Scrappy environmental and racial justice advocates rely on social media to get the word out about their work. Such was the case with water protectors organizing against the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline.
At the same time, law enforcement increasingly tracks the social media accounts of individuals and organizations doing advocacy work. “This poses risks to privacy and free expression, increases disproportionate surveillance of communities of color, and can lead to arrests of people on the basis of misinterpreted posts and associations,” the Brennan Center for Justice said.
The Rally for the Rivers event held in the winter of 2021 is a Minnesota case study in law enforcement’s social media tracking. It’s also a jumping off point to look at the disparate treatment of water protectors opposed to Line 3 now facing criminal charges compared to the state’s weak response to Enbridge’s environmental damage.
On Jan. 9, 2021, a group of water protectors gathered at the Welcome Center near the town of Palisade in Aitkin County. From there some would drive to a Line 3 construction site near Hill City for a nonviolent action, the Energy Mix reported, including blocking traffic on Highway 169 and temporarily stopping construction.
Eight people were arrested that day, MPR said.
Law enforcement reviewed video of the day’s events posted on Facebook. Later, Indigenous women leaders present at the rally would receive summons in the mail, charging them with gross misdemeanor trespass and other offenses, a Gizmodo article said.
Those charged included Winona LaDuke and Tania Aubid.
Much later, artist, writer, and environmental activist Shanai Matteson would receive a summons, too. She didn’t attend the action. She was charged with “Aiding and Abetting Trespass,” also a gross misdemeanor. The charges were based on comments she made at the Welcome Center, also captured on a Facebook video, asking people to consider getting arrested.
Matteson is a white ally in Stop Line 3 efforts. She and others charged with gross misdemeanors face up to a year in jail.
Her trial is this week.
Full disclosure: I consider Matteson a friend.
Before looking at her case, let’s look at all the ways the state gave Enbridge a pass.
Enbridge admitted in 2018 that it couldn’t build Line 3 and meet all state environmental standards. For instance, state rules say pipeline routes should “avoid streams” and “avoid wetlands.”
Line 3 crosses more than 200 water bodies and nearly 80 miles of wetlands. If this rule were ever to apply, Line 3 was it. Instead of being a deal breaker, it became the starting point to negotiate the extent of environmental damage the state would allow.
Even then, Enbridge didn’t follow its agreement.
For instance, in late January 2021, Enbridge ignored its approved construction plan, dug a pipeline trench too deep, and ruptured an aquifer in Clearwater County. That’s a violation of its permit and state law.
The DNR had approved Enbridge to dig a ten-foot-deep trench. Instead, workers trenched 18 feet deep – and drove sheet piling 28 feet into the ground.
No one’s explained how a company that can afford top flight construction crews went so far off plan. It seems unlikely it was an accident. Was it just more expedient to violate the permit and pay the fines?
We don’t know and it seems like that should matter.
Next, Enbridge failed to report the breach to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) immediately. The breach happened around Jan. 21, 2021. The DNR staff only learned about it June 15, 2021.
The state set an Oct. 15 deadline for Enbridge to fix the breach. Enbridge didn’t fix it until Jan. 20 — a full year after the breach occurred. It ultimately released 57 million gallons of groundwater.
Enbridge had at least two other aquifer breaches along the route, also violating state law. Collectively, the three breaches released more than 280 million gallons of groundwater. Again, Enbridge was slow to fix the largest breach.
Enbridge also spilled large amounts of the drilling mud into the environment. The mud is used to bore tunnels so Line 3 could pass under waterbodies. Those are permit violations, too.
Enbridge has faced no meaningful consequences for its environmental damage. The pipeline’s running, and revenue’s flowing.
The problem stems from weak oversight provisions approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
Instead of having state inspectors in the field inspecting Line 3, the PUC approved using “independent environmental monitors.” These are private contractors who were supposed to be the eyes and ears on the ground for the DNR and other regulatory agencies.
