WEBVTT - Introducing Lawless Planet: "Surveillance and Sabotage on the Dakota Access Pipeline" 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:09.400 I'm Ellen Brown. On Drilled Season twelve, we brought you Slapped, 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:13.840 a series about the pipeline giant Energy Transfer's massive lawsuit 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:18.000 against Greenpeace. It's the story of an indigenous nation fighting 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:22.880 for its water, an environmental nonprofit facing extinction, and an 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.240 energy giant using the courts to punish protesters. And at 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.960 the heart of it all was the indigenous led movement 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.640 to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. But back in twenty eighteen, 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.840 I covered a different story about Dapple for the intercept 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:42.839 about Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya, two women who attempted 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.680 to stop the pipeline through acts of sabotage and vandalism 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:52.040 and paid a heavy price for their actions. Today, we're 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.560 going to play you an episode of another podcast that 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:59.000 tells Ruby and Jessica's story. It's called Lawless Planet, and 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.320 like Drilled, it's show about crime and the environment. On 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:08.120 each episode of Lawless Planet, host Zach Goldbaumb reveals the scams, murders, 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.080 and cover ups on the frontline of the climate crisis, 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.200 and the choices people are making to either protect our 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:18.240 world or destroy it. The episode I'm going to play 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.280 for you today is called surveillance and sabotage on the 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.480 Dakota Access Pipeline. And it's about how far corporations will 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:30.679 go to criminalize protesting and protect their interests. While you're listening, 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.880 follow Lawless Planet wherever you get your podcasts. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.640 Both candidates are on the board. With wins reproject Clinton, 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:48.800 we'll get Vermont's three electoral votes. 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:53.240 Trump breaks in eight in the bluegrass state of Kentucky. 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:58.280 It's Election Night, twenty sixteen. All across the country, Americans 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:01.280 are glued to their television watching the results come in. 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:08.200 But not Jessica Resna check in Ruby, Montoya. They're driving 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:12.040 down a dark rural road in northwest Iowa, heading to 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:16.040 a construction site for the Dakota Access Pipeline. The two 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.560 have been protesting the pipeline for the better part of 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.400 a year, doing everything possible to stop it from being built. 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:27.600 We're talking marches, boycotts, sit ins, hunger strikes, even chaining 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:31.840 themselves to machinery. But after a handful of arrests and 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:36.160 no real progress, they've decided they need to do something bigger, 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.680 something with a little more teeth. In the trunk, they've 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:45.560 got empty coffee canisters, motor oil, and rags. They've done 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:50.280 their research and built their own makeshift incendiary devices. They're crude, 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.560 but they should work, and at this point, Jessica and 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.520 Ruby are willing to do just about anything to stop 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:02.200 what they see as an environmental disaster. The Dakota Access 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:06.200 Pipeline or DAPPLE, is a multi billion dollar project designed 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.320 to transport crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. Once 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.320 it's completed, it'll be over one thousand miles long and 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.919 carry more than half a million barrels of oil a day. 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.120 Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind it, says it expects 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.280 to make more than a billion dollars every year, and 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.519 they insist the pipeline is safe and efficient, but critics 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:32.839 call it an accident waiting to happen. The pipeline's root 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:37.360 cuts across farms, sacred tribal territory, and under the Missouri 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:41.560 and Mississippi rivers. If it leaks, it could poison drinking 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:49.240 water for millions, and pipelines do leak. But despite those concerns, 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:53.200 construction began in early twenty sixteen, and for activists like 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.520 Ruby and Jessica, it feels like the rules don't apply 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.680 to energy transfer partners, so they've decided not to play 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:07.920 by the rules either. They park their car on the 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.600 edge of the construction site, and under the moon, they 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.680 start hauling the canisters of gasoline out of the trunk. 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:19.359 Machinery looms in the dark, a bulldozer, two excavators, a crane. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.560 Jessica and Ruby stuffed the oil soak drags into the 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.960 canisters and slide them onto the seats of the machines. Then, 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:31.040 with trembling hands, they strike matches and light them up. 