“On September 14th I tested positive for Coronavirus after accompanying a friend who had cold-like symptoms to get tested. I immediately quarantined, consulted a doctor, and have since developed symptoms. Sadly, I will need to cancel some public engagements, and participate remotely in others, while I remain under quarantine until October 1st, 2021. I’m fine and thankfully due to the benefits of the vaccine my symptoms are very mild. My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering and grieving as a result of this horrible virus and I look forward to a day when we can put all of this behind us.

“While I may not share the same influence as a multi-platinum recording artist, I recognize the importance of transparency, and recognize the threat misinformation poses to the health and wellbeing of diverse communities both online and off.  So I’ll just say this… vaccines work, masks work, testing works, healthcare is a right, and we all need to support each other.

“See you soon, Chelsea.”

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The letter follows a summer of escalating confrontations, including assaults, surveillance, and harassment targeting Secwepemc land defenders by pipeline workers and security.

The letter urging Prime Minister Trudeau to stop the construction of the pipeline was also sent to Jennifer Strachan, Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and details the precarity of the hostilities between workers from the mobile Trans Mountain Pipeline worker camp and the surrounding Secwepemc community. A spectrum of drug use, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and assault have become a mainstay with Trans Mountain’s traveling labor camps. For First Nations communities already traumatized by an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, incidents surrounding Trans Mountain’s traveling labor camps have only contributed to heightened security concerns for Blue River’s Native community,  exacerbating decades-long wounds.

OPEN LETTER to Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada; Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

August 7, 2021

We write to share our joint concerns with the Canadian federal government, Trans Mountain Corporation, and RCMP over the recent invasion of the Tiny House Warriors’ Blue River camp on July 23, 2021, and the installation of intrusive 24/7 surveillance technology. This compounds our ongoing concerns for their human rights and safety. 

On July 23rd, 2021, between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m., approximately 50 people who we believe to be Trans Mountain Corporation workers or contractors and private security personnel descended on the Tiny House Warriors village site near Blue River, BC. They dismantled THW security barricades that control access to the camp, including an installation of red dresses drawing attention to the epidemic of missing and murdered women and girls. In its place, they erected their own steel fences and concrete barriers, effectively blocking THW’s access to the road, to their main source of water (Blue River), and to the bushes used to gather berries–an Aboriginal right protected under section 35 of the Constitution of Canada. 

They posted no trespassing signs and warning signs referring to a sweeping injunction that looms over the entire proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project. They also installed remote-operated surveillance towers, in one case metres from sleeping quarters, arrayed with floodlights, loudspeakers, sensors and cameras. 

We anticipate this to be one of the first steps in a move to escalate surveillance of the Tiny House Warriors and ramp up construction of a proposed industrial camp to house 550 temporary pipeline workers (sometimes referred to as a ‘man camp’). In a July 27th presentation before the Village of Valemont Council Meeting, Trans Mountain confirmed that between July 23rd and July 25th, the area was “completely fenced and secured” for the purposes of the industrial camp, and that they are proceeding with their Oil and Gas Commission notification to begin work. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls notes that such camps drastically increase the risks of sexual assault, domestic violence and intimidation against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. In Canada and internationally, Secwepmec land defenders have urgently raised concerns about sexual assault, violence and substance abuse associated with these camps and their opposition to them on their territory. 

The Tiny House Warriors (THW) are a group of Indigenous women, families, and land defenders who are upholding collective sovereignty and jurisdiction in opposition to the ongoing expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX) through unceded Secwepemc territory in interior BC. The camp near Blue River is one of two camps where the THW have reclaimed “Crown” lands to assert their collective and territorial authority in opposition to the pipeline and the construction of associated work camps. Indigenous land and human rights defenders have maintained a full-time presence there since July 2018. In this time, it has grown to be a thriving community–a site where Secwepemc culture, rights, and sustainable land-based economies flourish. The actions of TMX on July 23 constitute an invasion of this community and breach of Indigenous rights. 

Targeting Indigenous people on their own land with intrusive, round-the-clock monitoring and remote multi-spectrum surveillance technology could represent a serious violation of privacy, civil liberties, human rights and Indigenous rights. We are concerned by the growing use of these enforcement techniques by private security companies, the potential sharing of surveillance data with policing services, and the implications for Indigenous groups and civil society at large.

Injunction monitoring and enforcement on the Trans Mountain project has largely been taken out of the hands of police by private security. The towers installed opposite the THW camp appear to take this a step further, using remote-operated cameras and automated sensors. It is unclear to what extent human operators are involved in monitoring or evidence collection. It is unclear who owns the towers, where recordings are kept or how long they are stored. It is unclear what sensor technologies are in use, or how far they project beyond the injunction zone.   

Photographs of the towers show they have an independent power supply, including batteries powered by solar panels and likely a fuel cell generator as backup, which is common on these kinds of installations. The towers include a pneumatic mast, two-way transmission antennas, a robotic pan/tilt/zoom camera, LED floodlights and loudspeakers. They also include fixed sensors which commonly house a variety of technologies including motion detection, night vision cameras and thermal imaging cameras. It is unclear which of these capabilities is included in the Blue River towers, their effective range or what information they are gathering.

The THW have long been the target of ongoing surveillance, profiling, and criminalization by the RCMP, their Community-Industry Response Group, and private security firms. Access to information requests have confirmed extensive surveillance of the THW by Trans Mountain Corp. and their securities contractors. The THW have applied to have additional, unredacted surveillance records released, which is under court review. Further, RCMP intelligence documents framing Indigenous land defenders as “un-Canadian” and threat to Canada’s “national interest,” reveal systemic racial profiling within the RCMP. 

