WEBVTT - Part One: Welcome to the Ecological Resistance 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:07.320 As the record high heat wave of one hundred and 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:11.000 seventeen degrees hit my hometown of Portland, Oregon, in late 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:16.640 June one, I was facing down baton wielding county sheriffs 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:20.720 in the forests of Minnesota. Originally I was going out 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.440 of town to attend the twenty twenty one Earth First 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:27.320 Summer Gathering. I learned about it from some online friends, 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:29.760 and since I was already deep into research for this 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.040 very podcast, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.640 to learn from people who have been fighting against climate 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.120 change longer than I have been alive. I arrived in 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.479 Minneapolis in the early morning of June and then up 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.080 put someone to make the four hour drive north into 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.640 the lake dense forests of Minnesota. By the time we 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:50.960 arrived at the earth First camp, who was already dark 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.880 in the mosquito filled woods and it started to rain. 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.440 I could of myself indeed bug spray and scrambled to 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:00.800 set up my tent and rain flow. I It was 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.640 a long day. My exhaustion coupled with the rain, maybe 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.600 not bother to inflate my sleeping pad, a decision I 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:11.240 would soon regret. Come morning, I woke up with a moist, 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:14.399 sore back into the sound of a loud ringing bell 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:25.160 and someone yelling breakfast for me. That meant it was 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:29.200 time for morning coffee. I suppose before I get any further, 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.840 it would be useful to explain what exactly Earth First 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.319 is for those who are unfamiliar. Earth First is an 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.880 environmental movement focused on the protection and defense of nature, 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.520 the wilderness, and wildlife. It was sounded in nineteen eighty 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:45.959 as an alternative to other mainstream environmental organizations that were 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.600 seen as too moderate and willing to sacrifice demands and 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:53.000 goals to make deals with lawmakers and corporations. Earth First 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.040 invented the slogan no compromise and defensive Mother Earth to 0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:00.640 demonstrate their commitment to their more radical ideals. Some of 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:05.360 its earliest inspirations were non anthropocentric philosophies such as biocentrism 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:08.800 and eventually deep ecology. Earth First was also in part 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.400 inspired by Edward Abbey's nineteen seventy five book The Monkey 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:16.120 Wrench Gang, which follows a small gaggle of radical environmentalists 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.840 as they travel around the Western United States doing various 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.160 tax as, sabotage, attacking the machinery, and infrastructure that are 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.560 harming the planet. The novel became so ubiquitous that the 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:30.640 word monkey wrenching became a synonym for eco sabotage. A 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.640 few things set earth First apart from other more mainstream 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:38.519 environmental groups. Its non formal, largely non hierarchical organization structure 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:41.840 resulted in a loose network of local autonomous groups as 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:46.359 opposed to a national membership based organization. Its tactics were 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.600 more focused on civil disobedience and direct action rather than 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:54.400 lobbying and political deal making. Direct Action such as body blockades, 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:57.680 tree sits, and tree spiking i e. Putting metal rods 0:02:57.800 --> 0:02:59.959 or nails and trees to prevent them from being cut, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.959 gave earth First national media coverage, which in turn got 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:07.720 more people involved with actions. Earth First also launched a 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.480 magazine journal, which served as a public face and gave 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:14.520 earth firsters info and tips on direct action and different 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:19.400 writings on biocentrism. Around the early nineteen nineties, the organization 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.720 faced some growing pains. Debate between more performative protests and 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.280 get the goods style direct action is common in activist spaces, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:31.359 and earth First was no different. After a nine Earth 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:35.120 First summer gathering, in the UK, some activists, frustrated by 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.240 the increasingly mainstream and more hierarchical version of the Earth 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:42.000 First organization with an emphasis on civil disobedience over sabotaged, 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.000 formed a spinoff group called the Earth Liberation Front or 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.760 the e LF. Earth First continue operating the journal and 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:54.400 doing tree sets, blockades, civil disobedience, and occupation style protests. 