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:38.880 The flames catch fast, not too shabby for first time arsonists, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.760 but Jessica and Ruby don't stick around to admire their work. 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.640 Around eleven PM, someone driving along the highway spots the 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.720 blaze and calls nine to one one. By the time 0:04:53.760 --> 0:05:00.960 the firefighters arrive, the machines are engulfed. What's left in 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:05.159 the morning are just charred hulks of metal and estimated 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.600 two and a half million dollars worth of damages, but 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:10.200 no one at the scene of the crime has any 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:14.360 idea who is responsible. Jessica and Ruby are already long gone. 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.800 The women think they've pulled off the perfect hit, a 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.920 major blow to the pipeline's construction, but they'll soon realize 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.760 that what felt momentous to them was just a minor 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:30.640 inconvenience to Energy Transfer partners Jessica and Ruby keep up 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.839 their campaign of sabotage, but Energy Transfer always seems to 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:38.839 be one step ahead of them. It's like someone knows 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:49.080 what's coming from wondery. I'm Zach Goldalm, and this is 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:56.640 lawless Plant. Each week we tell a new story about 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:00.680 the true crimes fueling the climate crisis, people fighting to 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.680 save the planet or destroy it. 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.479 When you join Lesmil's Plus, you unlock access to over 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.240 two thousand science backed endorphin inducing workouts you'll actually enjoy. 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:31.200 With exercises for every mood, every fitness level, and every goal. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:35.679 You can work out anytime, anywhere on any device. Plus. 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.080 Sign up today and get fourteen days free. Find the 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.640 workout that's right for you, Too's Happy and download the 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.560 les Mels Plus app today. Clicker tap the banner to 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:46.159 learn more. 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.560 Protest is messy. Just look at American history. The Boston 0:06:56.640 --> 0:07:00.479 Tea Party was a carnival of property distraction. End it 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:04.240 helped spark the Revolutionary War. The Stonewall Riots, which mark 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:06.479 the beginning of the modern day rights movement, were a 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:10.040 multi day street brawl with the NYPD. Even the Civil 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.320 Rights movement, the gold standard of nonviolent resistance, had outbreaks 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:20.560 of violence. These were not perfect protests, because there is 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.040 no such thing. And before these movements were sanitized to 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.440 the point that they fit on a postage stamp, they 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.800 all faced the same questions, how far should we go 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:33.360 in the pursuit of justice? Where is the line? And 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:39.960 when do we escalate? Today, environmental activists are grappling with 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.520 the same dilemma at a time when where careening passed 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.560 every threshold of warming designated to prevent climate chaos. The 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.360 debate for some members of the movement is no longer when, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:54.880 but how What tactics are required to meet the moment. 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.640 This is the story of what led Jessica resna Check 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.360 and Ruby Montoya to take blow torches to a pipeline 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.120 and what happened after. It's about what people will do 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.120 when they feel like they're out of options and out 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:13.560 of time, but it's also about how far powerful institutions 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:27.119 will go to stop them. After days of walking and hitchhiking, 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:33.959 Jessica Resnacheks finally made it. She's reached the standing Rock 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.520 Sioux reservation in south central North Dakota. She's been on 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:39.640 a mission to get here ever since she heard about 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:44.560 Indigenous protesters starting a camp to resist the Dakota Access Pipeline. 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.360 It's summer twenty sixteen by the time she arrives, and 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.120 she is not alone. Thousands of people from across the 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.480 country have gathered to stand with the indigenous tribes protesting. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:01.280 They're camping out, chaining themselves onto construction, and forming human 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:06.240 blockades to halt the pipeline's progress. The tension around Dapple 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.080 has been brewing for years. The pipeline's original route would 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:12.560 have passed near Bismarck, North Dakota, but it was re 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:17.160 routed out of concern it might contaminate the city's drinking water. Instead, 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:22.000 the federal government redirected itself closer to the Standing Rock Reservation. 