Ecoterrorism: the action of causing deliberate environmental damage in order to further political ends. Can you say “shooting yourself in the foot”? Or “cutting off your nose to spite your face”?
Two activists with a long-history of engaging in eco-terrorism claimed responsibility Monday for a series of attacks against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) during the multi-billion oil project’s construction phase.
Iowa residents Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya provided a detailed description of their brazen efforts to prevent the $3.8 billion pipeline’s completion during a news conference outside the Iowa Utilities Board’s offices. They were arrested after the conference for using hammers to damage a sign on state property – Montoya and Reznicek were held on $1,000 bond.
“The Dakota Access Pipeline is an issue that affects this entire nation and the people that are subject to its rule,” Reznicek said. “With DAPL, we have seen incredible issues regarding the rule of law, indigenous sovereignty, land seizures, state-sanctioned brutality, as well as corporate protections and pardons for their wrongdoings.”
Montoya mirrored her fellow activists’ points, telling reporters that, “[o]ur conclusion is that the system is broken and it is up to us as individuals to take peaceful action and remedy it, and this we did, out of necessity.”