#blackwater — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #blackwater, aggregated by home.social.
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@justbob , I came across this and thought of you...
From 2016:#StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
Sat., Dec. 10, 2016UPDATES -- "Composting toilets save the day. Crews finished installing composting toilets, even some in heated tents, after the port-a-potties were yanked from Oceti Sakowin Camp. And work has been underway to fight back at the cyber blockers. Turns out they don't like being pinged to expose who they are, including cops who use stingrays to imitate cell towers to gain access to your cellphone. On Friday, five semi truckloads of supplies arrived, purchased from Amazon -- by good hearts around the world -- in response to the Last Real Indians wish list. Donors are also helping Last Real Indians purchase pickup trucks and vehicles for camp. The Dine' Camp at Oceti Sakowin is standing strong, with a new hogan. Across the river, Rosebud Camp and Sacred Stone Camp are resilient.
Standing Strong for Standing Rock."
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12/standing-rock-camp-battles-cyber.html
#StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy
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“ #HellsArmy”: New Film Tracks #Russia’s #WagnerGroup & Rise of #MercenaryArmies
June 12, 2026
"We speak with Oscar-nominated filmmaker #RickRowley about his new documentary, Hell’s Army. The film tracks the Wagner Group, the notorious Russian mercenary army that has fought in #Ukraine and other parts of the world. The group’s founder, #YevgenyPrigozhin, was a confidant to Putin until a failed 2023 mutiny against the government. He died in a suspicious plane crash two months later.
" 'We realized that he could be killed, the leader of this army could be killed, but its model continues,' says Rowley. 'Around the world, #oligarchs are turning to mercenary armies, and it’s a scourge that needs to be stopped.'
"Hell’s Army has its North American premiere Friday in Washington, D.C."
Read / watch / listen:
http://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hells_army#PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity
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‘The cavalry’s coming!’: Indigenous activism from 1492 to Standing Rock
Famed Indigenous activists like Leonard Peltier and Madonna Thunder Hawk and younger activists shared their thoughts with ICT about the evolution of Indigenous activism from the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s to Standing Rock and beyond.
by Kevin Abourezk, May 11, 2026
#CannonballND – "The field is serene. The blades of brown grass, not yet awakened by spring rains, sway gently. In the distance, the #MissouriRiver cuts a blue streak across the unbroken plains. The silence is punctuated only by the sound of passing cars and the low hum of rushing water in nearby #CannonballRiver.
"But if you listen carefully, you can hear defiant voices shouting and then screaming.
"Ten years ago, this land exploded.
"For nearly a year, from April 2016 to February 2017, thousands of people stood strong against #MilitarizedPolice, #FederalTroops and #PrivateSecurityForces [#Blackwater] hired to protect the 1,176-mile #DakotaAccessPipeline. They gathered to resist a private corporation’s efforts to build a pipeline less than a mile from the #StandingRockSioux Reservation near the #NorthDakota-#SouthDakota border.
"In the end, they were forced to evacuate their camps as authorities quieted, but never fully extinguished, the uprising. Some would say the fire that ignited at #StandingRock was lit decades earlier by #NativeActivists who fought oppression and violence in the 1960s and 1970s.
"While Native people have resisted #colonization and its impacts since 1492, the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s marked a turning point in the efforts of Native people to join together and speak in one voice. That torch of resistance was carried all the way from places like #AlcatrazIsland and #WoundedKnee to a field near the Missouri River in 2016.
"The #NoDAPL movement reached its height on Nov. 20, 2016, when hundreds of water protectors gathered on a bridge to clear two burned-out trucks that impeded a public roadway that provided access to the pipeline drill site and to the camp. The confrontation was the most violent clash between water protectors and authorities during the protest and led to nearly 200 people being injured, some seriously."
Read more:
https://ictnews.org/news/the-cavalrys-coming-indigenous-activism-from-1492-to-standing-rock/#USPol #NativeAmericanActivism #StandWithStandingRock #NativeAmericanHistory #Resistance #IndigenousResistance #Colonialism #CorporateColonialism
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#Blackwater Successor Hunts #Immigrants for #ICE
#ConstellisHoldings, which traces its roots to #ErikPrince’s #mercenary firm Blackwater, landed an ICE contract as a #BountyHunter.by Sam Biddle
January 3 2026Excerpt: "#Constellis was formed in 2014 through the merger of #Academi, previously known as Blackwater, and #TripleCanopy, a rival mercenary contractor. The combined companies and their subsidiaries have reaped billions from contracts for guarding foreign military installations, embassies, and domestic properties, along with work for the Department of Homeland Security [#DHS] and U.S. spy agencies.
