UPDATE: OCT 7th 10:30AM – After Approximately 58 Hours in Jail Shannon Has Finally Been Released
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In response to the use of torture tactics used on our friends Benjamin and Shannon at the behest of TransCanada supervisors, there has been an outpouring of response from across the country. With the help of our national allies hundreds of people called TransCanada’s Headquarters, signed petitions to demand they denounce the unconscionable tactics. Over 20 national and grassroots organizations even signed onto a statement condemning the tactics. To this day TransCanada has yet to deny or condemn any of the allegations levied against its agents and their actions.
There is also a new and outrageous development in the story. Our brave friend Shannon Beebe is now being charged retro-actively with felonies for using a device to lock arms with Benjamin around a piece of Keystone XL construction machinery as part of a peaceful protest. This is an archaic charge (use of a ‘criminal instrument’) that has literally no case history in the last 30 years. This adds “insult to injury” with slapping additional FELONY charges against our friend. Yesterday, Shannon was pulled over and arrested because of this new, outstanding warrant for a retro-active felony charge. She’s currently in jail on a $7,500 bail. Its clear that the industry is pursuing a strategy to utilize their deep pockets and corporate lawyers to drain the limited grassroots resources we’ve managed to raise.
Will you help us counter these outrageous legal fees by supporting Shannon and others with a generous donation to their legal fund?
Shannon isn’t the only one facing these trumped up charges and outrageous bail amounts. To date three blockaders have received this charge: Shannon Beebe, Alejandro de la Torre, and Maggie Gorry. Alejandro, arrested on Monday, was given a $10,000 bail for defending a family farm from Keystone XL’s destruction. Then Maggie was given an $11,000 bail on Wednesday for sitting atop a 40-foot high timber pole, a courageous action that forestalled Keystone XL clear-cutting operations around the epic tree blockade for two entire days. Since when did a tree become a “criminal instrument?”
They’ve been throwing everything they’ve got at us. Let’s be clear: these trumped up charges are merely intended to scare and punish those exercising their constitutional rights. We will not be intimidated by more of TransCanada’s bullying tactics. For years they’ve trampled on landowners rights and coerced their way into plowing this toxic pipeline through private property for their own profits. It ends here.