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.640 They could do that because they'd seize the land from 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:30.520 the tribe in nineteen fifty eight. Tribal leaders weren't consulted, 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.360 not about the route, not about the risk to their water, 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.520 not about the sacred sites and burial grounds that lie 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.280 in the pipeline's path. And it should come as no 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:43.200 surprise that this kind of thing has happened before, in 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.520 the nineteen fifties and sixties, construction of dams along the 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.960 Missouri River cut into the already shrinking Standing Rock reservation. 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:56.920 To many, the Dakota Access Pipeline feels like history repeating itself, 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.240 and once Jessica arrives, the damage is just getting underway. 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:05.320 Construction is pushing ahead at full speed. Sacred sites are bulldozed, 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.040 and the fear is once oil starts flowing, any spill 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:13.800 or leak could contaminate the water supply for millions downstream. 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:19.480 For Jessica, stopping the pipeline is an emergency. 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.760 I think that the oil being taken out of the ground, 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.360 and the machinery that does it, and the infrastructure which 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.360 supports it, this is violent by now. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.880 Protest is a central part of Jessica's life. She got 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.080 her start with the Occupy Wall Street movement back in 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.959 twenty eleven. Ever since then she's been joining different groups 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.600 and has found a home with the Catholic Workers of Iowa. 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:46.479 They're a movement committed to nonviolence, community service, and resistance, 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:51.040 and she identifies specifically as a Plowshares activist. A strain 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:53.840 of Catholic Workers who believe that property damage can be 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:55.599 a legitimate form of protest. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.880 We do understand the need to dismantle infrastructure when it 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.360 poses a threat to human life and liberty. 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:09.480 Before Standing Rock, she'd already been arrested several times. Most recently, 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:11.520 she was in jail for smashing the windows of a 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:16.320 Northrop Grumman office protesting the military drones they made. But 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.240 compared to every other protest she's joined, the fight over 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.480 the Dakota Access Pipeline feels more personal. Dapple runs through 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.600 her home state of Iowa. She wants to do more 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:31.800 than just march or break a couple of windows, so 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:36.160 she leaves Standing Rock and heads back home. She hitches 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.559 a ride to a construction site two and a half 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.440 hours outside of Des Moines, where crews are preparing to 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.120 bore beneath the Mississippi River. She doesn't have a plan exactly, 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:54.480 but she knows her first move make a scene. Jessica's 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.160 ride drops her on a quiet stretch of road near 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.920 the Mississippi River, a few miles south of a Dapple 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:04.680 construction site. She's alone, it's early fall, and the air 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.840 smells like dry leaves and diesel. She walks until she 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.640 finds the road that leads to the construction zone, the 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.080 one used by trucks hauling equipment in and out. There's 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:19.480 debris scattered nearby, plywood and tires that the crews forgot about. 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:25.560 Jessica thinks to herself, perfect one by one. She starts 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.680 to drag the tires into the middle of the road, 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.760 stacking them on top of each other. Then she leans 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.800 a wide sheet of plywood against them. She grabs a 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.480 marker from her backpack and writes across the wood in 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:44.680 big bold letters, water is Life. Then she starts playing 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.439 her guitar. It doesn't take long for the first truck 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.600 to arrive. It rumbles up the road and slows to 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.960 a stop in front of her blockade. The driver waits 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:58.760 for her to move, but Jessica just keeps strumming. The 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.000 truck driver does not get paid enough to deal with 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:05.920 this shit, so he reverses out of there. Ten minutes later, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:09.280 a sheriff pulls up. He asks her to move. She 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.800 refuses in a huff. He starts moving the tires himself, 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.480 but Jessica tells him she's just going to move the 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.400 tires right back. As soon as he leaves. The sheriff's sighs. 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.320 It's like Jessica is egging him on to arrest her, 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:25.240 and she kind of is. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.319 And I stated to the officials that I came here 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.200 in the spirit of love and compassion and respect, and 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.280 I would go to jail for this. And so I 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.480 went to jail and I was released about twenty four 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.240 hours later. Then then I came right back out here 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.080 and I was arrested again. Then the third time I 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:44.720 was released, I came right back out here again and 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.080 talked to the deputy and I said, look, where can 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.560 I be on this premises. 