On paper, the monitors worked directly for the agencies. (Enbridge reimbursed the state for their salaries.) However, Enbridge got to hire and train them. Roughly half of them had past work history with Enbridge. For those who wanted to work for Enbridge again, they must have known that how they enforced the rules would affect their future employment opportunities.
It seems the monitors had closer ties with Enbridge than the agencies they were meant to serve.
At a minimum, we know monitors missed the aquifer breach. What else did they miss?
The PUC also approved an Enbridge-friendly provision that allowed the company to reimburse law enforcement for its Line 3-related costs. In all, the Enbridge-funded Public Safety Escrow Account paid out $8.5 million.
It’s difficult to believe that kind of financial arrangement isn’t a conflict of interest, biasing law enforcement in Enbridge’s favor.
The DNR – which was supposed to regulate Enbridge – received the single largest payment, nearly $2.2 million, or roughly 25 percent of the total.
The Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office — which reviewed the social media accounts resulting in charges against LaDuke, Aubid, and Matteson — would eventually receive $355,394.
While Enbridge enjoyed lax state oversight, Minnesota law enforcement came down hard on water protectors. It created the Northern Lights Task Force, a coordinated statewide effort to quickly respond to Line 3 resistance. It worked with Enbridge.
It spent “‘countless hours‘ into building an elaborate infrastructure for quelling pipeline opposition,” The Intercept reported. Among other things, the Task Force discussed “backgrounding organizers for links to terrorism and whether to launch a ‘public information campaign on who they are and what they have done in the past,’” the article said.
(To state the obvious, there never was a similar Task Force to monitor Line 3 construction even though it was warranted due to Enbridge’s history of environmental damage.)
In the end, law enforcement arrested more than 1,000 water protectors for various charges, according to a June 22 letter sent to Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and county prosecutors by nearly 200 Indigenous leaders and allies.
The letter said law enforcement committed “egregious civil and constitutional rights violations,” against peaceful water protectors. These included “surveillance, harassment, ‘pain compliance’ torture, use of … rubber bullets and pepper balls, denial of medical care, strip searches, solitary confinement,” and more.
The letter cited Matteson’s case as one of dozens where water protectors faced “dubious charges.”
Matteson said the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office use of social media and other means to surveil and harass her and others “has had a traumatizing impact on me, my kids and other members of my family.”
“I say that knowing that Indigenous people in this county are put at even greater risk, as they are constantly profiled and threatened with violence and unequal treatment by law enforcement and others acting on law enforcement claims,” she said. “This makes me both angry and ashamed, because I lived here my whole life and didn’t fully comprehend this.”
Matteson isn’t the first to face “aiding and abetting trespass” charges in Minnesota courts.
On Dec. 20, 2014, roughly 2,000 people packed the Mall of America as part of a Black Lives Matter protest. Eleven people faced charges for aiding and abetting trespass, unlawful assembly, and disorderly conduct, the Star Tribune reported. In November, 2015 Hennepin County Chief Judge Peter Cahill dismissed all charges against the organizers.
Let’s now return to Matteson’s alleged crime.
The criminal complaint said Matteson “created and organized” the Rally for the Rivers event, a charge that will be disputed in court.
The basis for her charges were comments she made at Welcome Center and posted on Facebook.
She had a minor speaking role, talking for about 90 seconds. She said:
“We are looking for people who might be in a position to potentially get arrested, if that’s what it comes to today. …
“Thinking about your privileges, your personal situation, and think about what you’re willing to stand up for today. And if you are going to be in that action, in a space where you could potentially be arrested, we really want you to fill out a jail support form …
“I hope some of you will consider that…”
“Over 40 people have been arrested so far … And those folks will tell you that they were well supported”
Shanai Matteson
“Might be in a position …” “I hope some of you will consider …” Not super strong evidence.
Maybe prosecutors have more stuff to bring out in court, but again we need to look at the context.
Given the number of Line 3 direct actions that took place before and during construction, one would assume lots of people would be facing “aiding and abetting” trespass charges.
That doesn’t seem to be the case.
Lawyers providing legal help to people facing various Line 3-related charges tell me they haven’t heard of other “aiding and abetting trespass” cases like Matteson’s.
