New details emerge on Enbridge’s escrow account that paid police to crack down on Line 3 resistance

The Enbridge Line 3 Public Safety Escrow Account reimbursed Minnesota law enforcement agencies $12,500 for handcuffs and zip ties to detain Water Protectors resisting Line 3.

It paid $120,000 for a public safety liaison who worked for a year and a half to coordinate among Enbridge, local officials, and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

It funded the equivalent of more than 10 percent of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office’s budget in 2021.

These are among the new details in the remarkable story Documents show how a pipeline company paid Minnesota millions to police protests, published jointly by Grist and the Center for Media and Democracy.

MPD Consent Decree is late, Minneapolis revamp of police oversight is weak, a national look at non-fatal police shootings

Minneapolis leaders and Minnesota Department of Human Rights (DHR) apparently have hit a snag negotiating a Consent Decree in response to the DHR’s scathing report, released last April, identifying a pattern and practice of racial discrimination by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).

Meanwhile, city officials have put forward a weak proposal to reform police oversight of MPD. Settlements are still coming in from people injured during the 2020 George Floyd uprising, and injured parties are forcing MPD reforms though lawsuits.

Hubbard Co. Sheriff abused his power and won’t face consequences

Law enforcement line at Namewag in Hubbard County, July 28, 2021. Photo: The Giniw Collective.

Across the country, law enforcement’s credibility is under scrutiny. To regain it, it’s essential that it’s impartial in deed and in public perception.

The state and law enforcement did themselves damage in how they responded to water protectors resisting the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline in 2020-2021. The state approved a plan allowing Enbridge to fund an escrow account to reimburse law enforcement agencies for any Line 3-related costs. Those law enforcement agencies collectively received $8.5 million.

The Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office received nearly half a million dollars from the Enbridge escrow account. It also abused its power to intimidate those at Namewag, a camp set up by Giniw, an Indigenous women-led environmental protection group. At Namewag, they practiced traditional Anishinaabe ways and also actively opposed Line 3.

On June 28, 2021 the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office organized a shock-and-awe law enforcement response to Namewag … because it didn’t have an easement to drive a short stretch of county-owned land, the camp’s only access.

Let that soak in. Look at all the deputies in the photo above, and ask: Does this make sense over an easement infraction?

Judge dismisses charges against five of the ‘Shell River Seven’ who opposed Line 3

Honor the Earth envisions Line 3 exhibit in Park Rapids

Shell River Seven standoff

A District Court judge in Wadena County Monday dismissed gross misdemeanor charges against five of the “Shell River Seven” who peacefully tried to protect the Shell River and Anishinaabe treaty rights against the construction of the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

“Criminalizing and over-charging protestors is a common tactic used by the State to scare activists and suppress movements,” Claire Glenn, an attorney for two of the defendants, said in a media release. “The criminalization of the Shell River defendants was no exception, and this dismissal is a powerful victory for water protectors.”

MN peace officer rule would reject job applicants, revoke licenses, of those supporting hate groups

Public hearings set for Nov. 15 and 16

Minneapolis police guard the Third Precinct on the first night of protests over George Floyd’s murder.

Everyone wants fair and unbiased law enforcement; in the United States today, red flags abound.

There were 19 current and former law enforcement officers involved in the Jan. 6 riot, which was promoted by extremist and hate groups.

A Reuters investigation found a “significant number of U.S. police instructors have ties to a constellation of armed right-wing militias and white supremacist hate groups, a report that adds to a fast-growing body of evidence showing a deadly threat inside U.S. police departments.”

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights released a report in April finding a pattern and practice of racial discrimination in the Minneapolis Police Department.

At a minimum, addressing these problem will require changes to law enforcement’s hiring process, training, and discipline.

The Board of Minnesota Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) is in the middle of reviewing new rules that would reject job applicants and terminate current officers who support extremist or hate groups, and make other changes.

Meet Tyeastia Green, the woman tapped to jump start Minneapolis’ stalled racial equity work

Last spring, the city of Minneapolis hired Tyeastia Green to restart the racial justice work that collapsed after most staff in the city’s Division of Race and Equity quit in frustration. Mayor Frey’s budget proposes that Green lead a newly created Department of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

Green’s putting together an ambitious agenda, including the annual publication of the “Minneapolis Inequity Report,” more robust and ongoing racial equity trainings for city employees, and fundraising for projects she can’t do within her city budget.

Wounded Knee land purchase, Water Protectors court win, and other news

In this post:

• Land purchase preserves Wounded Knee sacred site
• Another win for Water Protectors, court finds law enforcement acted illegally
• Congressional hearing Wednesday morning to address aggressive corporate lawsuits against environmental activists
• A fix is in the works to significantly reduce mining’s wild rice-damaging sulfate pollution
• Still no answers on knife attack in Cree territory that left 10 dead, 18 injured

Minneapolis seeks public comments on police contract negotiations, appointment of city’s first Community Safety Commissioner

In this post:

• City of Minneapolis holds community listening sessions on police union contract negotiations
• Minneapolis City Council to hold public hearing Tuesday on Cedric Alexander’s nomination as the city’s first Community Safety Commissioner
• Unity Church hosts concert to support Indigenous rights and stop the Huber Lumber Mill Project

Proposed rule would make support of white supremacist or hate groups a violation of police ‘standards of conduct’

The Minnesota Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) Board is considering a new rule for licensed officers that would make support or involvement in white supremacist, hate, or extremist groups a violation of police ‘standards of conduct.’

It’s one of three rule changes under the POST Board’s review.

Any officer violating the code of conduct is subject to discipline, ranging from a reprimand to termination.

Another proposal would require law enforcement agencies to adopt a policy around police responses to public assemblies, crowd control, and use of force.

A public comment period on the rule changes is open for one more week, until Wednesday, July 20.

When it comes to Enbridge Line 3, the scales of justice are badly out of balance

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.