A weekend get-together for people involved in ecological direct action, from fighting opencast coal, fracking, GM, nuclear power to road building. There’ll be discussions and campaign planning – with the emphasis on the tactics and strategies we use, community solidarity and sustainable activism.
A weekend get-together for people involved in ecological direct action, from fighting opencast coal, fracking, GM, nuclear power to road building. There’ll be discussions and campaign planning – with the emphasis on the tactics and strategies we use, community solidarity and sustainable activism. This year we’ll be in Lancashire…
Update: full transport details and programme at link below.
last night fire erupted in the tranquillity of bristols well-to-do redland area, targeting a marked vehicle of Standfast Ltd.
last night fire erupted in the tranquillity of bristols well-to-do redland area, targeting a marked vehicle of Standfast Ltd. besides the usual functions that led us to attack a company invested in "security" (as always, securing the sanctity of private property in mass society) one of their many cctv contracts in bristol, bath, avon, somerset and gloucestershire is both state and private schools, where as you can read in the newspapers even the toilets are no escape from the cameras.
daily submission under impersonal institutions rarely comes naturally. after the nuclear family, the education system at all stages is instrumental in adapting the free child to the civilized world of workplaces, malls and (other) prisons that todays youth are destined for. constant surveillance has proven a most effective step in this domesticating process, kids learning to selfregulate under the assumption that they're permanently being watched, and this has been made to seem normal by reality tv, the saturation of control technology in the dead synthetic urban enviroment (supplied by the likes of Standfast Ltd.), and the atomised crowd of a generation filled with selfish fear of punishment or repremand.
but it is often still the young people who are least destroyed by this onslaught and who still find themselves impelled to refuse the system (like the riots last summer and scattered moments of revolt everyday since and before). this is just a reminder – WHEN YOU HIT A LENS IT WILL BREAK LIKE ANYTHING ELSE! so shouts to youth rebellion against society, the claimants of the recent attack on security vehicles in nottingham, and everyone else committed to the timeless crime of freedom!
strength for Gustavo Quiroga, held in immigration detention after the Delta squat eviction in Thessaloniki, and for the Gremlin Alley resisters in cardiff!
strength for the anarchists non-cooperating with the grand jury in the american northwest, and for the ones who fled from it!
strength for the street fighters held for the march29 battles in Barcelona, and Carolina whos accused of burning a Starbucks that inspiring day!
anarchy here, now and always — yours in war, counter-surveillance cores.
Europes largest protest zone is going through multiple evictions – all through much media silence! Over the past four days La ZAD, an anti-airport protest zone, composing of over 20 occupied sites has been putting up the barricades, opposing and protesting against the harassment and the evictions by a troop of police over a 1000 strong.
Largest Protest Zone in Europe Being Evicted
La ZAD (La Zone A Défendre)
Europes largest protest zone is going through multiple evictions (because there are numerous sites) – all through much media silence! Over the past four days La ZAD, an anti-airport protest zone, composing of over 20 occupied sites has been putting up the barricades, opposing and protesting against the harassment and the evictions by a troop of police over a 1000 strong. La ZAD is in the area of Notre Dame de Lande, just north of the city of Nantes, in the north-west of France.
Video of one of the earlier Police mobilisations: 
Resistance aux expulsions from Résistances nddl on Vimeo.
Sit down protest in Bel Air: http://zebuzzeo.blogspot.fr/2012/10/a-notre-dames-des-landes-l-etat-ps.html
Good series of pictures of barricades and resistance: https://picasaweb.google.com/113382718807039752437/Expulsions#slideshow/5799932948346626882
Good info in English: http://en.squat.net/tag/zad/
Tear gas has been used against the barricades and the military have been mobilised to support the evictions.
Below are summaries and translations of their FLASH INFO / UPDATES (please excuse the bad english).
THEIR MESSAGE: And most importantly: there is plenty of places occupied (land and three houses with eviction deadline until October 27), and the the occupant-es are always on site, with lots of other people coming to defend the area, and full of messages and actions of solidarity everywhere! It is not their police pressure which make our protests impotent acts of resistance will continue until the project will not be removed.
October 16th
[Places evicted : la Bellich’, Bel Air, la Gaité, les Planchettes, le Tertre, le Pré Failli, la Pré Faillite et St Jean du Tertre.]