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.240 Jessica sets up camp in a public parking space on 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.559 the side of the road. Then reporters start coming by. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.280 She speaks with one from Tri State's public radio about 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.880 her hopes for her one woman stand Mine Kampman. 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.800 Here, I visualize is just the beginning of a beautiful, 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.600 widespread mass movement like we've seen up in North Dakota. 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.679 And it starts sometimes just with one person and a 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.960 supportive community to make these things grow and our voices 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:20.680 will be heard. 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:26.120 Word spreads, activists start showing up, or water protectors as 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.360 they like to be called. By the end of the week, 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.080 there are fifty of them together, they call the encampment 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:36.080 Mississippi Stand, but Jessica keeps calling for even more people 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:36.640 to join. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.440 Folks, the time is now to join us in this effort. 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:42.720 What we need to do is put our bodies in 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.080 front of this black snake. It's time to protect our 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:47.960 waters and to take our land and water back. Join 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:49.400 us here at Mississippi Stand. 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:55.720 One of the new arrivals is Ruby Montoya. She pulls 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.680 up in an suv with Arizona plates and a brand 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.640 new tent, still smell of plastic. She's got yoga gear, 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.560 military time on her watch, and cookwar that's clearly never 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.960 touched a flame. Jessica's and tennas go up. Is this 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:14.240 girl a cop? She's not? And in the weeks to come, 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.480 Jessica and Ruby will lock arms with hundreds of others, 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.880 chaining themselves to machinery and blocking trucks in a high 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.680 sakes game of chicken. But the pipeline is still advancing, 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:29.440 and soon both women will start asking an uncomfortable question, 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:37.280 what if peaceful protest is not enough? Okay, let's rewind 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.600 for a second and talk about Ruby. Before Mississippi Stand. 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.760 She wasn't an activist. She was a preschool teacher. Her 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.880 days were spent in classrooms, reading picture books and helping 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.080 toddlers tie their shoes. But then she saw a headline 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.040 about the Dakota Access Pipeline. 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.920 I read about what they were intending to do to 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:59.200 put these dirty petroleum pipes underneath our major waterways here 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:03.960 in the United States, and I was aghast by their intentions. 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.920 So I quit my job and I went to Standing Rock. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:12.360 In North Dakota. Ruby camped, protested, and listened, and while 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.080 she was there she heard about another protest site forming 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.720 hundreds of miles away, a single woman building a blockade 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:23.400 in the middle of a road in Iowa. Ruby was intrigued. 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.880 Her mom's family was from Iowa. It felt like a sign, 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:31.000 so she packed up her SUV and headed east. As 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:33.960 I mentioned, Ruby stood out at Mississippi Stand when she 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.520 first showed up, and not necessarily in a good way. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.440 Her gear was too clean, her tent too knew, she 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:43.640 did yoga and spoken idealistic soundbites. But she was earnest 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:45.040 and she was all in. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.040 Believing in this cause so much. I came here to 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:52.040 Mississippi Stand to support these people and to support what 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:55.400 we believe in this future for our children. Yesterday's action 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:59.800 was successful, and these small actions from these people here 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.600 there is what is going to stop the pipeline. 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.040 It doesn't matter whether they hold off the machines for 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:13.000 days or hours, because every minute of disruption counts. But 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.320 then in early September news comes out of Standing Rock 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.400 that horrifies both Ruby and Jessica. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.920 People have gone through the fence and men, women and children. 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.879 The bulldozers are still going and they're yelling at the 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:27.840 men in hard vets. 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.880 One man in hard hut throwing protesters down. 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:37.160 Some of the security have dogs, security has going to gas. 