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.720 While the ELF took credit for tree spiking, fire bombings, 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:04.800 and more fiery and instructive direct actions. Inevitably, business leaders, politicians, 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.840 law enforcement authorities, and many others would rise up to 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.880 attack these activists. The FBI labeled them the number one 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.920 domestic terrorism threat in two thousand one and began work 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.520 to suppress the entire green movement. This culminated in the 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.680 Green Scare of the two thousands, a federal crackdown and 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:25.719 mass surveillance project against environmental activism that was also in 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.840 part fueled by the heightened anti terror fervor post and 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.359 eleven and the terrorism enhancements in the Patriot Act. FBI 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:37.040 investigations and subsequent grand juries broke many of the actives 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:40.320 communities active at the time and scared more into hiding. 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:44.840 Many are still imprisoned today, quoting Braun Taylor, a professor 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:49.000 of environmentalism at the University of California, quote often complimented 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.080 by lawsuits, The radical environmental movement had no small number 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:56.920 of victories in the nineties, although the victories were often small. Nevertheless, 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.520 the perception of the movement's activists were that they were 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:03.240 losing overall and badly, and moreover, that the government was 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.919 not only corrupt and the cahoots with the industry, but 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:10.520 increasingly repressive. Such perceptions reinforced an increasingly common view in 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.000 the movement that the time had come to a shoe 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:17.520 above ground tactics and create an underground resistance movement. By 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.720 the mid ninety nineties, there was a proliferation of such tactics. 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:22.800 Between then and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.760 Center two thousand and one, at least twenty activists deployed 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.520 arson as a tactic torturing gas guzzling sports utility vehicles, 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.919 a ski lodge being built in the habitat of a 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.640 threatened species of Canadian links in Colorado, a forced service 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:39.159 office in Oregon, and trophy homes being built in ecologically 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.919 sensitive areas, to name but a few of these incendiary incidents. 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:45.479 Welly sorts of tactics have drawn the bulk of the 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.320 media's attention to these movements. Significant environmental victories have been 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:53.560 won or contributed to by radical environmentalists. In January one, 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.440 for example, the United States Forced Service under President Bill 0:05:56.480 --> 0:06:00.320 Clinton issued the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects over 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.800 fifty eight million acres of federal forest lands. Although it 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:05.760 took more than a decade of legal battles for imponents 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.120 of this rule to exhaust their legal challenges to it, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.440 it eventually became law of the land. It is inconceivable 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:13.800 that the government would have issued this important rule in 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.920 the absence of a decade of strong and disruptive resistance 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:21.200 to the Force Services Timber program bi radical environmentalists. Although 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:24.320 the rule did not provide everything the radical environmental activists sought, 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.480 it was a significant advance from biodiversity conservation in North America. 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.360 Every day at the Earth First Camp followed a rough 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.520 pattern wake up and breakfast call around seven, then a 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:47.800 morning circle where folks lay out the plan for the 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:50.840 day and make announcements. After that, the late morning to 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.359 early afternoon is split up into three time blocks for 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.360 various workshops at different sections of the camp, with lunch 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.920 somewhere in between time slots. Once workshops are done, it's 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.640 dinner time by the lake, and then usually some sort 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:07.560 of evening activity. The workshops covered a broad range of topics, 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:09.160 from how to climb a tree to how to do 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.280 comfort resolution. Many were pre planned, but if you had 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.320 a skill you wanted to share, time was set aside 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.800 to do an impromptu workshop. The main workshops were on 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.280 Indigenous solidarity and land Back, the History of Earth First, Slash, 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:24.560 the Radical Green Movement, and an Overview slash discussion on 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:29.560 direct action. Direct action is about literally taking direct action 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.840 in hopes of achieving a tangible goal. It's not simply 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.559 a protest march. Direct action means actually getting something done. 