Anti-I69 activists staged a raucous torch-lit march through the streets of downtown Bloomington, Indiana on Saturday evening to protest the arrest of two tree-sitters and six ground supporters at the I-69 construction site just north of Evansville. One marcher was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic after having taken pictures of the police following the march. He was later released on his own recognizance.

I-69, the NAFTA superhighway, is a proposed massive north-south corridor that will eventually include electricity, natural gas, and rail lines as well as up to twelve lanes of traffic. The route will link Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

Torches lit up the night sky at the Saturday action. Activists carried banners, banged drums and set off bottle rockets. Bloomington police remained on the sidelines as activists took the streets and stalled traffic. As they passed the jail activists taunted the police with "no more roads, no more jails," "you can't put our friends in jail, we will drive the final nail," and "we will win!" Bloomington police officials apparently selected its burliest officers to stand side by side in a show of force at the I69. Planning office for section 5. Numerous bystanders joined the action.

A number of activists were followed by police as they left the march. Anti-I69 activists have been tailed by uniformed and plainclothes police in both the Evansville and Bloomington areas. One group of activists traveling between Louisville and Evansville was followed for several hours and then detained for an additional two hours as police searched their vehicle without a warrant.

Opponents of I-69 argue that the Indianapolis to Evansville route is a waste of taxpayer dollars that only serves multi-national corporations who seek to profit from cheap labor and cheap natural resources in Mexico. Further, they note that, if built, I-69 will seriously harm some of the remaining forest land in central Indiana, threaten the habitat of endangered species, and undermine the rural character of small communities along the proposed route.

0 Comments

Since the tree-sit was evicted, solidarity actions have occurred in the Evansville area, Bloomington, and across Indiana and the U.S., including a series of office demonstrations in Bloomington on the day of the eviction which led to one arrest.  Repression only breeds resistance, and a large late-night torch march was called for Saturday night.  Pictures and an account of it will be posted soon, but some pictures can be found here:  http://www.bloomingtonalternative.com/content/9323

This is an excerpt of an account from a solidarity demonstration in NW Indiana

June 20, 2008:

In solidarity with the recent tree-sit evictees, a group of Northwest Indiana protesters visited the INDOT subdistrict of Gary, Indiana.  The office is conveniently located on an industrial strip close to the area's largest steel mills.  They marched into the office holding signs and playing homemade instruments.  The office workers looked up from their work unamused and slightly confused.  Chanting "Don't arrest our friends, don't cut down our trees, Evansville solidarity", they questioned the workers about their level of awareness. (…) They do not know the personal, much less global implications of this particular leg of infrastructure.  As this struggle is carried on more people will become aware of the scope of the outcome, and those who profit from this pillaging of the people will be exposed for their motivations, deceptions, and outright lies.  They cannot come in like Gestapo to one location in the wee hours of the morning to shut us up.  We are everywhere.

Both of the tree sitters were arrested during this morning's early morning raid on the anti- I69 tree sit. The whereabouts of the ground support cannot be confirmed at this time, but it is assumed that they were arrested as well. We are working to get all of the information necessary to bail these people out of jail, but we need your help in raising the money. Please donate to:

our paypal account:

or send donations to:

I69 Legal Office, 323 S Walnut, Bloomington, Indiana, 47401

or

Turtle Turn, P.O. Box 2161, Evansville, Indiana, 57728

Please leave all checks "un-made out", as different people will be around to deposit the money at different times. If you are uncomfortable with this, please email i69legal@yahoo.com for a name.

All eight arrestees are held in the Warrick County Jail.  The Warrick County Sheriff can be reached at 812 897 6180.  Please call and demand the prisoners' release!

ANTI-I69 TREE SIT EVICTED, POLICE DANGEROUSLY PULL PROTESTERS FROM TREE TOPS

June 20th 7am, Evansville Indiana — In the early morning hours of June 20th, around 25 police officers from the Indiana State Police (ISP), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Gibson County Sheriff's office descended on the scene of the anti-I69 tree sit, just south of State Road 68 in southern Gibson County (20 miles north of Evansville). The police officers, many of them trained specifically for this purpose, brought in "cherry pickers" and other platform raising equipment in order to reach the sitters. The two people in the trees at the time of eviction were lowered to the ground, after being forcefully and dangerously approached by Conservation Officers of the IDNR.

Sitting on platforms suspended 40 feet above the ground, the tree-sitters were not in positions from which they could be easily and safely removed.  Arresting officers' reckless behaviors, however, resulted in protesters' quick eviction.   One protester was not attached to a safety line during the eviction,  but was still hostilely handled by the Conservation Officers.  As they reached her with the cherry picker, they pulled her unattached to anything that would have prevented her tumbling to the ground, putting her life in great danger.

After evicting the first sitter, officers moved on to the second. They raised the cherry picker below the platform to threaten the sitter, and then lifted the platform with the cherry picker.  They proceeded to cut the support line that was holding it in the tree. This protester had locked himself onto the ropes using a "lock box" device intended to help him evade eviction. The officers cut that rope, leaving this protester also without any form of safety.

After the tree-sitters were forcibly removed from their tree top positions, they were lowered, cuffed and placed on the ground below the trees. From a telephone recording made during the eviction, it is clear that the arresting officers purposefully laid one of the protesters face down into a patch of poison ivy.

People not involved in the tree-sit eviction this morning have reported to the media office that state police officers are pulling people over on the state highways in the vicinity of the sit.  One person reports that they were surrounded by 5 police vehicles when stopped. As well, it has been reported that one car had its tires blown out by the state police in order for them to arrest all of the occupants of that vehicle.

The information in this press release was compiled by the I-69 Media Office, an independent anti-I69 media clearinghouse.