Meanwhile members of the THW have been repeatedly targeted by RCMP. A total of 15 arrests have been made, including the violent arrest of Kanahus Manuel on October 19, 2019, in which RCMP slammed Manuel to the ground, breaking her wrist. She did not receive adequate treatment for her injuries until 10 hours after her arrest, when she was transported to hospital by ambulance. A lawsuit is currently being sought against the arresting officer.

The THW have also faced ongoing harassment and violence since their establishment. During an incident on April 19, 2020, three men and one woman perpetrated a violent attack on the camp, commandeering a truck and ramming it into the barricades and into a tiny home where people were taking shelter. The investigation into this incident is still ongoing; though individuals were identified, no arrests have been made. 

The Tiny House Warriors have documented their harassment and criminalization and reported on it before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on two occasions. In December 2019, CERD issued a decision calling upon Canada to “immediately cease construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and cancel all permits, until free, prior and informed consent is obtained from all the Secwepemc people.” In the decision, the Committee reported that it was:

Disturbed by forced removal, disproportionate use of force, harassment and intimidation by law enforcement officials against indigenous peoples who peacefully oppose large-scale development projects on their traditional territories;

Alarmed by escalating threat of violence against indigenous peoples, such as the reported violent arrest and detainment of a Secwepemc defender against the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, on 19th October 2019”

It urged Canada to “immediately cease forced eviction” of the Secwepemc peoples, and to guarantee that “the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and associated security and policing services will be withdrawn from their traditional lands.” In November 2020, CERD again called on Canada to respond to this decision. To date, Canada has provided no information on measures taken to address the concerns raised by the UN Committee.

We are deeply concerned about the escalation of intimidation and surveillance of land defenders at the THW camp and in particular the many gender-based threats and acts of violence they have experienced both online and in person. We urge you to heed the decision of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and immediately suspend permits and halt construction until the Secwepemc people give their free, prior and informed consent to the pipeline expansion, and to remove associated security and surveillance technologies from Secwepemc lands. The BC government and Canada’s obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, implemented provincially through the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, as well as the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders are clearly at stake. 

This letter is to affirm our unanimous support for the Tiny House Warriors as well as to express the deepest concern we feel for their safety, civil rights, Indigenous rights, and human rights. We will continue to monitor the situation, and will be watching closely to see how Trans Mountain Corp., its securities contractors, and RCMP conduct themselves in the coming weeks and months. 

Signed,

Doreen Manuel, Matriarch of the George Manuel Society for Indigenous Peoples 

Naomi Klein, author 

Avi Lewis, filmmaker and Associate Professor of Geography, University of British Columbia 

Russell Diabo, Spokesperson, Truth Before Reconciliation Campaign, Publisher and Editor, First Nations Strategic Bulletin

David Suzuki

Stephen Lewis, Humanitarian, Former UN ambassador

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Union of BC Indian Chiefs

Grand Chief Ron Derrickson 

Linda Black Elk, Food Sovereignty Skills Director, United Tribes Technical College

Rita Wong, writer and Associate Professor, Emily Carr University of Art and Design

Pamela Palmater, Mi’kmaq, Chair in Indigenous Governance, Ryerson University

Christi Belcourt, Métis artist

Alexandra Morton, independent biologist 

Peter McCartney, Climate Campaigner, Wilderness Committee

Chief Na’Moks, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief 

Harsha Walia

Reuben George, Sundance Chief 

Tia Oros Peters, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples

Sharon H. Venne (Notokwew Muskwa Manitokan), international lawyer 

Michelle Cook, Divest Invest Protect, Indigenous Human Rights Defenders and Corporate Accountability Program 

Eugene Kung, Staff Lawyer, West Coast Environmental Law 

Sam Mckay, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI6)

David Nahwegahbow, Anishinaabe (White River First Nation), Founding Partner, Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers and Solicitors

Chris Albinati, Associate, Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers and Solicitors 

Kent McNeil, Emeritus Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

Noah Ross, Lawyer, Noah Ross Law Corporation

Michael Asch, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta 

Cat Brookes, Co-founder, Anti Police Terror Project, and Executive Director, Justice Teams Network, Oakland, CA, Ohlone Territories 

Eriel Deranger, Executive Director Indigenous Climate Action

Hup Wal Lax A (Kirby Muldoe), Tsimsian/Gitxsan

Shiri Pasternak, Assistant Professor, Criminology, X University

Emma Feltes, PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia

Amnesty International Canada (English Section)

Amnistie internationale Canada francophone

KAIROS Canada

European Alliance for the Self Determination of Indigenous Peoples, international NGO

Aktionsgruppe Indianer & Menschenrechte (AGIM), Munich, Germany

Arbeitskreis Indianer Nordamerikas (AKIN), Vienna, Austria

Comité de Solidarité avec les Indiens des Amériques (CSIA-NITASSINAN), Paris, France

Internationales Komitee für die Indigenen Amerikas Schweiz (Incomindios), Zurich, Switzerland

