Two protesters who held up an anti-Keystone-XL-pipeline banner at the Oklahoma City headquarters of Devon Energy
have been charged with perpetrating a "terrorism hoax" because some of the glitter on their banner fell on the floor and was characterized by OKC cops as a "hazardous substance."
The arrest is an extreme example, but it's not an isolated one. Indeed,
leaked documents
show that TransCanada has an army of spies assembling dossiers on
protesters, and has been briefing the FBI and local law on techniques
for prosecuting anti-pipeline protesters as terrorists.
Their attorney, Doug Parr, has been involved in dozens of protest cases
like this one in Oklahoma and Texas. In other arrests, protesters have
faced trumped-up charges, but this is a radical escalation. "I've been
practicing law since the 1970s. Quite frankly, I've been expecting
this," Parr said. "Based upon the historical work I've been involved in,
I know that when popular movements that confront the power structure
start gaining traction, the government ups the tactics they employ in
order to disrupt and take down those movements."
TransCanada has been putting pressure on law enforcement to do exactly
that. In documents obtained by Bold Nebraska, the company was shown
briefing police and the FBI on how to prosecute anti-pipeline protesters
as terrorists.
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