11h18 : // in his speech, the prefect declared that the operation is finished for today, that all went fine, without arrestations and that the military occupation will continue for several days to secure the destruction of the houses
13h15 : charge et tirs de lacrymo vers le Sabot ; arrivée de nombreux fourgons de CRS // Tear gas beeing shot around the Sabot, arrival of numerous riot cop cars
15:10 : les gens dans le Sabot se font gazer, dépanneuse et tractopelle en vue, 3 camions de CRS et 10 de gendarmes se dirigent vers le Sabot // people at the Sabot getting teargased, breakdown lorry and diggers been seen, 3 cop vans of riot cops and 10 military vans heading towards Sabot
15h20 : // barricade burning at the Sabot. It’s seems to getting hot for them
15h40 : // following a exterieur information, the Military are being mobilized for more 48h to prevent new occupations
18h15 : // a digger is arriving at the way to the Sabot to enter in the garden by the side, 40 people are still at the Sabot
October 17th
[Places evicted: les Planchettes, le Tertre.]
8h20 : // a convoy with a rubbish truck, digger and a road semi-trailer are arriving at the Planchettes, under a big escort, big spots lighting on the Planchettes
10:05 : // there is the proposition to meet up in the Sabot to discuss, bring water and food, 10 cop vans seen driving to the north direction Fosse noires/ Planchettes, medias saying that the destruction of the houses started 🙁 , there is demo in Paris in front of the ministery of environment
11h12 : // there are 30 cop vans in the region around the Tertre where they actually destroy the house :(, there are positioned at the end of the Chemin de sueze and at Chênes de Perrières, the destruction of the Planchettes got confirmed by the medias :(, at the Sabot it seems quiet but the helicopter is turning over the Phare Ouest
12h20 : la destruction de Planchettes dans les medias 🙁 sadness and rage…
14h48 : // there are cops arriving in front of the Phare Ouest vers the Chêvrerie
14h58 : // the cops stopped to go forward, people are behind the barricades
15h17 : // people juste got charged by cops vers the Planchettes
15h45 : // some 20 cop vans are in front of the Sabot, the cops came out running
15h50 : // callout for support at Phare Ouest, the cops taking off the tree blocking the road
16h15 : // the convoy which cut the tree is leaving, another one seems to arriving quickly from direction Ardillières
18h55 : // the cops broke down the barricade of the Sabot, they entered but they don’t charge yet
19h11 : pigs got charged by the people south of Sabot, defending their home, brave friends of us, keep on rocking against this terroristes…
20h04 : // the militarys start back shooting teargas
20h22 : // It seems the fuckers are winning some terrain on the field on the south, there are also hiding behind the chickens, fucking lame
MESSAGE TO THE PORCS : if you hurt the chickens, we’ll call the animal protection !!!
21h35 : // the Manitou ’ some destruction machine ) is heading in the direction of Phare Ouest, the Sabot still keeps resisiting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we love you…….
22h07 : // 10 riot cop vans part vers les Ardillières, around the Sabot, they gas a lot, lot, lot..BUT THE SABOT IS STILL RESISTING !!! fuck you cops, fuck you ayrault, you dont get your airport !!
22h06 : // the working machine left with the convoi. We got confirmed that the cries we heard are not at all cries of fear but of rage and determination!
23h00 : // cops came back to the entry of the Sabot, they get stoned and leave…
October 18th
[Places evicted: la Pointe, la cabane collective de la forêt de Rohanne.]
9:05 : // the cops go into the Saulce, riot cops come closer to the barricade of the Sabot
9h12 : // cops continue to detstroy the barricade of the Saulce. 3 cop vans going towards the chemin de suez from the Saulce barricade
[The rest done with internet translate]
9h37 : it is reported to the police that there are people in the tree-tops of la Saulce. Cloud of tear gas.
10h25 : beginning of the expulsion of the great forest (Foret Rohanne) they are destroying the house collective. people in the trees/ cabins.
10h32 : they empty the house of the collective forest. They have a team of climbing.
11h22 : WE CALL ON ALL AND ALL TO MANIFEST THEIR SOLIDARITY WITH WHAT HAPPENS HERE AND SPREAD THE NEWS MOST WIDELY AVAILABLE Locally: 19h call to rally outside the prefecture of Nantes tonight / at 18.30 in front of the town hall of Rennes Friday evening.
12h00 : Rohanne in the forest: the excavator working and almost finished destroying the communal house, the person in the tree where the climbers are mounted refuses to go down, it is covered by a rubber bullets.
12h14 : From the online press, the prefecture announced the evacuation of the place called Point and Heath Rohanne, and mentions three arrests. To be confirmed.
