North Dakota Wants to Arrest Amy Goodman
Arrest Warrant Issued After Unfavorable Pipeline Coverage
HAVANA TIMES – In other Dakota Access pipeline news, last Thursday, Morton County, North Dakota, issued an arrest warrant for Amy Goodman. The charge: criminal trespass, a misdemeanor offense.
The case, State of North Dakota v. Amy Goodman, stems from Democracy Now!’s coverage in North Dakota over the Labor Day weekend of the Native American-led protests against the Dakota Access pipeline.
On Saturday, September 3, Democracy Now! filmed security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company using dogs and pepper spray to attack protesters.
Protester: “These people are just threatening all of us with these dogs. And she, that woman over there, she was charging, and it bit somebody right in the face.”
Amy Goodman: “The dog has blood in its nose and its mouth.”
Protester: “And she’s still standing here threatening us.”
Amy Goodman: “Why are you letting their—her dog go after the protesters? It’s covered in blood!”
Democracy Now!’s report went viral online, and our footage was rebroadcast on many outlets, including CBS, NBC, NPR.org, CNN, MSNBC and Huffington Post. Also charged was Cody Hall for his alleged presence at the September 3 land defense action and for a subsequent protest on September 6. Hall is considered a lead organizer in the movement against the Dakota Access pipeline and was arrested at one of the checkpoints that have been erected by North Dakota authorities to restrict access to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the growing pipeline opposition camps. Hall was denied bail and remained in jail throughout the weekend. Hall’s attorneys and several others we spoke to confirmed that it is highly unusual for a defendant charged with misdemeanor trespass to be jailed and denied bail. According to the complaint, the charges are based on a viewing of Democracy Now!’s video report of the incident, conducted by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Special Agent Lindsey Wohl’s sworn affidavit states that I was there as a journalist. Wohl wrote, “Amy Goodman can be seen on the video identifying herself and interviewing protestors [sic] about their involvement in the protest.” The criminal complaint was approved by Assistant State’s Attorney for Morton County Gabrielle J. Goter. To date, none of the private security personnel shown in the video both assaulting protesters and commanding their dogs to attack them have been charged or arrested. Democracy Now! is consulting with attorneys in North Dakota as well as at the Center for Constitutional Rights. CCR Legal Director Baher Azmy said, “This is clearly a violation of the First Amendment … an attempt to repress this important political movement by silencing media coverage.”
Watch Amy Goodman’s Report from North Dakota
FULL Exclusive Report: Dakota Access Pipeline Co. Attacks Native Americans with Dogs & Pepper Spray
Upon further reflection and having read some of Ms. Goodmans tendencious reports and interviews, may I say tongue in cheek, that it seems that North Dakota has the germ of quite a good idea. Actually as a supporter of freedom of speech, Ms. Goodman ought in my view to be allowed to blether on because she has an evident nose for demonstrations, protests and protesters.
There are those who apparently prefer to transport oil by truck and rail. As a consequence of the latter the centre of a town in Quebec was incinerated and some forty people burnt to death.
There are thousands of miles of pipelines across North America -but I suppose that transferring that oil to movement by road would create many thousands of extra trucking jobs with accompanying pressures upon other traffic and potentially nasty accidents. Results of democracy in action? People will continue to wish to purchase fuel for their vehicles – even in South Dakota.
Democracy in action. I just heard this morning on Public Radio that the South Dakota state government has cancelled any further pipeline work, so North Dakota’s efforts to build the pipeline from North through South Dakota are an exercise in futility and a waste of money. The Federal government and lawsuits by the Native American Indians finally prevailed. Furthermore, other pipelines have leaked oil in South Dakota, so this was as environmental nightmare which finally ended, hopefully for good.