Menschenrechte 3000 e.V. (Human Rights 3000), Freiburg, Germany

Tokata-LPSG RheinMain e.V., Seligenstadt, Germany

Verein zur Unterstützung nordamerikanischerIndianer (ASNAI), Berlin, Germany

Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade

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Dear Judge O’Grady,

It is not a secret that I struggle to live with depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Both stem from my childhood experience growing up in a rural mountain community and were compounded by exposure to combat during military service. Depression is a constant. Though stress, particularly stress caused by war, can manifest itself at different times and in different ways. The tell-tale signs of a person afflicted by PTSD and depression can often be outwardly observed and are practically universally recognizable. Hard lines about the face and jaw. Eyes, once bright and wide, now deepset and fearful. And an inexplicably sudden loss of interest in things that used to spark joy. These are the noticeable changes in my demeanor marked by those who knew me before and after military service. To say that the period of my life spent serving in the United States Air Force had an impression on me would be an understatement. It is more accurate to say that it irreversibly transformed my identity as an American. Having forever altered the thread of my life’s story, weaved into the fabric of our nation’s history. To better appreciate the significance of how this came to pass, I would like to explain my experience deployed to Afghanistan as it was in 2012 and how it is I came to violate the Espionage Act, as a result.

In my capacity as a signals intelligence analyst stationed at Bagram Airbase, I was made to track down the geographic location of handset cellphone devices believed to be in the possession of so-called enemy combatants. To accomplish this mission required access to a complex chain of globe-spanning satellites capable of maintaining an unbroken connection with remotely piloted aircraft, commonly referred to as drones. Once a steady connection is made and a targeted cell phone device is acquired, an imagery analyst in the U.S., in coordination with a drone pilot and camera operator, would take over using information I provided to surveil everything that occurred within the drone’s field of vision. This was done, most often, to document the day-to-day lives of suspected militants. Sometimes, under the right conditions, an attempt at capture would be made. Other times, a decision to strike and kill them where they stood would be weighed.

The first time that I witnessed a drone strike came within days of my arrival to Afghanistan. Early that morning, before dawn, a group of men had gathered together in the mountain ranges of Patika provence around a campfire carrying weapons and brewing tea. That they carried weapons with them would not have been considered out of the ordinary in the place I grew up, muchless within the virtually lawless tribal territories outside the control of the Afghan authorities. Except that among them was a suspected member of the Taliban, given away by the targeted cell phone device in his pocket. As for the remaining individuals, to be armed, of military age, and sitting in the presence of an alleged enemy combatant was enough evidence to place them under suspicion as well. Despite having peacefully assembled, posing no threat, the fate of the now tea drinking men had all but been fulfilled. I could only look on as I sat by and watched through a computer monitor when a sudden, terrifying flurry of hellfire missiles came crashing down, splattering purple-colored crystal guts on the side of the morning mountain. 

Since that time and to this day, I continue to recall several such scenes of graphic violence carried out from the cold comfort of a computer chair. Not a day goes by that I don’t question the justification for my actions. By the rules of engagement, it may have been permissible for me to have helped to kill those men—whose language I did not speak, customs I did not understand, and crimes I could not identify—in the gruesome manner that I did. Watch them die. But how could it be considered honorable of me to continuously have laid in wait for the next opportunity to kill unsuspecting persons, who, more often than not, are posing no danger to me or any other person at the time. Nevermind honorable, how could it be that any thinking person continued to believe that it was necessary for the protection of the United States of America to be in Afghanistan and killing people, not one of whom present was responsible for the September 11th attacks on our nation. Notwithstanding, in 2012, a full year after the demise of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, I was a part of killing misguided young men who were but mere children on the day of 9/11.

Nevertheless, in spite of my better instincts, I continued to follow orders and obey my command for fear of repercussion. Yet, all the while, becoming increasingly aware that the war had very little to do with preventing terror from coming into the United States and a lot more to do with protecting the profits of weapons manufacturers and so-called defense contractors. The evidence of this fact was laid bare all around me. In the longest or most technologically advanced war in American history, contract mercenaries outnumbered uniform wearing soldiers 2 to 1 and earned as much as 10 times their salary. Meanwhile, it did not matter whether it was, as I had seen, an Afghan farmer blown in half, yet miraculously conscious and pointlessly trying to scoop his insides off the ground, or whether it was an American flag-draped coffin lowered into Arlington National Cemetery to the sound of a 21-gun salute. Bang, bang, bang. Both served to justify the easy flow of capital at the cost of blood—theirs and ours. When I think about this I am grief-stricken and ashamed of myself for the things I’ve done to support it.

The most harrowing day of my life came months into my deployment to Afghanistan when a routine surveillance mission turned into disaster. For weeks we had been tracking the movements of a ring of car bomb manufacturers living around Jalalabad. Car bombs directed at US bases had become an increasingly frequent and deadly problem that summer, so much effort was put into stopping them. It was a windy and clouded afternoon when one of the suspects had been discovered headed eastbound, driving at a high rate of speed. This alarmed my superiors who believe he might be attempting to escape across the border into Pakistan. 

A drone strike was our only chance and already it began lining up to take the shot. But the less advanced predator drone found it difficult to see through clouds and compete against strong headwinds. The single payload MQ-1 failed to connect with its target, instead missing by a few meters. The vehicle, damaged, but still driveable, continued on ahead after narrowly avoiding destruction. Eventually, once the concern of another incoming missile subsided, the driver stopped, got out of the car, and checked himself as though he could not believe he was still alive. Out of the passenger side came a woman wearing an unmistakable burka. As astounding as it was to have just learned there had been a woman, possibly his wife, there with the man we intended to kill moments ago, I did not have the chance to see what happened next before the drone diverted its camera when she began frantically to pull out something from the back of the car.   

