DoomsdaysCW<p>Judge dismisses <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/pipeline" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pipeline</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/protest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>protest</span></a> charges against 3 <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Native" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Native</span></a> women</p><p>Kirsti Marohn<br>Brainerd, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Minnesota" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Minnesota</span></a> <br>September 18, 2023 3:45 PM</p><p>"Opponents of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Line3" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Line3</span></a> oil pipeline are celebrating an Aitkin County judge’s decision to dismiss charges against three Native women related to a 2021 protest.</p><p>"Activists <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WinonaLaDuke" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WinonaLaDuke</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TaniaAubid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TaniaAubid</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DawnGoodwin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DawnGoodwin</span></a> helped lead rallies as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Enbridge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Enbridge</span></a> began work on a new <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OilPipeline" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OilPipeline</span></a> across northern Minnesota more than two years ago.</p><p>"The charges against them stemmed from a rally on Jan. 9, 2021, when a large group gathered at a pipeline construction site near the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MississippiRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MississippiRiver</span></a> in Aitkin County.&nbsp;</p><p>"The opponents, who called themselves <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> carried signs and walked down a county road. Some Native women danced in jingle dresses, a healing tradition. </p><p>"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.</p><p>"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.</p><p>"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.</p><p>"Metzen’s order noted the government’s historical mistreatment of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indigenous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Indigenous</span></a> people. </p><p>"'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.'</p><p>"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.</p><p>"She wrote that as respected members of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Anishinaabe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Anishinaabe</span></a> tribes, LaDuke, Aubid and Goodwin were exercising their <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeech</span></a> rights and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/spiritual" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>spiritual</span></a> beliefs, including 'their heartfelt belief that the waters of Minnesota need to be protected from damage that could result from the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/pipeline" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pipeline</span></a>.'</p><p>'To criminalize their behavior would be the crime,' she added."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/09/18/judge-dismisses-pipeline-protest-charges-against-3-native-women" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">mprnews.org/story/2023/09/18/j</span><span class="invisible">udge-dismisses-pipeline-protest-charges-against-3-native-women</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousNews</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LaDuke" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LaDuke</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StopEnbridge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StopEnbridge</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoLine3" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NoLine3</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protestors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Protestors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RespectTheTreaties" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RespectTheTreaties</span></a></p>