It was not enough to militarize the police, allow peaceful protesters to be attacked by dogs, mass arrest protesters, and call in the National Guard.
Filmmaker Faces Felony Charges
Now they are restricting freedom of the press AGAIN. According to Democracy Now, in North Dakota, documentary filmmaker Deia Schlosberg has been charged with three felonies for filming one of five coordinated acts of civil disobedience earlier this week, in which climate activists manually turned off the safety valves to stop the flow of tar sands oil through pipelines spanning the U.S. and Canada.
The coordinated actions occurred in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Washington state.
The award-winning filmmaker Schlosberg produced Josh Fox’s recent documentary “How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change.”
She was filming the action at a valve station owned by TransCanada in Walhalla, North Dakota. She was arrested along with the activists, and her footage was confiscated.
45 Years In Prison For Documentary On Pipeline Shutdown
She has been charged with a Class A felony and two Class C felonies, which combined carry a 45-year maximum sentence.
Democracy Now reporter Amy Goodman was also charged with criminal trespass because she filmed DAPL protests. Goodman is expected to turn herself in on October 17.
Do we really support a system that could throw a reporter in prison for 45 years for exercising her constitutional right of freedom of the press? Are we really going to throw out the Constitution of the United States for an oil company?
*Article originally appeared at Counter Current News.