A couple of days passed before I finally learned from a briefing by my commanding officer about what took place. There indeed had been the suspect’s wife with him in the car. And in the back were their two young daughters, ages 5 and 3 years old. A cadre of Afghan soldiers were sent to investigate where the car had stopped the following day. It was there they found them placed in the dumpster nearby. The eldest was found dead due to unspecified wounds caused by shrapnel that pierced her body. Her younger sister was alive but severely dehydrated. As my commanding officer relayed this information to us she seemed to express disgust, not for the fact that we had errantly fired on a man and his family, having killed one of his daughters; but for the suspected bomb maker having ordered his wife to dump the bodies of their daughters in the trash, so that the two of them could more quickly escape across the border. Now, whenever I encounter an individual who thinks that drone warfare is justified and reliably keeps America safe, I remember that time and ask myself how could I possibly continue to believe that I am a good person, deserving of my life and the right to pursue happiness.

One year later, at a farewell gathering for those of us who would soon be leaving military service, I sat alone, transfixed by the television, while others reminisced together. On television was breaking news of the president giving his first public remarks about the policy surrounding the use of drone technology in warfare. His remarks were made to reassure the public of reports scrutinizing the death of civilians in drone strikes and the targeting of American citizens. The president said that a high standard of “near certainty” needed to be met in order to ensure that no civilians were present. But from what I knew, of the instances where civilians plausibly could have been present, those killed were nearly always designated enemies killed in action unless proven otherwise. Nonetheless, I continued to heed his words as the president went on to explain how a drone could be used to eliminate someone who posed an “imminent threat” to the United States. Using the analogy of taking out a sniper, with his sights set on an unassuming crowd of people, the president likened the use of drones to prevent a would-be terrorist from carrying out his evil plot. But, as I understood it to be, the unassuming crowd had been those who lived in fear and the terror of drones in their skies and the sniper in this scenario had been me. I came to believe that the policy of drone assasiniation was being used to mislead the public that it keeps us safe, and when I finally left the military, still processing what I’d been a part of, I began to speak out, believing my participation in the drone program to have been deeply wrong. 

I dedicated myself to anti-war activism, and was asked to partake in a peace conference in Washington, DC late November, 2013. People had come together from around the world to share experiences about what it is like living in the age of drones. Fazil bin Ali Jaber had journeyed from Yemen to tell us of what happened to his brother Salem bin Ali Jaber and their cousin Waleed. Waleed had been a policeman and Salem was a well-respected firebrand Imam, known for giving sermons to young men about the path towards destruction should they choose to take up violent jihad.

One day in August 2012, local members of Al Qaeda traveling through Fazil’s village in a car spotted Salem in the shade, pulled up towards him, and beckoned him to come over and speak to them. Not one to miss an opportunity to evangelize to the youth, Salem proceeded cautiously with Waleed by his side. Fazil and other villagers began looking on from afar. Farther still was an ever present reaper drone looking too. 

As Fazil recounted what happened next, I felt myself transported back in time to where I had been on that day, 2012. Unbeknownst to Fazil and those of his village at the time was that they had not been the only watching Salem approach the jihadist in the car. From Afghanistan, I and everyone on duty paused their work to witness the carnage that was about to unfold. At the press of a button from thousands of miles away, two hellfire missiles screeched out of the sky, followed by two more. Showing no signs of remorse, I, and those around me, clapped and cheered triumphantly. In front of a speechless auditorium, Fazil wept.

About a week after the peace conference I received a lucrative job offer if I were to come back to work as a government contractor. I felt uneasy about the idea. Up to that point, my only plan post military separation had been to enroll in college to complete my degree. But the money I could make was by far more than I had ever made before; in fact, it was more than any of my college-educated friends were making. So, after giving it careful consideration, I delayed going to school for a semester and took the job. 

For a long time I was uncomfortable with myself over the thought of taking advantage of my military background to land a cushy desk job. During that time I was still processing what I had been through and I was starting to wonder if I was contributing again to the problem of money and war by accepting to return as a defense contractor. Worse was my growing apprehension that everyone around me was also taking part in a collective delusion and denial that was used to justify our exorbitant salaries, for comparatively easy labor. The thing I feared most at the time was the temptation not to question it. 

Then it came to be that one day after work I stuck around to socialize with a pair of co-workers whose talented work I had come to greatly admire. They made me feel welcomed, and I was happy to have earned their approval. But then, to my dismay, our brand-new friendship took an unexpectedly dark turn. They elected that we should take a moment and view together some archived footage of past drone strikes. Such bonding ceremonies around a computer to watch so-called “war porn” had not been new to me. I partook in them all the time while deployed to Afghanistan. But on that day, years after the fact, my new friends gaped and sneered, just as my old one’s had, at the sight of faceless men in the final moments of their lives. I sat by watching too; said nothing and felt my heart breaking into pieces. 

Your Honor, the truest truism that I’ve come to understand about the nature of war is that war is trauma. I believe that any person either called-upon or coerced to participate in war against their fellow man is promised to be exposed to some form of trauma. In that way, no soldier blessed to have returned home from war does so uninjured. The crux of PTSD is that it is a moral conundrum that afflicts invisible wounds on the psyche of a person made to burden the weight of experience after surviving a traumatic event. How PTSD manifests depends on the circumstances of the event. So how is the drone operator to process this? The victorious rifleman, unquestioningly remorseful, at least keeps his honor intact by having faced off against his enemy on the battlefield. The determined fighter pilot has the luxury of not having to witness the gruesome aftermath. But what possibly could I have done to cope with the undeniable cruelties that I perpetuated? 

