A group of prominent anti-Line 3 activists now advocates violent terror attacks against dams, bridges and railways.
Line 3 is the name given to an oil pipeline construction project that is currently underway in northern Minnesota. The Obama administration originally required the line to be built to replace aging and dangerous infrastructure. The initiative is endorsed by many environmental groups like the League of Conservation Voters. The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, a Native-American group which controls land the pipeline will use, have also reached apparently profitable deals that allow the line to be laid.
Despite this, there is a staunch group of pipeline detractors whose action and rhetoric has become increasingly extreme in recent months. This group is headed up by Winona LaDuke, who sits at the helm of an organization called Honor the Earth. Protesters associated with this group have taken physical action against construction equipment and even lobbed a fake bomb into a construction area in February, causing terror.
Now, Honor the Earth’s program manager, Teresa LaDuke, is apparently calling for violent strikes against infrastructure.
“Them fools got dams. Them fools got bridges and railways that can be taken. Knife river has trucks that don’t need to be running,” Teresa (aka “T-Bazz”) posted on Facebook late last month. The post continues, highlighting how well armed residents of the county in which the line is being built are. “There’s a few hundred hunters in White Earth [Indian Reservation]. A whole bunch of wild Indians,” the post warns. “There’s ceremony in warfare. Our people have always been armed.”
“You can go be peaceful, but how long are you willing to live on your knees?” the post concludes.
The original wording of this apparent threat comes from Teresa’s son, Amos LaDuke. Teresa reposted her son’s warning, adding, “I want to know too. How long do we allow this?”
Teresa’s echoed call for “warfare” earned praise from Winona, who commented, asking her to “come visit.” Winona, Teresa and Amos are all related and interact frequently on social media.
Winona has also issued her own calls for violence since at least 2019 when she declared that “frankly, you’re going to have a civil war in northern Minnesota” should Line 3 not be renegotiated. She also made a statement in 2020 that Minnesota’s Indian Uprising of 1902 won’t be the last time such action occurs. “We ain’t done yet,” she said on the Red Mic podcast, foretelling that “armed Indian people” will make another appearance soon.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