13h10 : there are still many people in the trees in the forest. The cops are not climbing. There would be three arrested allegedly released. We hear again the helicopter.
16h01 : the GIGN has left the forest, they could not evict people still in the trees.
17h 34 : Lande de Rohanne: since this morning, destroying the collective hut surrounded by a handful of Gendarmes Mobiles. Some people in trees, others ground support. 4 people were descended from the trees GIPN. The remains of the hut were taken by a marabout. 17h cops to head further north to a second cabin floor, releasing those who were on their way, but regardless of at least 3 comrades still in the trees.
20h08 : We have information that a person is detained in police custody in La Chapelle sur Erdre from 4:20 p.m. for refusing to give his name. She was arrested on the road near Ardillères.
23h23 : The person arrested was released this morning, she has a meeting for January 22 at St Nazaire 14h (It is not the person arrested at 16.20, who is still in GAV.)
We learn that 500 people gathered at Nantes tonight in solidarity with the Zad. People's will!
19th October
8h53 : Nothing to report except a few patrols running on the Zad, Filter and roadblocks at certain points, this morning. The cops have massively left the area last night. We remain vigilant but it could be that it is the end of the first "wave" of operation here. It may resume in the coming days, and last …
10h30 : the operation is perhaps not finished for this phase … they expelled L'Isolette, and currently runs around the Fosses Noires.
10h35 : evacuation of the pile of rubble that became Le Tertre.
10h40 : Eviction of Coin en Cours underway, thirty people are around.
14h12 : We hope that our friends in the forest are doing well. The area is expelled and destroyed. Thank you Le Coin, we will miss you!
Received by mail: For tonight rally outside the prefecture of Nantes in 19h! It is proposed that we find in red and black! It brings songs, then bring your vocal cords! Song for all print here: http://www.deljehier.levillage.org/ … Otherwise, it also offers a meeting point for you to carpool morbihannais … Visit the Rond-Point du Petit Molac Questembert at 17:30. Will print some of the world! El pueblo unido, Lalalalalala …….
15h43 : difficult time to live without news of our friends in places management, we are still trying to get out, but our communication is difficult KLAXON!
We live here, we’ll stay here!
We live here, we’ll stay here!
After two days of resistance and solidarity, only seven houses and one plot were evicted at the ZAD, a threatened area meant to make place to an airport in Notre-Dame-des-Landes. Everywhere police forces met determinated opponents, inhabitants refusing to leave their houses, their roofs. Demonstrations. direct actions took place around several locations, roads we barricaded, activists keeping joining the ZAD area, etc…
Since hours, opponents are defending several plots, the Far West, the Sabot, a cultivable land back in use since May 2011. Right now, the Sabot in drowned under a cloud of tear gas, with a drumming samba band. Outside the ZAD, many solidarity actions took place, such a demonstration in front of the main state building in Nantes tonight.
Contrary to what was announced by the highest state representative of the region tuesday morning, the area is far from being empty. Around 20 houses remain occupied, this is even not including house owners, renters and farmers still living in the area. The pressure and acts from the police, such as the destruction by fire from one wood hut, without checking if it was still occupied, won’t silent dissent.
Without trying to compete with the military arsenal deployed by a state to protect its projects of “public utility”, acts of resistance will go on as long as the project isn’t abandoned.
Not only here, but from Atenco to Val de Susa, to Chéfresne, everywhere people are struggling. We’ll refuse to conform to what is forced on us!
Coming on the agenda :
– Saturday October 20th, midday, meeting point at la Pointe (le Temple de Bretagne): gathering with opponents to the airport project.
– in the coming months, demonstration to re-occupy the ZAD, date to be announced on the ZAD website.
More Information: http://zad.nadir.org
WINNSBORO, TEXAS – MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2012 – Following a weekend of nonviolent civil disobedience training in North Texas by Tar Sands Blockade, many dozens of protesters and supporters are rallying today at the site of the largest and longest tree sit in Texas history to stage the largest walk-on site protest and civil disobedience in the history of Keystone XL pipeline construction. Several individuals are defending the tree sitters and the trees by locking themselves to construction equipment being used in proximity to the forest blockade. Solidarity actions are also taking place in Washington DC, Boston, Austin and New York City.
Altogether more than 50 blockaders are risking arrest to stop Keystone XL construction and bring attention to TransCanada’s repression of journalists attempting to cover the blockaders’ side of the story. They are joined by dozens of supporters who are rallying on public property with colorful banners and signs alongside the easement’s closest highway crossing. A massive media team is in tow to document the day of action and any possible police repression.
