Judge dismisses charges against activists accused of disrupting Enbridge Line 3

Calling for justice for Native American people, a senior district judge has thrown out criminal charges in Aitkin County against three Native women - including American Indian activist Winona LaDuke - who were involved in a nonviolent protest in 2021 against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline.

"The charges against these three individuals who were exercising their rights to free speech and to freely express their spiritual rights should be dismissed," Judge Leslie Metzen wrote in a memorandum issued Friday accompanying her ruling. "To criminalize their behavior would be the crime."

LaDuke wept when she read Metzen's memorandum, she said Monday - the day the trial was expected to begin.

https://www.startribune.com/judge-dismisses-charges-against-activists-accused-of-disrupting-enbridge-line-3/600305634/