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.040 People who call themselves Earth First are usually known for 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:43.520 doing direct actions that temporarily inconvenience those who wish to 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.680 harm the planet, while also trying to gain positive media 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.360 attention or optics to grow massive support of the overall 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.920 green movement. Examples of these actions include tree sits and lockdowns, 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.920 more permanent and destructive tactics, and direct actions like burning 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.000 down an ecologically distry active ski resort construction site or 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.000 torching high carbon emitting luxury SUVs were more associated with 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.080 the ELF or the Earth Liberation Front. The Direct Action 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.040 workshop went over many examples of direct actions from years 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.120 passed and around the globe. People discussed what goals the 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.360 actions may have had, if the actions achieved that goal, 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.160 the different risks of participating in the action, and what 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.120 the public perception might have been, all of which are 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.920 important things to consider when planning an action. Also discussed 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.760 was slight deception as a useful tool for planning the 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.640 risk and optics of an action. A past protest was 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:38.080 shown as an example. At that protest, Indigenous folks were 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.160 attached to fake chains so it looks like they were 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:43.160 locked onto equipment while standing in front of a large 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:47.679 message banner for media attention and pictures. Meanwhile, white protesters 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:51.360 behind them were locked down to actual equipment, thus putting 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.319 the indigenous activists at the center of media coverage while 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.320 having white folks bear the brunt of the burden of 0:08:56.360 --> 0:09:01.720 state repression. A green activism classic are body blockades. Generally 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.800 there are two types, hard and soft. Soft blockades are 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:10.120 just bodies linked together. Hard blockades use lock boxes, typically 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.880 made out of metal or plastic tubes that people attach 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.840 their limbs to on the inside, that are then attached 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:20.600 around equipment machinery, train tracks, or gates. Other hard blockades 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.800 can use technology like bipods or tripods to suspend people 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.600 up in the air to physically block off a space. 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.600 Innovation and experimentation are key to the success of these devices. 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:33.520 The state already knows of and how to quickly counter 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:37.679 most popular lock box designs, though rule policing areas may 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.320 be less trained on how to counter these more militant tactics. 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.840 Having a publicly announced protest march serve as a sort 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.160 of distraction action as other folks can do shenanigans and 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.080 monkey wrenching behind the scenes at other spots was mentioned 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:53.120 as a useful idea, but one that's rarely utilized. There 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.040 were also discussions of other activism and direct action related concepts, 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:01.040 such as affinity groups and security culture. An affinity group 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.800 is essentially your specific small crew of people that you 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.320 are with at an action. You all watch out for 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:10.080 each other and usually have linked goals. Security culture is 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:12.400 a broader concept that we don't have tons of time 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.240 to get into today, but one aspect of it is 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.080 is that there's information that you, your friends, and especially 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.880 strangers don't need to share or sometimes even know about 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.320 at all. A good security culture habit to get into 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.640 is thinking about if sharing details or even letting it 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.480 be known that you have knowledge of certain things could 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.640 put people at risk before you say anything at all 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:39.280 to anyone. This includes bragging about things, especially direct actions 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.360 that you may or may not have participated in in 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.559 the past, even if you're telling a quote unquote trusted 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.280 group of friends or on your quote anonymous Twitter account. 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:53.120 Another big discussion point was risk assessment, knowing what risks 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.240 you can and can't take for whatever reasons, both at 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.600 actions and during the planning process, and then trying to 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:03.679 plant accordingly to set yourself up for the best possible outcome. This, 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.200 by no means always works out, but it's still a 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.439 good thing to practice and something that may save your skin. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.000 One method of trying to suss out rough risk levels 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.720 is the stoplight system, which divides actions into green, yellow, 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.360 and red. These are areas of the physical protest space 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:24.120 and or specific rules linked to different levels of risk. