2 found guilty in Wisconsin pipeline protest case
Jurors have convicted two people of disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer following a protest at Enbridge Energy's Line 3 construction site in Wisconsin last summer.
Alexander Emery Good-Cane-Milk, 24, of South Dakota, and Kyla L. Hassig, 26, of Minnesota, were also found guilty of trespassing on the site where Enbridge was working to replace a 12.5-mile segment of the 1960s-era oil pipeline, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
"I don't feel justice was served today," Hassig said after the verdict.
Investigators said Good-Cane-Milk secured himself to an excavator at the site, while Hassig streamed the protest live on social media on Aug. 29, 2017. Investigators said both refused requests from Douglas County sheriff's deputies to leave the site.
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An attorney for Hassig and Good-Cane-Milk said the pair's actions were warranted acts of civil disobedience because they were concerned about the pipeline's effect on the environment.
Douglas County Judge Kelly Thimm sentenced Hassig to serve 20 days in jail and ordered her to pay fines. The judge said Hassig had endangered herself and officers, and that that jail time would emphasize that "this type of behavior will not be tolerated."
Good-Cane-Milk has yet to be sentenced.
Enbridge has completed construction on the Wisconsin segment of the pipeline, which currently transports around 390,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to the Enbridge terminal in Wisconsin. Work on the Minnesota segment of the pipeline is still being challenged.
Enbridge is spending around $2.9 billion in the U.S. for the replacement project. The company has said the 1,031-mile replacement pipeline is necessary due to corrosion and cracking within the existing pipeline.