MPR News staff/MPR news
Several dozen people protesting against the Line 3 oil pipeline project were arrested on August 28 outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul.
The State Patrol said 69 people were arrested “for several different charges – including disorderly conduct, third degree riot and felony threats of violence.”
Authorities said some people were arrested after failing to follow “multiple orders to leave,” while others allegedly tried to chain themselves to the fence and gate.
Protest organizers said several hundred people took part in a march from the Minnesota Capitol to the Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue, and said they were there to peacefully protest against the pipeline project in northern Minnesota as well as advocate for treaty rights and Indigenous sovereignty.
The people arrested were taken to the Ramsey County Jail. The State Patrol said no one was injured.
The arrests followed the arrests of four Line 3 protesters outside the Minnesota Capitol on August 27th, and a Line 3 protest that drew hundreds of people to the Capitol on August 25th.
Line 3 opponents have been calling on Gov. Tim Walz and President Joe Biden to pull permits and shut down the project to replace Enbridge Energy’s existing, aging Line 3 oil pipeline.
The Minnesota portion of the Line 3 project is approaching 90 percent completion – but those opposing Line 3 say they’re not giving up.
At the August 25th rally, Jaike Spotted Wolf – a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes from North Dakota who now lives in Seattle, and has spent months protesting Line 3 – said the climate crisis unfolding across the country, from fires to flooding and record heat, show that environmental issues impact everyone.
“All these weather events that are definitely not normal, and all that money going into oil that’s continual and perpetual could be going into those green energy projects,” Spotted Wolf said.