As the Winnsboro tree blockade enters its fourth week, the blockaders are resupplying their friends in the trees with fresh food, water, and cameras to further document their protest despite the threat of a newly-expanded Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by TransCanada and egregious criminal overcharges by local law enforcement. Due to the SLAPP suits’ outrageous claims, the tree sitters have by-and-large felt too threatened to safely reveal their identities, despite their protest being nonviolent. That the defiant walk-on protest is the largest yet attempted in the history of protests surrounding Keystone XL construction sends a clear signal that the blockaders will not be deterred by SLAPP suits and other legal threats to limit their civil liberties.
“Three weeks is a long time to be sitting in a tree. The training I got this weekend has me ready to rise up and join the sitters in defending Texas homes from the toxic tar sands,” shared Glenn Hobbit, 28. “They’re saying we might get sued or worse, but stopping this pipeline is too important.”
Last week, the multinational corporation opened a civil suit in which it named 19 individual defendants, 3 organizations, and 6 anonymous tree sitters for a total of 28 defendants seeking an injunction, declaratory relief, and damages. All the named defendants are former arrestees of Tar Sands Blockade actions with the exception of media spokesperson Ron Seifert, who has yet been arrested in connection with a protest, and area landowner Eleanor Fairchild, who acted independently with activist and actor Daryl Hannah. Hannah was not named in the suit.
Tar Sands Blockade is a coalition of Texas and Oklahoma landowners and climate justice organizers using peaceful and sustained civil disobedience to stop the construction of TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
“In reality, Tar Sands Blockade is not trespassing on TransCanada’s property. Many of TransCanada’s easement contracts were brokered through fraud and intimidation, and their entire legal foundation is being challenged in the courts for those reasons,” explained Ron Seifert, Tar Sands Blockade spokesperson. “If anything TransCanada is trespassing on the property of landowners who never wanted anything to do with their dangerous tar sands pipeline.”
UPDATE 8:15AM – Supporters rally nearby to stop the pipeline.
UPDATE 8:20PM– A beautiful morning in what remains of our East Texas forest. TransCanada has clear-cut outside of their designated pathway and around the west side of the tree blockade leaving a muddy path of destruction in their wake.
UPDATE 8:35PM– Over 50 blockaders march through the woods toward the tree blockade
UPDATE 9:00AM – One blockader arrested after sitting down in the path of Keystone XL and refusing to leave.
UPDATE 9:06AM- Three blockaders have been arrested. We outnumber TransCanada’s police 3 to 1. Two blockaders have locked down to excavator equipment protecting the tree blockade.
UPDATE 9:20AM- Livestreamer @uneditedcamera (Lorenzo) has been detained and handcuffed, but they’re STILL STREAMING! Police are trying to flank groups of protestors. Watch the stream live NOW!
UPDATE 9:45AM- Small group of ground blockaders break through police line and enter tree blockade!
UPDATE 10:00AM- 4 arrests so far. Freelance journalist/livestreamer Lorenzo Serna has been released. The rally at the easement near the highway is going strong with chanting, singing and lots of colorful banners. TransCanada is barking orders at the police. We should have video and pictures soon.
UPDATE 11:00AM- Today’s first solidarity rally in Washington DC is beginning now outside the American Petroleum Institute!
UPDATE 11:10AM- 6 blockaders have been arrested at the Tree Blockade.
UPDATE 11:35AM- Picture from the DC solidarity rally. Over sixty people turned out over their lunch hour to stand with the Texas blockade and stop Keystone XL.
UPDATE 12:50PM-We have now confirmed that a 70-year-old woman participating in the blockade was thrown to the ground and tackled by TransCanada’s hired thugs. Video will be coming soon.
UPDATE 1:55PM – At least eight people have been arrested after walking onto the Keystone XL clear cut in defiance of recent repression. Two blockaders are still locked to huge excavator in the path of toxic pipeline.
UPDATE 3:20PM- Solidarity rally in Denton, TX has begun!
UPDATE 3:45PM– In case you missed it, Tar Sands Blockade was on Democracy Now! this morning. Our spokesperson Ron Seifert was joined by landowner Susan Scott and actress Daryl Hannah to discuss the blockade, TransCanada’s bullying and the SLAPP lawsuit against 21 people associated with stopping tar sands.
