Line 3 Protestors Call for Gov Walz to Take Action

Racial Reckoning: The Arc of Justice

The pipeline, which is 90% complete, crosses treaty-protected land in Minnesota. Activists say it threatens valuable natural resources.

--

Safiya Mohamed reports:

On Monday demonstrators gathered outside Governor Tim Walz’s residence to protest the Line 3 pipeline. Mike McDonald, president of the local chapter of Veterans for Peace, says people must do whatever it takes to stop the line from being completed.

“I supported governor Walz, but I can't next time unless he changes his mind on this because there's nothing bigger than this issue. So I hope he gets the message,” said McDonald. “And hopefully he's getting lots of pressure from Peggy Flanagan, our lieutenant governor, and I hope at some point the courts or the governor or the president say enough and stop it.”

Line 3 is a pipeline expansion that was proposed by Enbridge, a Canadian pipeline company. The pipeline is now 90% complete. The route of the pipeline crosses treaty-protected land in Minnesota on its way from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. Mary Vrabel, an attendee at the protests, says the pipeline threatens valuable natural resources:

“We have some really extraordinary resources in Minnesota, the water, the lakes, wild rice, and all of that is endangered as a result of this,” said Mary Vrabel, who was one of approximately 20 people who showed up for the protest. Vrabel says that the indigenous community has been fighting this pipeline for seven years, and everyone else is just now catching on.

“We have to be a part of this too, to really get enough of a critical mass of people to help stop this pipeline,” she said.

Protesters have been gathering at the Governor's mansion every Monday this month. On Tuesday, activists will take their protest to the state capital.