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.200 Green means that you plan on getting out of the 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:31.280 protests without getting arrested. This includes stuff like protest theater, 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.280 holding signs and banners, doing legal support work, doing protest 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.880 extraction i e. Going around in a car, picking up 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:41.000 folks as they're trying to leave an escalating situation, or 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.760 even just standing in a large group to help anonymize 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:47.400 other folks in the crowd, doing more mischievous actions. Yellow 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:49.600 means that you'd rather get out of the protests without 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.199 getting arrested, but you may be in scenarios where that's 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.160 slightly more likely to happen. This includes being a part 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.880 of the shield slash umbrella walls, attempting d arrests, perhaps 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.680 throwing a water bottle at an armed man with a badge. 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.439 Being able to move quickly is a really useful skill 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:08.080 for folks that take up yellow rolls. Red means that 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.760 you plan on being arrested, whether it be for tree 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:12.960 sitting or locking down to the gate of ice facility 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:17.880 to temporarily prevent the transportation of immigrants, among other possibilities. 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.080 Also included in this category are people who get arrested 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.760 for optics purposes, although getting arrested solely in hopes of 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.720 getting good media coverage is a point of contention in 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.080 certain activists circles. The stop flight method is by no 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.439 means perfect or applicable in every scenario, but I included 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.120 it here as an example of one way to do 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:41.240 very basic risk assessment related to organizing practicing split second 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.600 in group decision making was also discussed as a really 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.000 good habit to get into. Things like a D and 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.600 D and role playing games are great ways to do this. 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.800 As an RPG party is very much like an affinity group, 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.120 and in the end, it's important to remember actions have 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:59.720 the potential to be empowering and achieve measurable change. Sometimes 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.760 you can do both, sometimes just one, and sometimes neither. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.480 At the end of Earth First Gathering is there's usually 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.720 some sort of project or direct action. As we were 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.120 in northern Minnesota, it was a decent assumption that this 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.680 one would be related to the Line three pipeline currently 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:30.160 being constructed across the Minnesota wilderness, including underneath lakes, wet 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:34.360 lands growing sacred wild rice, and the Mississippi River headwaters. 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:38.240 People from the nearby stop Line three protest camp named 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.240 the may Wog came over to the Earth First Gathering 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.559 a few times, either to hang out or attend workshops. 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.920 A panel of Indigenous folks from the GNU Collective and 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:52.080 Indigenous Women and Two Spirit led Frontline Resistance group drove 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.320 from the Stop Plane three camp and gave a wonderful 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:59.080 panel on land back and how to show Indigenous solidarity. Monday, June, 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.800 Day three of the week long gathering, started out like 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.640 any other day thus far. The early morning wake up 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.280 bell that my Pacific time zone brain was slowly adjusting 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:12.320 to coffee and breakfast, and then morning circle. Today I 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.640 planned on strapping on a harness and doing some tree 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.640 climbing at the training setup they had in camp. But 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.440 during morning circle we had a surprise announcement at the 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.880 Stop Plane three camp near Park Rapids, Minnesota, situated on 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.720 a piece of private property owned by the activists. Mind you, 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.080 the Hubbard County Sheriff's had shown up at six am 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.000 with a piece of paper that said they would be 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.680 blocking off access to the driveway leading to the private property, 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:42.160 letting us suspicious, obscure and never before enforced land use ordinance, 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.280 saying that the property owners didn't have an official easeman 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:49.160 to use the driveway. Part of the paper read quote 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:54.239 the trail will be barricaded beginning on June at ten am. 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.760 Beveagles not be allowed to enter for any reason after 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.960 this time. Beagles driving on this Hubbard County owned trail 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.720 or in violation of the Hubbard County land Use Ordinance 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.440 and enforcement action will be taken by the Hubbard County 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:10.560 Sheriff's Office unquote. This also meant that vehicles were not 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:14.400 allowed to leave, effectively trapping people inside with limited cell 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.520 service and supplies. Water has to be hauled in from 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:21.280 a nearby town into the Nomawag camp and the camp 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.240 property has no utility hookups and it's only accessible via 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.440 this driveway that runs through one fifty foot strip of 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.440 public land owned by Hubbard County. The land use ordinance 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.840 has only been around since two thous and seven, and 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.320 the driveway in question has been around for at least 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.080 over four decades, according to land records and aerial photographs. 