UPDATE 3:50 PM – Two blockaders who locked themselves to Keystone XL machinery have been arrested. A crowd of supporters stood by and cheered for as they were taken into police custody to the cheers. These two most recent arrests make eight total for the day.
UPDATE 4:00PM – Our first arrestee has been released without charges. He was arrested early this morning when he sat down in the Keystone XL’s pathway and refused to move. His defiant action helped delay police officers and allowed other blockaders to breach the police line and enter the tree blockade. After he was arrested he was made to lie face-down in the mud for several hours. He continued to refuse compliance with the police and siting health concerns had to eventually be removed on a stretcher. He was later released from the hospital without charges.
UPDATE 4:15PM- Solidarity photo in front of the TransCanada offices in Westborough, Massachusettes.
UPDATE 4:30PM -We’re getting sued!
As the Winnsboro, Texas tree blockade enters its fourth week, over 50 blockaders publicly demonstrated on the Keystone XL easement despite the threat of a newly-expanded Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by TransCanada and egregious criminal overcharges by local law enforcement.
Due to the SLAPP suits’ outrageous claims, the tree blockaders have by-and-large felt too threatened to safely reveal their identities, despite their protest being nonviolent. Today’s defiant walk-on protest is the largest in the history of protests surrounding Keystone XL construction sends a clear signal that we will not be deterred by SLAPP suits and other legal threats to limit our civil liberties.
Apparently we’ve been causing some serious delays of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
UPDATE 6:00PM- Six of the eight arrested today have been released from jail on charges of criminal trespass which is a class B misdemeanor. The bail was $1,500 each, a total of $9,000. The two blockaders who locked themselves to Keystone XL machinery will see a judge in the morning.
UPDATE 8:00PM– Today was our biggest day of action yet! More video and stories will be trickling out over the next couple of days as we try and wrap our heads around everything that happened today. In the meantime we have a ton of brilliant and beautiful photos that begin to tell the story. Check them out.
UPDATE 6:00AM – Read the excellent coverage about the blockade in today’s Washington Post.
On Monday, after a weekend of nonviolent civil disobedience training, supporters of the Tar Sands Blockade rallied in Winnsboro, Tex., where protesters were holding a “sit-in” 70 feet off the ground in a swath of trees. The trees stand in the middle of a corridor already cleared for the pipeline. The tree-climbing pipeline foes unfurled a banner that reads: “Rise Up and Defend Your Homes.”
“The only option afforded to powerless individuals who have been abused by the system is this tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience,” said Seifert, the Tar Sands Blockade spokesman. “Everything has been done to petition for justice at every level. And the institutions failed. This is a clear case of injustice, and it’s up to people to rise up and defend themselves.” Read the full story here.
UPDATE Oct 16th, 7:00AM – Watch our intense action video!
For further updates visit http://tarsandsblockade.org
8 October 2012
At least eight protesters have been arrested during a mass trespass at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset.
More than 50 people swooped on the perimeter fence of the land earmarked for two new EPR mega-reactors next to the existing power plant just after dawn.
8 October 2012
At least eight protesters have been arrested during a mass trespass at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset.
More than 50 people swooped on the perimeter fence of the land earmarked for two new EPR mega-reactors next to the existing power plant just after dawn.
Dozens fanned out around the 5-miles long fence while others held banners and placards outside the main security gate. A 14-foot banner reading, “Nuclear disaster zone. Boycott EDF” was hung across the gate.
At 11am a total of 577 seed balls were thrown over the fence onto the construction area in a symbolic attempt to repair the damage already caused to the land. The seed balls represent the number of days since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Around 10 people are known to be still on the land owned by EDF Energy. Many others are expected to join them later on today.
The mood has been relaxed and celebratory. “This is a major victory for the anti-nuclear movement,” said Camilla Berens, spokesperson for the Stop New Nuclear Alliance. ‘Because the government has refused to listen to us and we have been forced to raise the game. We have successfully blockaded the main entrance to Hinkley Point on two occasion in the last year and now we have accomplished a mass trespass. Our message today is that we will continue to raise the game with peaceful protest until our voice in heard.”
More info at Stop New Nuclear and Stop Hinkley
Environmental activists have been celebrating a victory on Gotland Island, off the coast of southeast Sweden, as tree felling machinery remained idle on Saturday evening.
Environmental activists have been celebrating a victory on Gotland Island, off the coast of southeast Sweden, as tree felling machinery remained idle on Saturday evening.
“It was a smart and brave decision,” field biologist Alva Snis Sigtryggsson told Swedish news agency TT. “It feels like a partial victory.”