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:46.120 People are being pepper sprayed those security guys. They're one 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.879 of many private contractors that Energy Transfer Partners had hired 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:54.920 to protect the pipeline. Some are using militarized tactics like dogs, 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:59.320 tear gas, water cannons in freezing temperatures. Others, including an 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.960 outfit called Tiger Swan, are focused on intelligence gathering and 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.320 they're all working hand in hand with law enforcement to 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:11.600 protect construction. Ruby and Jessica know that it's only a 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.520 matter of time before the same tactics come to Iowa, 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.399 but they're not going to let that stop them. They 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:20.360 keep on with their mission, even when it lands them 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:20.760 in jail. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.560 In southeastern Iowa, twelve activists who are arrested Saturday as 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.840 they disrupted efforts by the Dacota Access Pipeline Company to 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:32.560 drill under the Mississippi River, fearing a possible oil spill 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:37.160 could contaminate the water. Three of the protesters chain themselves 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:40.040 to a backode just before the start of the workday, 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.240 delaying construction at the site for several hours. 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.240 Ruby and Jessica are thrown in the same cell, and 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:51.240 they get to talking, like really talking about what they're 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.240 up against and about what they're willing to do about it. 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:58.880 Are they serious about actually stopping this thing? When they 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:04.320 get out of jail, a Mississippi stand are dire. Despite 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.679 all their best efforts, construction has plowed ahead. The pipeline 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.479 is now just days away from being fully connected beneath 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:15.080 the Mississippi River, and if that happens, the section running 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.920 through Iowa becomes operational and is nearly impossible to stop. 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.080 Jessica and Ruby know the clock is ticking. They have 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.639 less than a week to make something happen. Jessica offers 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.240 a final plea on Facebook begging any protesters who have 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:32.639 left because of arrests to come back. 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.760 Only have a few days left to get this done. 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:38.760 We know how you feel about it, we know your 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.480 dedication because you've risked your life. 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:42.360 And your and your freedom. 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:46.240 Already wants please come back. We need people, please be here. 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:49.920 Even as they wait to see who answers the call, 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.320 Jessica and Ruby already know what they're going to do 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.720 and what happens next will push them across the line. 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:03.760 They can't come back from. 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:08.119 Oh what democrapay look, this is looks mocracy. 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:13.200 Let's look. Oh what democraphay looks like? This is what say? 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:20.440 Let's what. In October of twenty sixteen, Ruby and Jessica 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.639 are protesting in Iowa. When they get some bad news 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:28.160 construction is complete on the section of pipeline they've been 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:31.200 trying to stop. It feels like the end of something, 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:37.040 but not the end. Ruby goes live on Facebook. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.800 We gave it all we had, and we're giving more. 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:41.920 The fight is not over. 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:45.359 There is plenty of pipeline to fight. There's plenty of 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:47.639 Dakota access to confront and stop. 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:54.080 From there, Ruby, Jessica, and other organizers take to Facebook, 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:57.840 rallying supporters to keep the fight alive. If they can't 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:01.800 stop the pipeline here, they'll stop it somewhere else. A 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:05.399 few activists head north to Standing Rock. Others form a 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.800 convoy trailing the pipeline across Iowa, locking onto machinery wherever 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:15.919 construction is underway. More protesters join the effort. There's Alex Cohen, 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:18.440 a young guy who quickly became one of the vocal 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:22.520 leaders of Mississippi Stand. There's Kima Sealine, who was studying 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:26.440 aromatherapy in Ohio before joining the movement. And then there's 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.679 Joel Edwards, a former marine with a bushy beard and 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:34.159 a friendly dog named Sully that everyone adores. At first, 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.040 it feels like momentum is building, but as the group 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:39.959 gets bigger, it's harder to know who's really in it 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:44.760 for the right reasons. And then strange things start to happen. 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:49.439 Energy transfer partners always seems to be one step ahead. 