My conscience, once held at bay, came roaring back to life. At first, I tried to ignore it. Wishing instead that someone, better placed than I, should come along to take this cup from me. But this too was folly. Left to decide whether to act, I only could do that which I ought to do before God and my own conscience. The answer came to me, that to stop the cycle of violence, I ought to sacrifice my own life and not that of another person.

So, I contacted an investigative reporter, with whom I had had an established prior relationship, and told him that I had something the American people needed to know.

Respectfully,
Daniel Hale

Man camps and transient workers are part of the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People). Firelight Groups 2017 report indicated a sharp increase in sex trafficking due to the man camps and their housing of transient workers. Additionally, the harassment faced by Indigenous women and 2-spirit peoples exercising their ancestral rights to the land, by the hands of the RCMP in the name of protecting corporate property and the continuation of resource extraction projects, furthers the systemic violence and criminalization of Indigenous land defenders and those exercising their right to live sovereignly on their people’s land. Amnesty International has also condemned the violence against Indigenous women, 2spirit peoples, and children, as well as, the criminalization and over-policing of Indigenous land defenders perpetuated, and further enabled, by the Crown corporation known as so-called “Canada.”

We are in a climate crisis and Indigenous peoples title rights to the land being upheld will be essential to our planet’s recovery. The construction of a pipeline is a violent process, and involves the desecration of lands and waters that are sacred and are relied upon by many communities. We, as Indigenous peoples, have every right to exist on our own ancestral lands and defend them in any and every way we see fit to ensure their survival for coming generations. No “preventative measures” taken by any company, especially those that have illustrated a clear disregard for Indigenous and natural life alike, could possibly provide safety and security for the future of the land.

Secwepemc land defender, Kanahus Manuel who lives in the Tiny House Warriors village in the path of the pipelines: “Trans Mountain is misleading insurers by suggesting they have secured the land base and Indigenous consent for the Trans Mountain pipeline.  They do not have consent from the Secwepemc and failure to recognize Secwepemc title, land rights and indigenous jurisdiction, will only result in more conflict, direct actions, blockades and Indigenous land occupations which will increase the risks and economic uncertainty for Trans Mountain and its construction deadlines.”

“Direct actions will continue to intensify and escalate because Canada, its courts and its crown pipeline company refuses to recognize the legitimate and inherent Secwepemc land rights. The basis for these risks are the jurisdiction and land rights of the Secwepemc and the obligation of the Canadian government under both domestic and international law to obtain consent from the Secwepemc as the Aboriginal title and rights holders. These risks have been amplified by the Canadian government’s approval of the pipeline despite the lack of Indigenous consent. The government has failed to even fully engage the Secwepemc. They are further amplified by the declarations of solidarity among the Secwepemc, other Indigenous Peoples, non-Indigenous NGOs and many municipalities, including the City of Vancouver. Finally, these risks are amplified by the assertion of Secwepemc land defenders that they will stop the pipeline ‘by any means necessary,’” say the Braided Warriors.

“We are here in solidarity with the Secwepemc peoples in their fight to stop foreign invasion of their lands and protect their lands, waters, animals, and peoples. As settlers it is our role to be accomplices to Indigenous land defenders and put ourselves on the line to stop the ongoing colonization of Indigenous territories and peoples. This pipeline will affect all of us and all future generations, but first and foremost will impact the nations and peoples along this route, including Secwepemc people. Today we stand on unceded, unsurrended, illegally occupied Secwepemc land to show that we will not stop until the pipeline is terminated and the land is returned to the rightful title holders,” say settler accomplices locking down.

On February 24th, after being jailed for 19 days for refusal to cooperate with the Grand Jury subpoena served to him, Martinez said:

“I was served another subpoena before I was released, making it the third one. My lawyers are working hard to keep me from being imprisoned for standing up for my constitutional rights as an American citizen. After having my rights stripped from me, I was imprisoned with no charges for 19 days. Even with the work of our legal team, the chances are high that I will be imprisoned once again for up to 18 months or the duration of the grand jury. I humbly ask for your continued prayers & support as I continue to speak volumes through my silence. Thank you. MNI WICONI, WATER IS LIFE.”

Chava Shapiro, a legal worker and supporter of Martinez since 2016 said:

“We are all standing in solidarity with his choice to invoke his constitutionally protected right to silence to the Grand Jury. Political activists know that Grand Juries have historically been used as a tool of political repression against Indigenous people in their efforts to maintain sovereignty, push the United States government to honor treaties, and achieve self-determination for their relatives and nations. The best and safest choice for Steve and for all those who protect the water is to maintain silence in the face of this Grand Jury.”

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Letters of support may be directed to:
Steve Martinez,
Burleigh County Detention Center,
PO Box 2499
Bismarck, ND 58502

To learn more about Steve Martinez and the Water Protectors visit: www.waterprotectorlegal.org and www.SupportSteveMartinez.com

Questions regarding support should be directed to: SupportSteveMartinez@protonmail.com

What: Indigenous youth that were violently arrested, during ceremony outside AIG, will return to hold a media availability and film international human rights testimonials outside of the AIG Insurance building.

When: TODAY, Monday, March 1st 10:30am, PCT

Where: In front of AIG Insurance building, 595 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V7X 1L7, Canada

Background: On February 19, 2021, Indigenous youth with the Braided Warriors were brutalized by police while in ceremony calling on insurance companies to drop coverage of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

Today’s video testimonials will be submitted to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and sent to the international human rights community regarding violations of international Indigenous Human Rights at the hands of the Vancouver Police, RCMP, Trans Mountain and the government of Canada.

