Photo credit: Giniw Collective
Eleven protesters were arrested Friday after locking themselves to a fence at the Industrial Park.
Bemidji Police Officers that responded around 7 that morning reportedly asked them to leave the property voluntarily, before eleven were placed under arrest and removed from the locking devices.
In a release from the “water protectors,” 11 locked themselves to one another in front of the Bemidji Enbridge office to protest the company “bulldozing through Minnesota wetlands, watersheds and Anishinaabe treaty territory as lawsuits led by three Ojibwe tribes opposed to Line 3 remain pending.”
The Court of Appeals heard arguments a few weeks ago on whether or not Enbridge demonstrated a need for the pipeline and its oil product.
The eleven were arrested for trespassing on private property and obstructing the legal process, all misdemeanors.
The Bemidji Police Department was assisted by the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Bemidji Fire Department, Bemidji Ambulance Service, Minnesota State Patrol and the Beltrami County Jail.
Work on the 330-mile pipeline through northern Minnesota is on a planned pause until early June.
Once completed, which is expected later this year, the line will transport an average 760,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
