Treaty People Gathering, June 5-8; Mississippi canoe paddle May 9, and more

• Treaty People Gathering: Rise, Protect, Stop Line 3, June 5-8
• Indigenous women-led Mississippi canoe paddle opposing Line 3, May 9
• ‘No More Pipeline Blues’: Bonnie Raitt and the Indigo Girls support water protectors
• Sam Grant: Connecting the Derek Chauvin trial with Enbridge Line 3
• MPCA still won’t own up to its flawed approval of the PolyMet Mine, harm to Fond du Lac Band

Line 3: Don’t be distracted from the true danger

Screen grab of Unicorn Riot’s feed showing part of Friday’s protest.

Friday’s bomb scare in Carlton County will be used by some to make water protectors seem dangerous, shifting attention away from real dangers posed by the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Water protectors were demonstrating against Line 3 in Carlton County Friday. As the event was happening, the county received a 9-1-1 call reporting a “suspicious device,” the Sheriff’s Office said. A news story called it “a suspicious package thrown into a pipeline construction area.”

The county’s response was quick and perhaps excessive. It called in the bomb squad. Law enforcement evacuated 40 nearby residences within a half-mile radius of the device. Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake called in regional and federal law enforcement. She’s calling for maximum charges and penalties.

There was no bomb. Still, placing a “replica device” that causes fear and panic is a crime.

The incident occurred near Camp Migizi, an Indigenous-led frontline resistance camp, but the protests that day were several miles away from where the incident occurred.

There’s been no information released that ties the incident to Camp Migizi or the protest. There have been no arrests. Yet without evidence, Enbridge and others are blaming water protectors.