PHOTO/EARTH DEFENSE COALITION
Thirty-two charges were dropped against eleven defendants including trespassing, peace disturbance and resisting arrest after they formed an all-day blockade in 2017 to the entrance of the Bridgeton and West Lake landfill complex, a radioactive Superfund site.
“It was a long 2½ years,” said Alex Cohen, charged in the incident and a co-founder of the Earth Defense Coalition which has called attention to the legacy of radioactive contamination at north St. Louis County sites. “We’re happy with the decision and are ready to continue to fight the radioactive waste issue in St. Louis,” Cohen added.
In another decision, the state of South Dakota agreed to never enforce the unconstitutional provisions of several state laws that threatened activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the Keystone XL pipeline, with fines and criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison.
Corporations have written and financially backed bills criminalizing protest, deterring political participation and freedom of association in response to the effective tactics of those speaking out today including water protectors challenging pipeline construction, the targets of police killings and incarceration, and others challenging the system.
This is not the time to rest. Red Fawn Fallis, the Oglala Lakota Sioux water protector, faced a life sentence after a gun in her possession went off as she was tackled to the ground by police. Ruby Montoya and Jessica Reznicek face up to 110 years in prison and huge fines for vandalizing the Dakota Access pipeline in efforts to halt construction. We must remain vigilant and steadfast fighting for unity in our struggles to gain power over a ruthless corporate system of ownership and political power.
“I wish the government would use the same resources to go after the oil companies and pipeline companies, but clearly they’re not interested in that,” said Bill Quigley, an attorney who previously represented Montoya and Reznicek. “They shouldn’t be prosecuted; they should be praised. They’re trying to stop the destruction of the human race.”
Thank you for risking your bodies & freedom, for the unknown people of this world. I fight against landlords and lawmakers in Colorado and other state, to dismiss, cruelty to prospective tenants. By refusing to rent to people, making minimum wages.