Greenpeace must pay at least $660m over Dakota pipeline protests, says jury
A jury in North Dakota has decided that the environmental group Greenpeace must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the pipeline company Energy Transfer and is liable for defamation and other claims over protests in the state nearly a decade ago.
Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company worth almost $70bn, had sued Greenpeace, alleging defamation and orchestrating criminal behavior by protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016 and 2017, claiming the organization “incited” people to protest by using a “misinformation campaign”.
Greenpeace, which had denied the claims, said in a statement after the verdict that lawsuits like this were aimed at “destroying the right to peaceful protest”; constitutional rights experts had expressed fears that the case could have a wider chilling effect on free speech.
The nine-person jury in Mandan, North Dakota, found in favor of Energy Transfer on most counts after more than two days of deliberations. It awarded Energy Transfer at least $660m, according to calculations from Greenpeace.
The environmental group, which had expressed concerns before the trial about getting a fair hearing in oil and gas country, said that a loss and an enormous financial award could bankrupt their US operation. Energy Transfer sued three Greenpeace entities, claiming that they are a single organization rather than independent members of the Greenpeace network.
Greenpeace will appeal the decision, the organization said.
The case has been closely watched by the wider non-profit community and first amendment experts amid concerns over how it could affect activism.
“What we saw over these three weeks was Energy Transfer’s blatant disregard for the voices of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. And while they also tried to distort the truth about Greenpeace’s role in the protests, we instead reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to non-violence in every action we take,” said Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace’s senior legal adviser.
“We should all be concerned about the future of the first amendment, and lawsuits like these aimed at destroying our rights to peaceful protest and free speech. Greenpeace will continue to do its part to fight for the protection of these fundamental rights for everyone,” Padmanabha said. [Continue reading…]