Tar Sands Blockade: Construction Halted As Protestors Face Arrests, Pepper Spray
Day of Action on the frontlines of the fight against Keystone XL pipeline
One day after thousands marched on the White House to protest the expansion of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, activists on the front lines in Texas faced pepper spray and arrests Monday as they blocked pipeline construction.
According to nonviolent coalition Tar Sands Blockade, officers from the Cherokee County Sheriff's office are attempting to remove three tree sitters who formed a new blockade along the Angelina River by "suspending themselves from 50 foot pine trees with life lines anchored to heavy machinery, effectively blocking the entirety of Keystone XL's path."
The officers attempted to extract the protestors with a cherry picker when about a dozen ground supporters linked arms in front of the machine. The report continues:
The driver from the cherry picker refused to stop until they hit one of the supporters with the vehicle. In an effort to disperse the crowd, police began indiscriminately spraying people in the face with pepper spray, including a 21 year old woman from Nacogdoches and a 75 year old woman with a heart condition.
This incident was one of many confrontations during the Tar Sands Blockade's Day of Action.
At another site Monday morning, police arrested and pepper sprayed blockaders who locked themselves to heavy machinery used for construction of the pipeline route. Despite the violence, the protest was successful in shutting down construction temporarily.
Tar Sands Blockade is providing live updates on their website, which is reporting a total of nine arrests so far today.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
One day after thousands marched on the White House to protest the expansion of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, activists on the front lines in Texas faced pepper spray and arrests Monday as they blocked pipeline construction.
According to nonviolent coalition Tar Sands Blockade, officers from the Cherokee County Sheriff's office are attempting to remove three tree sitters who formed a new blockade along the Angelina River by "suspending themselves from 50 foot pine trees with life lines anchored to heavy machinery, effectively blocking the entirety of Keystone XL's path."
The officers attempted to extract the protestors with a cherry picker when about a dozen ground supporters linked arms in front of the machine. The report continues:
The driver from the cherry picker refused to stop until they hit one of the supporters with the vehicle. In an effort to disperse the crowd, police began indiscriminately spraying people in the face with pepper spray, including a 21 year old woman from Nacogdoches and a 75 year old woman with a heart condition.
This incident was one of many confrontations during the Tar Sands Blockade's Day of Action.
At another site Monday morning, police arrested and pepper sprayed blockaders who locked themselves to heavy machinery used for construction of the pipeline route. Despite the violence, the protest was successful in shutting down construction temporarily.
Tar Sands Blockade is providing live updates on their website, which is reporting a total of nine arrests so far today.
One day after thousands marched on the White House to protest the expansion of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, activists on the front lines in Texas faced pepper spray and arrests Monday as they blocked pipeline construction.
According to nonviolent coalition Tar Sands Blockade, officers from the Cherokee County Sheriff's office are attempting to remove three tree sitters who formed a new blockade along the Angelina River by "suspending themselves from 50 foot pine trees with life lines anchored to heavy machinery, effectively blocking the entirety of Keystone XL's path."
The officers attempted to extract the protestors with a cherry picker when about a dozen ground supporters linked arms in front of the machine. The report continues:
The driver from the cherry picker refused to stop until they hit one of the supporters with the vehicle. In an effort to disperse the crowd, police began indiscriminately spraying people in the face with pepper spray, including a 21 year old woman from Nacogdoches and a 75 year old woman with a heart condition.
This incident was one of many confrontations during the Tar Sands Blockade's Day of Action.
At another site Monday morning, police arrested and pepper sprayed blockaders who locked themselves to heavy machinery used for construction of the pipeline route. Despite the violence, the protest was successful in shutting down construction temporarily.
Tar Sands Blockade is providing live updates on their website, which is reporting a total of nine arrests so far today.