Pipeline company sues Greenpeace, others over eco-terrorism claim

Fuel Fix:

Dallas Pipeline giant Energy Transfer Partners is suing Greenpeace International and other protesters of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in a new effort to go on the offensive against environmentalists.

Energy Transfer claims groups like Greenpeace, Earth First! and individual protesters resorted to "mob thuggery" and intentionally misleading information to halt the construction and damage Energy Transfer's "critical business and financial relationships." The federal lawsuit cites the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act to claim the groups funded an "outlaw camp ... of eco-terrorists" in North Dakota.

The lawsuit targets "rogue environmental groups and militant individuals who employ a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas."

The nearly $5 billion, 1,200-mile oil pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois became a rallying point that united environmentalists and American Indian groups as the Standing Rock Sioux, who tap the Missouri River for tribal water, argued the pipeline traversed sacred burial grounds and threatened the tribe's main water source. The pipeline project was delayed for months amid federal reviews and protests that led to hundreds of arrests and occasional violence - sometimes against the protesters by security personnel.

Greenpeace USA General Counsel Tom Wetterer said the lawsuit is "not designed to seek justice, but to silence free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation." He said this is becoming a "pattern of harassment by corporate bullies.
...

My biggest surprise is that victims of alleged eco-terrorism have not done this sooner.   The assaults represent property crimes that have zero to do with speech.

James Marks notes in an opinion piece:

If Islamist terrorists had sabotaged a U.S. oil pipeline, held a press conference to claim credit for their crime, then punctuated their declaration by defacing government property, it would be a national news story.

We all know it would have been a cable news sensation. Yet when two radical environmental activists did exactly that, confessing in a July press conference, it was barely noticed.

Iowa eco-warriors Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya admitted vandalizing the Dakota Access Pipeline for months in a systematic effort to sabotage the pipeline. They did thousands of dollars in damage and risked their own lives and lives of others.

The pair admitted to researching the best way to puncture an oil pipeline, then carrying out a series of arson and blowtorch attacks on the Dakota Access Pipeline and heavy construction equipment in Iowa and South Dakota. They used blowtorches to damage valves and attempted to pierce the pipeline.

In at least one attempt, they admitted trying to use a blowtorch to cut through the pipe when it was filled with oil.
...

When the accused hold a press conference to announce their attacks It should make proof in the case relative simple.