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.720 Plus basic property law, use dictates that you can't landlock someone, 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.200 and usually for property to even be sold, it needs 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.440 to have access to a public road. The previous owner 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.480 of the property actually did get a non exclusive eastment 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.360 prior to selling and has given the new owner's permission 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.800 to use their easement as it only expires in the 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.560 vent of non use. To make things even more legally complicated, 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.800 Hubbard Counties blockade of the driveway may actually be in 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:11.520 violation of treaty law. Quoting an article by Karen Savage, 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.720 an investigative journalist who reports on climate change related litigation 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:18.840 and environmental justice. Quote Frank B. Bu, executive director of 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.800 the eighteen fifty five Treaty Authority, which represents approximately twenty 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.600 five thousand Chippewa tribal members who are currently beneficiaries of 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.760 the eighteen fifty five Chippewa Treaty with the United States, 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.520 says the matter was settled more than a century ago. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.280 The eighteen fifty five treaty grants the Chippewa a superior 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:40.920 federal perpetual conservation easement and the right to access quote 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:45.640 public lands and public waters using public roads unquote. I'll 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.000 explain how this particular legal issue gets resolved in the 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.040 next episode, but suffice to say sheriff of blocking the 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:54.600 driveway and probably illegally. A new collective put out a 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.080 call for assistance and requests for people to attempt to 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.520 bring in supplies. So people at the first camp organized 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:02.760 a caravan of cars with people willing to protect the 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.800 No May Walk camp and bring in food and water. 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.440 Most of our regular plans of the day were postponed 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.480 as about half the Earth First camp decided to go help. 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:14.399 Jail support forms were filled out and people wrote to 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.640 the jail support numbers on their body and so around 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.040 noon I hopped in a Prius and began the two 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.040 hour drive towards No May Wog. I could tell we 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.440 were getting close by the number of Hubbard County Sheriff's 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:30.199 vehicles passing us, white pickup trucks emblazoned with sheriffs in 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.720 that cool cop font you know the one. Soon enough, 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.040 the fifteen car long caravan from Earth First past the 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.520 Line three construction site. As we drove by, I stared 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.360 at the miles of pipe on top of overturned soil 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.640 and trees. Near the end of the drive, the car 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:48.520 I was then lost the vehicle ahead of us that 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.560 we were supposed to be following, So we decided to 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.800 tail one of the cop cars going in the same direction, 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.399 figuring we would all be heading to the same place, 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.000 and we were correct. Once we arrived at the spot, 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:01.880 we just pulled up behind the rest of the Earth 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.440 First caravan, already multiple cop cards were blocking the entrance 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.480 to the Maywog. While sitting idle and all still inside 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.280 our vehicles, a share S deputy walked by, writing down 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:15.680 all the license plate numbers and issuing a warning, you 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:17.960 guys gotta leave or else your vehicles gonna get ton Okay. 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.880 After waiting inside the vehicles for a bit, folks from 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.240 the supply and support caravan and started to trickle out 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.320 and head towards the Maywog and the cops. There's a 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:30.760 lot of arguing about the driveway in the Eastman situation, 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.159 which allegedly brought the cops out in the first place. 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.280 If you've ever tried arguing with cops in the street before, 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:38.560 you'll be able to guess that this was a mostly 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:47.080 pointless affair. We have you guys got off the road 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.720 because we're gonna start moving. Let us give our supplies 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:51.600 to our friends and then we'll fucking leave. We're not 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.640 you guys. You guys have the abilities handker stuff. It's 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:08.920 built on county land. It's a fucking driveway. Looking at it, 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:23.919 you're gonna die on this. Yeah. If this is a 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:26.159 white driveway for a bunch of this is a driveway 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:28.880 for a bunch of white people in it and I out. 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:30.760 You know, you guys, are they all ones? Bring off race? 