The UN Human Rights Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has previously cited harm to Indigenous communities from the Trans Mountain expansion project, and filed an  Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure.

The UN Human Rights CERD has previously called upon Canada to “immediately cease construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and cancel all permits, until free, prior and informed consent is obtained from all the Secwepemc people, following the full and adequate discharge of the duty to consult.”

The Braided Warriors issued the following statement,

“We call on these insurance giants to drop the toxic Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline. These Human Rights violations are what these insurance companies are covering –  this pipeline project that violates our rights, and the criminalization of Indigenous Land Defenders and Human Rights Defenders are being exposed internationally.

“We are not just environmentalists, we are Indigenous Peoples with inherent rights to our lands and waters and responsibilities to uphold our Indigenous laws to defend these lands. Indigenous youth are not trespassing on unceded lands. We are defending this land from the destruction Trans Mountain will cause.”

SUPPORT INDIGENOUS YOUTH WARRIORS ⁦@BraidedWarriors⁩ violently arrested at #stoptmx #stopinsuringGenocide at AIG Insurance to demand insurance companies stop underwriting #TransMountain pipelines

E transfer
Braidedwarriors@gmail.com
⁦@amnesty⁩ ⁦@NaomiAKlein⁩ pic.twitter.com/Zv3ApTtI72

— Kanahus Manuel (@KanahusFreedom) February 20, 2021

Notes to the Editor

A simultaneous action is occurring in New York City calling on the new CEO of AIG, Peter Zaffino, to stop insuring fossil fuels. Monday will be Zaffino’s first day on the job.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

The Braided Warriors are a collective of Indigeous youth from many Indigenous Nations fighting for Indigenous sovereignty.  The Braided Warriors oppose all resource extraction and all forces that commit violence against the land and the peoples.  According to the Braided Warriors, “we as Indigenous Peoples are the biggest financial liability to these colonial extraction agendas, and as the proper title holders of our own territories, it is our responsibility to protect and defend our land and our people by upholding our natural laws.”

The Government served Mr. Martinez with a new grand jury subpoena prior to his release.

“Unlike all other legal proceedings in the U.S., federal grand juries are secret, and are almost entirely controlled by the prosecutor,” said Martinez’ attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen. “As such, they are ripe for abuse and have a history of being used for politically-targeted harassment.” She continued, “This ruling terminates, but does not remedy, three weeks of categorically unlawful incarceration endured by Mr. Martinez. That the Government’s response was to re-subpoena him speaks to the perversity of this process.” The new subpoena demands his presence on March 3, 2021, before the same Grand Jury, which is ostensibly investigating injuries sustained by Water Protector Sophia Wilansky.

Wilansky, then only 20 years old, nearly lost her arm on November 20, 2016, when law enforcement unleashed projectiles and fire hoses on people gathered in freezing temperatures to peacefully voice their opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”) on sacred and environmentally sensitive land. Wilansky sued Morton County for their role in her injury; Morton County has implied, in the apparent absence of evidence, that Ms. Wilansky was harmed by other Water Protectors, and even that she is responsible for her own injuries. Curiously, the critical evidence in her case – shrapnel removed from her arm after an initial 16-hour surgery – was immediately seized by the FBI in 2016. Despite Ms. Wilansky’s continued attempts to retrieve that evidence, the government refuses to disclose it – whether due to irregularity in evidence-preservation, or to shield Morton County from liability remains unclear.

In 2016, the Government withdrew an identical subpoena after Mr. Martinez refused to testify on the basis that the grand jury was an attempt to displace blame for Ms. Wilansky’s injuries onto innocent Water Protectors. A second subpoena was served four years later, on November 10, 2020 – four days after the judge in Ms. Wilansky’s civil case authorized parties to compel disclosure of the critical physical evidence withheld by the FBI since 2016. Martinez argued the subpoena was a hasty attempt by the Government to give the appearance of an ongoing criminal investigation, in order to justify their continued refusal to disclose the central evidence in the case against Morton County. He was jailed February 3, 2021, for his refusal to testify, and released yesterday on the Judge’s Order, after service of a third subpoena.

Mr. Martinez and his counsel remain skeptical of the subpoena and intend to challenge its validity. “This grand jury certainly appears to have been convened for the primary purpose of manufacturing an ‘ongoing criminal investigation’ such as would justify the Government’s refusal to hand over definitive evidence in a related civil proceeding,” said Ms. Meltzer-Cohen. “Mr. Martinez has no obligation to comply with a subpoena that was issued in other than good faith, and we will use every lawful means to demonstrate to the Court that, at the very least, the circumstances surrounding this grand jury deserve serious scrutiny.”

Mr. Martinez was released from confinement around 7 p.m. Central time, on Monday. He looks forward to continuing to support Indigenous-led environmental movements.

Mni Wiconi! (Water is Life!)

-30-

Steve Martinez is represented by Attorneys Ralph Hurvitz and Moira Meltzer-Cohen.

To learn more about Steve Martinez and the Water Protectors visit:
www.waterprotectorlegal.org and www.SupportSteveMartinez.com

Questions regarding support should be directed to: SupportSteveMartinez@protonmail.com

In a motion to the court in late January, Mr. Martinez disputed the validity of the subpoena demanding his testimony regarding the injury to then-20 year old Sophia Wilansky at the Oceti Sakowin prayer camp, which gathered in 2016 to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”). The subpoena, he argued, violated his First and Fifth Amendment rights. A Magistrate Judge denied his motion to quash the subpoena. On February 3, after stripping Mr. Martinez of his Fifth Amendment rights and ordering him to testify, she found him in contempt of court for his continued refusal to answer questions before the grand jury, and imposed “coercive sanctions.” Mr. Martinez was immediately remanded to the custody of U.S. Marshals with the admonition that he would be released from jail were he to agree to testify.