Earlier in the day police had to use cutting equipment to remove Greenpeace protestors who had chained themselves to the machinery. The tree clearance was planned to make way for a controversial limestone quarry in the Ojnare forest adjacent to an EU designated Natura 2000 protected area.
The forestry owners’ association, Mellanskog, issued a statement indicating that the forest clearance will be stopped until after a High Court Ruling on the issue.
“We are well aware that Nordkalk has a legal right to start work here but we want to avoid long term splits and bitterness in this community where we have many members,” the association wrote.
The mining company’s communication chief, Eva Feldt, called the decision “deplorable” and blamed the country governor for putting pressure on the forestry group.
Environmental groups, including the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Greenpeace have pledged to block all attempts to open a quarry in the area which they say should be protected in line with European Union rules on biodiversity.
The Swedish Ojnare Forest has been described as unlike any other on the planet – with unique ancient pine forests, short in stature due to the cold climate, yet with individual trees up to 1000 years old, in ecosystems containing 265 endangered species. These old forests shroud the island’s unique and complex groundwater system, and their destruction will place the island’s biggest freshwater source at risk. The area’s unique natural ecosystem habitats are of high national interest for nature conservation, as the Ojnare Forest is located between and adjacent to two European Natura 2000 conservation areas, and is proposed to become a National Park. The Ojnare Forest and its natural ecosystems are under attack by a large open pit limestone mine that would cover 420 acres with a 26 meter deep toxic hole.
Over the objections of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and despite appeals to the Supreme Court, preparatory work for the mine is already underway. There is a major forest protest occupation ongoing at Gotland Island against this logging and mining. Protesters have been occupying Ojnareskogen since July, and in recent days some 70 police officers have come to remove them, and the number of protestors has risen to over 100 – ranging from self-described rebels against ecocide, to families with small children. Despite having already started clearing land for in excess of what had been approved, Mellanskog decided on Saturday to suspend the ongoing logging on Gotland pending a decision from the Supreme Court. While a positive development, protest continues until the logging and entire project are cancelled.
Although the acutely threatened area is “only” 170 hectares in size, the case reveals Sweden’s weak forest protection legislation and possible resource allocation corruption. Only a few percent of Sweden’s high conservation value forests remain, and only 3.3 percent of the productive forest area is protected. The verdict in this case will be used by other corporations to clearcut and exploit other old natural ecosystems in the country. Ecological Internet has a long history of successfully supporting local Scandinavian old-growth forest protection movements. In 2009, our network sent 1,117,294 protest emails in a successful campaign stopping industrial development in 80% of Finland’s Central Lapland wilderness, covering tens of thousands of hectares. Few thought such protections were possible, yet with strong local organizing backed up by EI’s unprecedented global network’s international campaign, it was one of many great victories for Earth’s old forests.
WINNSBORO, TEXAS – Monday, October 1, 2012 8:00AM – A Tar Sands Blockade protester has stopped the destruction of a small family farm in East Texas by locking himself in front of oncoming Keystone XL clearing equipment.
WINNSBORO, TEXAS – Monday, October 1, 2012 8:00AM – A Tar Sands Blockade protester has stopped the destruction of a small family farm in East Texas by locking himself in front of oncoming Keystone XL clearing equipment. Houston resident, Alejandro de la Torre, 28, is taking action to stop the Keystone XL pipeline from destroying the home of yet another Texas family threatened by TransCanada’s poisonous tar sands slurry.
In a powerful display of conviction, De la Torre locked his arm into a concrete capsule buried directly in the proposed path of the toxic pipeline. This courageous act is preventing TransCanada’s unwelcomed onslaught of machines from devastating property captured through eminent domain abuse. Follow live updates on facebook and twitter.
“I was raised in New Orleans, so I’ve seen how local communities suffer at the hands of multinational corporations,” attests de la Torre. “I’m willing to risk arrest today to stop this tar sands pipeline because I have the privilege to help protect the safety of those most affected. Keystone XL endangers the health and safety of everyone from the landowners and their families now threatened by cancer causing leaks, to the refinery communities in Houston that have to breathe the dirty air, as well as people of color around the world who are disproportionately affected by climate change.”
In a separate protest just miles away on the other side of Winnsboro, Tar Sands Blockade’s aerial tree protest enters into its second week. Sitters in platforms nearly 100 feet in the air are not deterred by reckless behavior on the part of TransCanada’s work crews. Despite repeated warning of the dangers on the part of the protesters, the company is encouraging the use of dangerous tree clearing equipment within feet of protesters’ trees, endangering their lives.
