
Robin Schneider, Executive Director, Texas Campaign for the Environment
Chris Murawski, Executive Director, The Clean Air Coalition of WNY
Harmony Cummings, Co-Founder, The Green House Connection Center
Bill McKibben, Founder, Third Act and 350.org 
Rev. Ashley Horan, Organizing Strategy Director, Unitarian Universalist Association
Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, Executive Director, Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of North Carolina
Fran Aguirre, President, Unite North Metro Denver
Marilyn Frankenstein, retired Professor, University of Massachusetts/Boston
Ruth G. Shaw, Professor, University of Minnesota
Chandler Davis, Professor, University of Toronto
Tom Larsen and Thomas Bauch, Veterans For Peace
John Alder, Veterans for Peace Chapter 35
Dave Logsdon, President, Veterans For Peace Chapter 27
John C. Pegg, Reverend, Veterans For Peace Chapter 27 
John Alder, Veterans For Peace, Spokane Chapter
Jean Ross, Board President, Vote Climate
Paddy McClelland, CoFounder, Wall of Women
Paula Maccabee, Advocacy Director & Counsel, WaterLegacy
Lori Stephens, Western North Carolina Climate Action
Chris Calwell, Co-Chair, Western Slope Businesses for a Livable Climate
Helgaleena H, AD, White Rabbit Grove RDNA
Dennis Wilwerding, President, Wilwerding Consulting, Co-Chair, Littleton Business Alliance
Al Gedicks, Executive Secretary, Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
Kristin Dooley, Director, Women Against Military Madness
Carol Walker, Board Member, Women Against Military Madness
Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network
Renée M. Chacon, Executive Director/Co Founder, Womxn from the Mountain