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:54.000 Protest actions are stopped before they even begin. Police show 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:58.080 up with alarming precision. It starts to feel like someone 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:02.639 somewhere is leaking their plans. No one says it out loud, 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.919 not yet, but the suspicion is there lingering in the background. Still, 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:12.119 the activists try to stay focused. That kind of doubt 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:18.480 is how the other side wins. While Jessica and Ruby 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:21.280 plan their next moves, other members of the movement start 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:24.320 meeting in a hotel room. One of them, Joel Edwards, 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.000 works for the hotel chain and gets a free room 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:29.560 once a week, a place for the activists to take 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.160 a hot shower, warm up, sleep in a real bed. 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:38.399 One night, they're all huddled in Joel's hotel room. Keema 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:40.919 had picked up some alcohol from a local liquor store, 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:45.160 and the conversation shifts to Standing Rock, specifically the Red 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:49.280 Warrior Camp, a controversial group within the larger protest movement. 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:54.360 Some activists think they're being too aggressive. Others like Alex 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:58.359 push back, arguing that Red Warrior is a necessary force 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:02.320 that's willing to take bold action. They talk about posting 0:23:02.359 --> 0:23:05.840 in support of the group, making a public statement of solidarity. 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:10.040 It's the kind of honest, vulnerable debate you have when 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:14.080 you think you're among allies. But somehow everything the group 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:16.840 is saying that night is making its way back to 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:24.800 Energy Transfer Partners. In November twenty sixteen, Energy Transfer Partners 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:29.000 receives a message confirming that Mississippi stand leaders have endorsed 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:32.400 the Red Warrior Camp faction. The two groups might even 0:23:32.440 --> 0:23:36.120 work together in the future. The message is from a private, 0:23:36.359 --> 0:23:40.520 shadowy security firm called Tiger Swan, and they're on Energy 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:45.919 Transfer's payroll. By this point, Tiger Swan has deployed operatives 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:50.080 across five states. There are the public facing employees who 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:53.600 are making sure construction stays on track, and then there 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:57.159 are the undercover agents who are embedded in protest camps 0:23:57.359 --> 0:24:03.680 gathering intelligence. The operatives collect names, track social media posts, 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:08.800 and compile dossiers on individual protesters. Their internal group chats 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:12.159 are full of racist jokes, like one about drunk Indians, 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:17.880 and their messages refer to protesters as jihadists. A lot 0:24:17.920 --> 0:24:20.399 of the employees of Tiger Swan are veterans of the 0:24:20.440 --> 0:24:24.359 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they're treating the protesters 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:29.600 as the enemy. From Tiger Swan's perspective, this all feels necessary. 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:34.240 Equipment has been vandalized, construction sites sabotaged, and on the 0:24:34.359 --> 0:24:37.399 night of November eighth, the night of the US presidential election, 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:43.880 construction equipment in Northwest Iowa was torched. We know those 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:47.520 arsonists were Jessica and Ruby, but their actions remain a 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:55.440 secret even to their fellow protesters. For now. It's near 0:24:55.480 --> 0:24:58.359 the end of twenty sixteen and Jessica is trying a 0:24:58.400 --> 0:25:01.280 new strategy to protest the pype blind. She's on a 0:25:01.320 --> 0:25:05.359 hunger strike. On Thanksgiving Day, she sits outside of the 0:25:05.400 --> 0:25:08.720 Iowa Utilities Board building, hoping to get their attention. 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:13.560 I've been up and seeing the atrocities at Standing Rock twice, 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:19.120 now faced tear gas, and alliance with Indigenous peoples who 0:25:19.160 --> 0:25:23.400 are fighting just to protect their land and their water, 0:25:23.480 --> 0:25:25.280 and our land and our water. They're doing it for 0:25:25.440 --> 0:25:29.240 us as well, and can only return the favor by 0:25:29.880 --> 0:25:33.119 fighting on a local level in my own city, in 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:36.639 my own backyard, untelling the i Utilities were to do 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:37.280 their job. 0:25:38.520 --> 0:25:44.440 The Iowa Utilities Board doesn't budge, but then something unexpected happens. 0:25:44.920 --> 0:25:48.920 They're overruled by President Barack Obama, who makes a decision 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:50.600 During his final weeks in office. 0:25:52.080 --> 0:25:55.040 The Obama administration denied a permit Sunday that would have 0:25:55.040 --> 0:25:58.840 completed the last leg of the Dakota Pipeline project, prompting 0:25:58.960 --> 0:26:02.920 celebrations and can involve North Dakota camps, where the numbers 0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:06.639 of supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe had swelled 0:26:06.760 --> 0:26:08.280 to over five thousand. 0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:13.720 Jessica can't believe the news. Her stomach twists, not from hunger, 0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:17.080 but from shock. Could this be real? Do they just win? 0:26:18.800 --> 0:26:22.240 She ends her strike, breaking her fast with a spoonful 0:26:22.280 --> 0:26:25.720 of chicken soup. Her photo runs in local news and 0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:30.560 she is beaming. After months of tireless protesting, it finally 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:34.280 seems like the pipeline is dead in the water, but 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:39.080 the victory is short lived. Just weeks after he takes office, 0:26:39.280 --> 0:26:45.040 Donald Trump reverses Obama's decision. The permits are back, construction resumes, 0:26:45.560 --> 0:26:48.800 and activists like Jessica are right back where they started. 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:52.960 In February, Jessica links back up with Ruby and they 0:26:52.960 --> 0:26:56.440 discuss their next moves. They both feel like it's time 0:26:56.480 --> 0:27:02.240