But attorneys for Martinez contend that the determinations of the Magistrate Judge are invalid by several measures, and must be reversed. Entirely new proceedings must be properly conducted under the supervision of a District Court Judge, say Martinez’ lawyers, who argue that in addition to the fact that the Magistrate Judge lacked any jurisdiction to rule in the matter, Mr. Martinez was improperly denied the opportunity to respond to the Government’s claims and present evidence in open court. This evidence, they say, includes critical evidence regarding the subpoena’s impropriety.

In 2017, after Mr. Martinez challenged an essentially identical subpoena that had been served upon him, the U.S. Attorney voluntarily withdrew the demand for his testimony. Four years later, Martinez was called to testify once again, in what appears to have been a hastily reconvened criminal investigation into Ms. Wilansky’s injuries. Ms. Wilansky nearly lost her arm on November 20, 2016, and was left permanently injured, when heavily militarized police attacked unarmed people opposing DAPL’s construction on environmentally sensitive and sacred land. (This January, a federal appeals court validated many of the Water Protectors’ concerns, affirming that the permit allowing DAPL an easement was in fact illegal.) Medical evidence suggests that Ms. Wilansky was hit by a law enforcement explosive.

Ms. Wilansky filed suit against Morton County, ND, alleging that excessive force by police caused her injuries. Morton County has suggested that Water Protectors, and even Ms. Wilansky herself, are to blame. Shrapnel removed from Ms. Wilansky’s arm by surgeons likely suggests otherwise. But this shrapnel, the primary physical evidence in the case, was seized by the FBI immediately after Ms. Wilansky’s surgery in 2016. In the intervening four years, the FBI has refused to return it, or to disclose the results of any testing. On November 6, 2020, a District Judge authorized the parties in Ms. Wilansky’s suit to subpoena that evidence. Four days later, after years of silence, the U.S. Attorney in Bismarck subpoenaed Mr. Martinez to a grand jury purporting to be investigating Ms. Wilansky’s injuries.

Martinez’ supporters say that this grand jury investigation, convened four years after the fact, is a red herring. “The existence of a criminal investigation would certainly enable the FBI to conveniently justify their ongoing refusal to hand over the evidence – and may well function to protect Morton County from the public disclosure of definitive evidence that Ms. Wilansky’s injury was in fact caused by law enforcement,” said Wilansky’s attorney, Lauren Regan.

The statute under which Mr. Martinez is confined permits only so-called “coercive” as opposed to punitive confinement. “It is pure fiction to say that Steve’s confinement is anything but punitive,” says Ms. Meltzer-Cohen. “Until his legitimate objections to this subpoena are fully heard, in an uninhibited and open adversarial proceeding, and by the appropriate judicial authority, these sanctions exceed the permissible scope of the law, and must be terminated.” Martinez, who suffers from a number of health problems that make him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, is currently held in Burleigh Morton Detention Center. North Dakota District Court Judge Daniel M. Traynor is expected to respond to Mr. Martinez’ filings within the week. In the meantime, supporters of Mr. Martinez remain steadfast in their conviction that this grand jury is a ploy to displace blame for Ms. Wilansky’s injuries onto innocent Water Protectors. Said Mr. Martinez’ partner, Leta Killer, “Steve is speaking out through silence.”

Mni Wiconi! (Water is Life!)

-30-

Steve Martinez is represented by Attorneys Ralph Hurvitz and Moira Meltzer-Cohen.

Letters of support may be directed to:
Steve Martinez,
Burleigh County Detention Center,
PO Box 2499
Bismarck, ND 58502

To learn more about Steve Martinez and the Water Protectors visit:
www.waterprotectorlegal.org and www.SupportSteveMartinez.com

Questions regarding support should be directed to SupportSteveMartinez@protonmail.com

Opposition to DAPL rallied thousands of environmental and Indigenous rights activists to the Oceti Sakowin prayer camp at Standing Rock, ND in 2016 and 2017. These Water Protectors were met with heavily militarized intervention from the oil company’s private security forces, the Morton County Sheriff’s Office, and numerous assisting agencies. Since March, 2017, DAPL has leaked over 1000 gallons of oil into sensitive water sources, and the Energy Transfer link connecting DAPL to Texas has leaked over 5000 gallons of oil. On January 26, 2021, the appeals court in Washington D.C. upheld a lower court ruling which found that the permit allowing DAPL to cross beneath the Missouri River — on unceded Lakota / Dakota / Nakota lands – violated key federal environmental laws, by failing to consider the risk the pipeline poses to the Standing Rock Sioux and other Indigenous nations who depend on the river for drinking water, as well as cultural, spiritual, and economic survival. After years of struggle and irreversible harm to both land and people, the rulings affirm the positions of the Water Protectors, and mean that DAPL is currently operating illegally.

After Mr. Martinez refused to submit to a grand jury in 2017, US Attorneys released him from subpoena. Three years later, Mr. Martinez was served a new subpoena, just days after a significant ruling in Ms. Wilansky’s civil suit. The near simultaneous timing of the civil order and the new grand jury subpoena casts doubt on the legitimacy of the subpoena, argued Martinez’ lawyers in a motion to excuse him from the Grand Jury. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal denied that motion.  After Martinez appeared before the Grand Jury on February 3, and invoked his First and Fifth Amendment rights, Magistrate Judge Senechal ordered him to give testimony. Martinez refused. In a secret proceeding in a sealed courtroom, the Court held him in contempt of its order, and over the objections of counsel, had him confined until such time as he agrees to testify, or the Grand Jury investigation terminates — up to 18 months.