Today’s blockade comes less than a week after TransCanada supervisors encouraged law enforcement to brutalize two peaceful protesters who were acting in defense of the largest tree blockade in Texas history. One of the abused protesters, Benjamin Franklin, explained why peaceful civil disobedience must continue despite the violence orchestrated by TransCanada, “I encourage everyone to persevere in the face of this type of sheer brutality. To follow one’s moral compass in spite of extreme challenges is the way we move forward towards a more humane, tar sands-free planet.”
Below is a previously recorded video of the landowner, Susan Scott whose land stands to be clear-cut today, confronting TransCanada’s surveyors.
“TransCanada doesn’t have any local community ties, it lies about the safety of its pipeline because it cares more about money than about people,” claims Ron Seifert, spokesperson for Tar Sands Blockade. “If this multinational corporation had any compassion for East Texan’s homes, it would respect our constitutionally protected property rights instead of condemning the land and using it for its own private gain.”
UPDATE: 9:30AM – Police Arrive and Begin to Calmly Access the Situation
UPDATE: 10:30AM – TransCanada Workers Bringing Shovels and Threatening to Dig Alejandro Out
UPDATE: 11:00AM – Police Baffled About How to Respond – TransCanada Helicopter Circling Overhead
UPDATE: 11:30AM – Fire and Rescue Crews Arrive With More Plain Clothes Police
UPDATE: 1:00PM – Police Steal Camera From Observers Standing Nearby on Private Property
After the the torture tactics used on our blockaders last week at the encouragement of TransCanada supervisors we’ve made ever effort to ensure we have observers on the scene carefully watching with a video camera. Observers were standing nearby on private property when police confiscated their camera! Fortunately, TV crews are arriving on the scene and hopefully they wouldn’t be subjected to this same obstruction of civil liberties.
UPDATE: 1:15PM – Police Attach Hand-Cuffs to Alejandro’s Ankles – Undeterred He Holds Strong
UPDATE: 1:25PM – Police Put a Screen Around Alejandro So Observers Can’t Watch and Protect Him
Since the police stole our main camera right now we only have photo of the screen taken far away with a cell phone camera. A backup photographer arrived on the scene later and took high definition photos that we’ll upload on our flickr stream tonight.
UPDATE: 3:00PM – Police Chiseling Away at the Underground Capsule That Alejandro is Locked Into
UPDATE: 3:45PM – Alejandro Has Been Arrested For Helping Save a Family Farm From Keystone XL
After delaying construction for almost an entire day Alejandro has been extracted from the underground capsule and arrested. Through his brave actions he was able to bring to light the disrespect that local landowners have suffered at the hands of TransCanada’s eminent domain abuse and trampling of landowner rights.
Support Alejandro’s legal fees with a generous donation.
UPDATE: 4:00PM – Bulldozer Has Moved in to Level More of the Family Farm
After being delayed almost an entire work-day by Alejandro’s actions Keystone XL construction crews quickly moved in with machinery to get in at least one hour of work bulldozing a local landowners beloved family farm before the end of the work day.
To permanently stop this toxic pipeline we need more people to join us. Sign up to attend our Direct Action Training Oct. 12-14th.
UPDATE: 6:00PM – Read Alejandro’s Story of How His Passion For Environmental Justice Motivates Him
“I’m willing to risk arrest because I have a certain amount of personal privilege that allows me to participate. I don’t live near a Gulf refinery, or on land that’s at risk from a devastating tar sands spill, so I’m able to play a small part in an action that will really help people’s lives. I’m here to stand up for people on the front lines because they’re being trampled to make way for corporate profits.
I’m sick of seeing these devastating affects on a personal and community level and on a grand global scale in which corporations and their profits call all the shots.”
Read more of Alejandro’s story here.
UPDATE: 8:00PM – Excellent Coverage From KLTV Channel 7 – Tyler
KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News
UPDATE: OCTOBER 2nd, 9:00AM – Alejandro’s Bail Set at $10,000
Yesterday Houston resident Alejandro de la Torre delayed Keystone XL clear cutting operations on a family farm outside Winnsboro, Texas for almost an entire day. De la Torre locked himself to an underground capsule in the pathway of Keystone XL to protect the farm, saying simply that “I’m here to stand up for people on the front lines because they’re being trampled to make way for corporate profits.” After Wood County Sheriff Department confiscated peaceful observers camera’s they arrested him for his courageous action.
