Thread by @ResistLine3

Today let's hear from Adam, a 21-year-old water protector in Saint Paul. He's charged with Misdemeanor Trespass.

"I began climate justice work when I got to the Twin Cities in 2018 after many beloved friends and comrades taught me about the already years-long Line 3 fight." 🧵

"I knew that keeping the pipes out of the ground meant more to me than any other action I could take. When construction began, friends and loved ones began taking action up north, I joined them in February and was arrested and held for 72 hours in Beltrami County Jail in April."

"During my arrest I was forced into an ambulance I did not need where I sat handcuffed for 20 minutes before being transferred back to the sheriff's vehicle and brought to jail. My comrades and I received $500 bills from the ambulance company."

"Weeks later, all 11 co-defendants in our case received $5000 fines from the law enforcement agency that arrested us, citing "cost of labor and overtime" in a county where Enbridge's corrupt escrow account already pays law enforcement to uphold the interests of big oil first."

"Without the cherished work of our team of movement lawyers and public defenders to drop the fines each of us would be financially destitute. And on top of everything else our agreement with the court to avoid further jail time involved a $150 payment to the state."

"It's not news that the state profits off of extorting the criminalized, but this is a reminder that just as we employ a diversity of tactics they too are always looking for opportunities to demobilize us."

"I'm here on this land because two centuries ago on the other side of the planet the British Empire brought famine, terror, and destitution to the Indian Subcontinent which drove my family to Turtle Island."

"I cannot stand complacent while the settler state continues its genocide of the land's rightful Indigenous stewards. Resisting the state sometimes feels frightening, more often it feels disorienting, but when I stand and fight I know that above everything I'm honoring myself."

"Please support frontliners in all fights toward our collective liberation. Please also form community with incarcerated loved ones wherever you may be in whatever way makes sense to you. Organize and advocate for folks on the inside, put money on their books, find a pen pal!"

"If you don't know anyone trapped inside the carceral system, blackandpinkpenpals.org is a great place to start."

Support Line 3 defendants like Adam and many others.

Sign the petition to pressure @GovTimWalz and @AGEllison to drop the charges on water protectors: bit.ly/drop-the-charg…

#DropL3Charges