The Government’s efforts to force Steve Martinez to collaborate with the Federal Grand Jury seeking to shift the blame for Sophia Wilanski’s injuries from law enforcement to Water Protectors have been plagued by due process violations, procedural errors, undue haste, and secrecy, say his lawyers. Martinez intends to challenge the finding of contempt, but remains prepared to serve the term of confinement, rather than participate in a proceeding characterized by secrecy and coercion.

Grand juries are secret proceedings, at which prosecutors control the presentation of evidence to grand jurors in an effort to secure an indictment. Neither defense counsel nor judges — nor any member of the public — may be present. Witnesses must answer questions or risk being jailed until either they are coerced into compliance, or the grand jury expires. “Due to their secrecy, grand juries are highly susceptible to abuse,” said attorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen. “There is a long history of grand juries being used to intimidate politically disfavored groups, from abolitionists to union organizers, anti-war advocates, and civil rights activists. This Grand Jury, which criminalizes movements for native sovereignty and environmental justice, is one more instance of such abuse.”

In addition to his objections to the grand jury as an institution, Martinez believes it is being used to suppress his rights to assembly, association, religion, and free speech. In a call from jail Saturday morning, he reaffirmed his conviction, saying “The state should not be intimidating people and trying to blame us for harm they caused. I didn’t want to lose my freedom, but they are not going to break me.” Martinez’ partner Leta Killer wrote in a heartfelt social media post: “Yesterday, my love Steve Martinez stood his ground as a Grand Jury Resistor regarding the movement at Standing Rock. … [T]he Feds are still grasping straws trying not to be held accountable for the terrible things law enforcement did to peaceful, prayerful Water Protectors. … Seeds of awareness & unification [will] spread all over the world for voices to speak out [about the need] to protect our natural resources for all of our future generations.” Martinez enjoys widespread support, as he joins, for the second time, a long line of activists committed to the welfare and self-determination of their movement communities. Mni Wiconi! (Water is Life!)

###

Steve Martinez is represented by Attorneys Ralph Hurvitz and Moira Meltzer-Cohen.

Letters of support may be directed to:
Steve Martinez
Burleigh County Detention Center
PO Box 2499
Bismarck, ND 58502

To learn more about Steve Martinez and the Water Protectors visit: waterprotectorlegal.org and SupportSteveMartinez.com

Questions regarding support should be directed to: SupportSteveMartinez@protonmail.com

“Governors can save hundreds of lives right now by releasing these detainees,” said Never Again Action’s Boston spokesperson, Elizabeth Weinbloom. “An outbreak at one of these facilities will make them as deadly as Dachau. Murderous intent is not required for a facility to become a death camp; inaction will have the same effect.”

There were six successful actions last weekend employing a variety of tactics:

• Two “caravans to save lives” were organized at Newark, New Jersey correctional centers, in partnership with ICE Free New Jersey. Over 100 cars participated on Sunday March 22nd at Hudson County Correctional Center; a video from this action has gone viral with almost 200K views (the earlier caravan was at the Essex County Correctional Center on Friday, March 20th). Both actions were in solidarity with detainees inside who have been on hunger strikes for their freedom. As of Sunday, March 22nd, Hudson had two confirmed COVID-19 cases and was on lockdown.

• In New York City and Boston, activists projected images of Anne Frank onto their immigration court houses, drawing an explicit parallel between the intentionally unsanitary conditions in Holocaust concentration camps and the current conditions in ICE camps. At least 38 incarcerated people and employees at New York City’s Rikers Island Correctional Facility have now tested positive for coronavirus. Meanwhile, Bristol County Correctional Center medical personnel stated last week that “the infection of the whole ICE facility population is inevitable and will occur within the next thirty days.” The JFK Federal Building in Boston, which houses Massachusetts’ U.S. Immigration Court, is across the street from the New England Holocaust Memorial, which memorializes those the Nazis murdered by disease as well as by gas and bullets.

• Protesters in the Bay Area and Minneapolis held car rallies outside their governors’ mansions. As many as 25 cars were outside California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s residence, and a comparable number confronted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at his home.

All the actions were carefully scripted to comply with CDC COVID-19 guidelines; Never Again Action is one of the only activist groups in the country currently carrying out direct actions in the new “shelter in place” era.

Visuals from our actions are available to media: 

• New Jersey Actions

• Sacramento Action

• NYC and Boston Projections

• Twin Cities Action

• Images from past direct actions can be found here

“The spread of COVID-19 will turn detention centers into de-facto death camps,” says Alyssa Rubin, Never Again Action’s national campaign director. “ICE is not interested in the health and safety of their detainees. We demand that governors use their emergency powers to order the release of all immigrant detainees in their state.”

Actions will continue throughout the week, starting in Boston on Thursday, New Jersey on Friday and other cities later in the week across the US.

About Never Again Action

Never Again Action is a mass mobilization of Jews, immigrants, and allies who are organizing to shut down ICE. We come together as a group of differently affiliated Jewish organizers because we understand it to be our community’s obligation to stand up when we see history repeat itself and to declare that Never Again means Never Again for anybody. We need to empty the detention centers before COVID turns them into death camps.