De la Torre is currently being held on trumped up charges and a bail set at $10,000, an outrageous sum for a nonviolent peaceful protester. As a supporter of Alejandro and the blockade please demonstrate your support with a generous donation to his bail.
UPDATE: OCTOBER 2nd, 10:0AM- Alejandro Released!
Alejandro de la Torre has been released from Wood County Jail. When more information becomes available we will update. For now, check out what Alejandro said before he was arrested on our blog.
After yesterday’s audacious move by TransCanada to cut around the west side of the tree blockade and completely outside of the designated Keystone XL pathway, or easement, blockaders have taken action.
After yesterday’s audacious move by TransCanada to cut around the west side of the tree blockade and completely outside of the designated Keystone XL pathway, or easement, blockaders have taken action.
In the middle of the night blockaders erected a 30 foot high timber pole in the newly clear-cut pathway. Lifelong Texan Mary Germanati has climbed atop the pole and is refusing to come down until the Keystone XL pipeline is stopped for good. The pole is a free standing structure that’s safely supported by numerous life-line ropes to keep it upright. If TransCanada moves to sever these support ropes it could seriously injure Germanati. Yesterday their machinery was operating so close that it shook the timber scaffolding wall and severed ropes attached to nearby trees intended to keep a safe buffer between the machinery and the blockaders. Now that we are livestreaming our hope is that the eyes of the world will prevent them from recklessly endangering peaceful protestors.
UPDATE: 9:00AM – Sheriff Arrives and Tries to Talk Blockader Down From Her Pole
UPDATE: 10:00AM – Livestream is Down Due to Technical Difficulties
Sorry folks, we’re doing our best down here in the backwoods of East Texas. Thanks for your patience as we attempt to bring you live footage of the tree blockade. You can help us buy the technical equipment we need to continually improve the quality of the coverage.
UPDATE: 11:00AM – Workers and Sheriff Unsure How to Get Mary Down – Situation is Steady
Blockaders on the ground have been talking with TransCanada workers to explain how they are unable to proceed with today’s clear-cutting operation because Mary is securely up a 40 foot pole in their pathway. Workers and the sheriff are unsure how to get Mary down from her blockade. A TransCanada worker is filming everyone, hence we’ve been wearing masks for our own legal protection.
UPDATE: 1:00PM – TransCanada Workers in the Distance – Mary Holding Strong After yesterday’s close encounters with TransCanada’s heavy machinery operating dangerously close to peaceful tree blockaders things are calm today. It seems that Mary’s presence on a 40 foot pole in the clear-cut path of the Keystone XL has deterred their operations for the day. Workers and police are still milling around on the ground. The only sound audible from the tree blockade is a wood-chipper and excavator moving slash piles of felled trees further away along the clear-cut scar. Hold strong Mary!
UPDATE: 5:00PM – Mary’s Action Stopped All New Clear-Cutting Today
Lifelong Texan Mary Germanati remains quietly perched on top of her 40 foot pole in the middle of Keystone XL clear-cutting site. TransCanada workers and police, unsure of how to deal with Mary, avoided her all day and didn’t bring the heavy machinery back to the clear-cut they had begun the day before. About a dozen workers on foot and four-wheelers roamed around on the ground.
Some 200 people attended the “Stop the Road” Camp & Rally in Combe Haven on 29/30 September, celebrating the beauty of the valley and enjoying an amazing weekend of speeches, workshops, shadow puppetry, children’s theatre, story-telling, campfires, local music and great food. A big thank you to everyone who donated their time, energy, money and / or vegetables to the cause, and helped make it such a great event!
The Camp saw the launch of the “Stop the Road – Save Our Valley” pledge. You can download a copy of the Pledge here.
See below for more pictures from the Camp.
An excellent film about the event by local journalist Jake Bowers:
Media coverage extended to the national press, with both the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times (see below) – both running articles linking the Camp’s preparations for future direct action with George Osborne’s plans to build hundreds of new roads around the UK – and a letter from the Defenders in the Guardian.
Other coverage included BBC Sussex, ITV Meridian, and local coverage on the Hastings [1] and Bexhill Observer web-sites [1] [2]
Coverage in the Sunday Times
Defender Emily Johns and badger friend welcome walkers to the Camp on the Saturday
Renowned environmental campaigner John Stewart leads a workshop on “How to Stop a Road”
Local group Las Pasionarias contributed some rousing musical songs.
Intense discussions took place in workshops on campaign strategy and direct action