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:35.920 You don't have. As the day trigged on, the law 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:41.880 enforcement presence grew more and more and more schriffs showing up. Um, well, 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:46.240 cheffs shift deputies, quite a few of them, UM hobably around. 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:53.680 I don't know twenty is here now, about thirty maybe 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.560 like thirty five protesters, aren't you know? People from the 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:02.480 nearby nearby First First camp trying to bring supplies to 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:06.360 the stop the Line three camp about two hours away. Um, 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.040 so some of the people here on the ground are 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:10.560 are from the stop Line three camp, some are from 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:16.800 their first camp. UM with about twenty ten fifteen cars 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.120 trying trying to be trying to be surpries as well. 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.280 It's currently being blocked off by the county sheriffs to 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:25.399 today for the first time today they've they've chosen to 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:29.680 a block off road access to the city camp. Since 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:31.960 the comps were blocking off the road, the caravan from 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.560 Earth First couldn't pull into the private property and had 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:36.880 to park on the side of the county road. As 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:38.320 we all waited to see how this was going to 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:42.679 turn out. Soon enough, a tow truck arrived. So we 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.000 have a tow truck just arrived and is starting to 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:48.240 tow some of the cars that are from the Earth 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:52.240 First camp who came here to bring supplies UM to 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:56.800 the stop the Line three camp that since since the 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:59.560 roadways have been blocked off, so they're unable to transfer 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.359 supply from the road UM to get to the stop 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:08.080 Line three camp. And right now there is a currently 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.159 it's like the first car being towed and all the 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.120 way into the back. I'm walking over there right now. 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.760 It's about like four sheriffs, sheriff's deputies and some people 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:21.399 that are obviously not thrilled about getting their cars towed, 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:23.440 given though we're on like a public road and they're 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:25.720 just parked because they're trying to get through and the 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:28.719 cops are blocking them. Stuff's getting because stuffs getting more 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:31.399 tense by the by the by the tow truck area. 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:36.520 UM sheriffs are getting pretty obviously piste UM people are 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:38.879 have vested interest in not getting their vehicles stone but 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:42.200 trying to bring supplies to a protest camp, especially since 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:44.679 the roads being blocked by the sheriffs in the first place, 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:48.880 just causing this traffic. So that's where we're at right now. 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:54.800 Still the same situation by the by the entrance to 0:21:55.280 --> 0:22:00.199 the Line three camp, walking back to the Toe t Uck. 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.960 That seems a little more tense at the moment. There 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:06.120 are there are I mean when when when we first 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:08.400 heard about this in the Earth First camp, they said 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:11.480 there was like one sheriff's deputy here trying to block 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:16.400 the entrance to the camp um with his vehicle. And 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:22.040 since we've arrived, there is like probably twenty at least 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.439 twenty sriff deputies here, possibly more. This is like at 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:32.480 least like fifteen fifteen sheriff's vehicles, so definitely a larger 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:35.159 presence than at the beginning of the day. As the 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.320 day continued on and everyone got more antsy arrests and 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.600 state violence seemed less like a possibility and more of 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:44.480 an inevitability. Looks like they just got a call for 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:49.040 a jail van um from the sheriff's comms radio. There 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:53.080 is there's a lot of people here. Um, there's a 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:56.040 lot of people here. So if they want to rest 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:59.880 everyone whom we might need multiple vans um. But yeah, 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:03.919 that is the state of this. I'm I'm up at 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:06.119 the front by the entrance to the camp, there's like 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:11.119 three different Sheriff's vehicles UM blocking the roadway UM and 0:23:11.160 --> 0:23:14.240 a line of like ten or so vehicles from the 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:17.399 Earth First camp trying to bring supplies hip. Tis that 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:20.040 coming out? And I just got told zip ties are 0:23:20.080 --> 0:23:22.640 coming out. None of the sheriff's deputies wanted to say 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.520 much well being recorded, but they did recommend if anyone 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:28.679 had any questions. They asked County Sheriff Corey A. Yukes. 0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:31.720 When asked how one would get in contact with Sheriff 0:23:31.720 --> 0:23:34.440 at Yukes, A deputy replied, when most of these people 0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:36.840 go to jail, a little good an opportunity to speak 0:23:36.840 --> 0:23:40.359 with him. Under more pressure, the deputy clarified that the 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:43.600