Matteson seems to have been singled out.
I first met Matteson when she was running pop-up water bars out of a Minneapolis storefront. She and others would bring water from different sources for people to sample and compare, sparking conversations and stories.
Matteson grew up in Palisade (population 166) and returned to live there. She has family in the area. Her presence doesn’t fit the narrative of some Line 3 supporters who portray water protectors as outsiders and scary.
In spite of Enbridge’s environmental damage, somehow Matteson and other water protectors are the ones portrayed as dangerous.
Case in point. Shortly after the Rally for the River, Matteson sought a permit to use the Palisade Pavilion on Feb. 6, 2021.
She wanted to hold an event to explore a just transition into a more sustainable future, she said. “The idea was to have a gathering on that theme with music, art, and kids.”
After delays, the Palisade City Clerk emailed Matteson that she couldn’t use the pavilion, Mattson said. The clerk copied Aitkin County Sheriff Dan Guida on the message, which Matteson thought strange.
Matteson contacted him to ask if he had tried to prevent her from using the park, she said.
Matteson said Guida wrote back saying she had been involved with unlawful assemblies, and city and county officials had every right to use that against her.
Matteson replied that she hadn’t been charged with a crime, and denying the permit violated her First Amendment rights, she said.
I interviewed Guida last year. He told me Aitkin County Parks has a 30-day application period so an advisory committee can review the permit, he said. Matteson didn’t get the permit because she didn’t follow the process.
Guida said the park permit was beyond his purview. Yet he went on to say the Palisade City Council was very concerned about Matteson’s event, “that someone from these camps was going to get aggressive.”
The city of Palisade doesn’t have a police department, said Guida, a member of the Northern Lights Task Force. “They were concerned for their public safety. That’s why they brought me into the mix.”
On one hand, Guida said he told Matteson that city leaders have to consider all the facts, including her involvement in illegal activity. On the other hand, he said the city didn’t use that against her.
When I pointed out that she hadn’t been charged with a crime, he replied: “Not yet.”
Matteson held the event anyway (in below-zero conditions) on family property near the park, she said.
Later, Matteson would receive her gross misdemeanor citation.
It’s troubling that Enbridge and water protectors received such disparate treatment, and that it appears Matteson got singled out for this charge for reasons that aren’t clear.
One last irony. The Aitkin County Sheriff used livestream video to charge Matteson and others with crimes, yet the District Court in Aitkin County has rejected a request to livestream Matteson’s trial, because the state objected.
People can drive to Aitkin County to watch, but the courtroom is small. If they arrive and the courtroom is full, they can watch in an overflow room …. on video.
healingmnstories.wordpress.com 
Sheriff Dan Guida is nothing but a tool of the Enbridge Corporation. Like a mall cop, he was paid by a corporation to protect their property. He has zero concern for “public safety”, or the safety of citizens of Aitkin County. He claims to be a man stuck in the middle, trying to keep people safe; but this was only one of the numerous lies he spilled across the airwaves and social media as a shill for the Northern Lights Task Force. This man and his underlings surveilled and harassed water protectors across the north, jailing over 800 people for protecting the water. He abridged 1st amendment rights and treaty law numerous times- always at the behest of Enbridge Corporation.
One fact your article fails to explore is the fact that people went door to door in Palisade warning neighbors to stay inside on the cold Jan day we had our event in Palisade. I imagine Guida would claim he knows nothing about it, as he didn’t know anything about a Homeland Security helicopter threatening water protectors, as he didn’t know anything about cops entering a camp at the sacred lodge in Palisade, using hi powered flashlights to illuminate the tents and frighten the women inside. Yeah, the facts often elude Guida, but he’ll give you a folksy story any ‘ol time.
And, a final note, the dupe from the Sheriff’s dept talks about the meaning of Ojibwe word gwayakwaadiziwin which translates to honesty. Until Sheriff Guida spends more time examining his blatant lies, he should keep this Ojibwe word out of his mouth.
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