Enbridge pipeline hits the courtrooms

It was just a short pretrial hearing, but people packed a St. Louis County courtroom April 20 in support of three men charged with trespassing at Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Duluth earlier this year. Judge Dale Harris consolidated the three cases and set the next hearing for May 30.

Scott Bol, Michael Niemi and Ernesto Burbank blocked the entrance to protest investments in fossil fuels on January 12. The focus was Wells Fargo’s relationship with Enbridge, whose pipelines transport oil through Minnesota.

Burbank and Niemi used chains and pipes to lock themselves in front of the bank doors while Bol put a U-shaped bicycle lock around his neck so the gate couldn’t be raised without choking him. Firefighters cut the locks loose.

Prior to last Friday’s hearing, demonstrators held a prayer by Lake Superior, then gathered outside the courthouse. Burbank pointed to the words written across the top of the building. “It says ‘public safety,’” he said. “Why do the courts protect banks that bring harm to the public? They’re washing each other’s hands.”

Read more: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2018/04/26/13172_enbridge_pipeline_hits_the_courtrooms