More than 160 leftists have been arrested Monday during an action opposing the Line 3 oil pipeline in Hubbard County located in north Minnesota. The New York Times states the hoodlums were charged on a public utility and critical infrastructure.

Police began arresting trespassers who reportedly climbed on top of transporter boxes and diggers, along with chaining themselves to the machinery. The Line 3 pipeline would carry over 700,000 barrels of oil through Minnesota’s watersheds and tribal lands. But 2000 leftists arrived over the weekend to protest and even try to forcibly halt the pipeline’s upgrade and expansion.

While a spokesperson for the group Honor the Earth expressed regret over the arrest of their supporters, it was not to condemn the actions of saboteurs but to condemn Enbridge, the Canadian company that owns the pipeline saying it financed repression. One member from a local Indian tribe said building on tribal land is an act of violence. However, a spokesperson for the company states that they want everyone to be safe but some employees had to evacuate the site targeted by the saboteurs.

Some area Indian tribes see the construction as an abridgement of their tribal sovereignty. However, where were they to raise objections or ask questions about the pipeline? Usually, when Indian tribes and environmentalists are involved, they make numerous false claims in an attempt to stall or stop pipeline construction. Then when they don’t get their way, they and their allies use violence or sabotage claiming the climate crisis demands drastic action.

Fortunately, work was only affected at one location while work at other construction areas was normal, and that pipeline construction will go largely uninhibited. At times authorities did have to utilize unusual methods to discourage activists seeking to cause mischief. For example, The Times reports a sonic device was used to disburse crowds on Monday and a low-flying helicopter from Homeland Security that not only told the crowds to leave but made clouds of dust to try to push them out.

Some of the radical organizers, even Jane Fonda, hope to enlist the help of Joe Biden, in which some even think Interior Secretary Deb Haaland could stop pipeline construction or even get to Joe Biden through her. None the less, the actions of the Jacobins demonstrate the two-faced manner in which they conduct themselves. The ones praying are really there for show to make it like that they aren’t all saboteurs but, as near as I can tell, say little to nothing condemning the ones who do.

Thankfully, an Enbridge spokesperson says the pipeline will be finished as scheduled. The people who showed up hoping to stop it are not as determined as the Standing Rock terrorists (who conducted multiple acts of violence and property damage) and, hopefully, they will be unsuccessful.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay