For First Time, Anti-Terrorism Law Used to Have Americans Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline Arrested

/101680858

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    ▻http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/12/17/for-first-time-anti-terrorism-law-used-to-have-americans-prot

    For First Time, Anti-Terrorism Law Used to Have Americans Protesting #Keystone XL Pipeline Arrested
    By: Kevin Gosztola Tuesday December 17, 2013 10:22 am
    ▻http://www.democraticunderground.com/101680858

    A demonstration against Devon Energy and the company’s role in fracking and tar sands mining, including the Keystone XL pipeline, ended with four individuals being placed under arrest last week. Two of them were arrested by police on the basis that they had violated an Oklahoma anti-terrorism law prohibiting “terrorism hoaxes.”

    It is strongly suspected that this happened as a result of advice that TransCanada has been giving local law enforcement in states, where protests against the Keystone XL pipeline have been taking place. They have been meeting with law enforcement and suggesting how terrorism laws could be applied to stop citizens from protesting the corporation’s activities.

    I spoke with the two individuals arrested on terrorism charges, their lawyer and a spokesperson for Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance (GPTSR), which for months has been conducting nonviolent direct actions against construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Oklahoma.

    On December 13, several people entered Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City to protest Devon, an energy company involved in natural gas and oil production that involves fracking. They are also invested and involved in tar sands mining in Canada. Devon Energy CEO John Richels sits on TransCanada’s Board of Directors.

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    #terrorisme

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      Keystone XL protesters’ glittered banner leads to ’terrorism hoax’ arrest
      ▻http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/the-stream/the-stream-officialblog/2013/12/19/glitter-on-bannerleadstoterrorismhoaxarrestsatpipelineprotest.htm

      Two protesters involved in a demonstration at Devon Energy headquarters in Oklahoma City were arrested last week for allegedly staging a “terrorism hoax,” marking the first time anti-terrorism laws have been applied to anti-fracking protests. A group of about a dozen were protesting Devon Energy’s involvement in hydraulic fracking and its ties to TransCanada, the company building the Keystone XL pipeline.

      Stefan Warner and Moriah Stephenson were part of a protest at Devon Tower organized by Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance (GPTSR) and Cross Timbers Earth First, in which several activists staged a mock oil spill outside the company’s headquarters and others locked themselves in the building’s revolving door entrance.

      Warner and Stephenson hung a large Hunger Games-themed banner, pictured below, in the tower’s lobby. Some glitter from the banner fell onto the ground, which police on the scene referred to as a “black substance.” After a janitor had already swept up most of the glitter, an FBI hazmat team arrived to investigate the “black substance.” The protesters, who were already in custody before the hazmat team arrived, reported hearing police on the scene "communicating with someone off site attempting to find some statute in the Oklahoma anti-terrorism statutes” that could be applied to them.

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