"Blackwater, founded in 1997 by Erik Prince, renamed itself multiple times over the years after it sparked international scandal for its violent work in #Iraq. In 2007, Blackwater #mercenaries massacred 14 #civilians in #Baghdad; several of its contractors serving prison sentences for the killings were pardoned by President Donald #Trump in 2020."Prince resigned as CEO of Blackwater in 2009, and Constellis says it has no relationship with him.
"Though there are no ties between them, Constellis’s move to serve as a bounty hunter for ICE aligns with Prince’s reported interest in privatizing immigration enforcement.
"The government has so far paid Constellis $1.5 million, with the potential for the total to grow to more than $113 million.
"In February, Politico reported that Prince — a longtime and steadfast Trump ally — was among a group of military contractors who urged the federal government to employ a '#SkipTracingTeam' and 'bounty program which provides a cash reward' to incentivize the rapid tracking of immigrants. The proposal suggested that, due to a lack of federal manpower, ICE should deputize private citizens to help track down immigrants."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/8sHUN#NoHumanIsIllegal #ResistICE #HuntingImmigrants #ErikPrinceColonialism #ErikPrinceIsWarCriminal #TrumpIsAWarCriminal #USPol #TrumpSucks #ChristoFascism
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Leaving this here before moving onto other topics...
#ErikPrince to Speak at #CPAC #ChristianPersecution Summit
https://www.cpac.org/post/erik-prince-to-speak-at-cpac-christian-persecution-summit
#AntiChristoFascist #ChristoFascism #GOP #ErikPrinceColonialism #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #USPol #Blackwater #Project2025
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From 2017: The Return of #ErikPrince
#Trump's Knight in America's New Crusade?Excerpt: "While the centerpiece of Trump’s foreign policy is the annihilation of ISIS, he has been candid about eyeing the Middle Eastern #oil reserves:
" 'I would knock the source of their [ISIS]
wealth, the primary source of their wealth,
which is oil. […] I would knock the hell out of them, but I’d put a ring around it and I’d take the oil for our country.'"During the last months of the [2016] campaign, Trump galvanized his supporters by calling Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS, and promised the end of a policy 'of nation-
building and regime change.' Instead, he declared his goal to defeat radical Islam."As foreign policy became a central theme of the presidential campaign, Clinton’s diplomacy record came under fierce attack. An ardent detractor was no other than #ErikPrince, the founder of #Blackwater, the notorious private military company."
Read more [PDF]:
https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/default/files/files-archive/americas-new-crusade.pdf#ErikPrinceColonialism #Oiligarchy
#TrumpIsABully #USPol #WorldPol #TrumpSucks #Authoritarianism
#Oil #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #ChristoFascism #Venezuela #ItsAllAboutTheOil! -
Mercenary Boss #ErikPrince’s Political and Commercial Motivations in #Venezuela
September 14, 2024
"This, however, does not imply that if Prince sells an invasion of Venezuela, a hypothetical new Trump administration would automatically approve the point of account. In fact, it has been quite the opposite since Prince was indicted for #Blackwater’s crimes in #Iraq, but that has not distanced him from his political and business obsessions. Citing the aforementioned work by Inlakesh, 'according to four sources cited by Reuters, in 2019, Prince was pressuring the #Trump administration aiming to deploy a #PrivateArmy in Venezuela to overthrow the democratically elected socialist leader #NicolásMaduro.' "
#ErikPrinceColonialism #Oiligarchy #TrumpIsABully #USPol #WorldPol #TrumpSucks #Authoritarianism #Oil #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal
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During the first #Trump admin, #Dmitriev established contacts with the president’s team to reset relations between Washington & Moscow.
In a 2017 meeting with #ErikPrince, the former CEO of #Blackwater & a Trump ally, Dmitriev discussed #US – #Russia relations, according to a #DOJ report published by Special Counsel #RobertMueller in 2019. #Mueller's team was investigating ties between the Trump team & Russia.
#extortion #PutinsPuppet #geopolitics #Ukraine #Europe #NATO #StandWithUkraine
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#ICE Plans Cash Rewards for Private #BountyHunters to Locate and Track Immigrants
Companies hired by ICE would be given bundles of information on 10,000 immigrants at a time to locate.
Sam Biddle, October 31 2025
Excerpt: "The document closely resembles a plan reportedly circulated by a group of military contractors, including former #Blackwater CEO and Trump ally #ErikPrince.
"In February, Politico reported that Prince and other were pushing for the formation of a private efforts to locate immigrants and a 'bounty program which provides a cash reward for each illegal alien held by a state or local law enforcement officer,' according pitch materials obtained by the outlet."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/fG6ri#SecretPolice #PrivateArmies #Blackwater #ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Brownshirts #ChristianRight #Warmongers #Hatemongers #CorporateColonialism #ICESucks #TrumpSucks #BohemianGrove
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#Blackwater Founder #ErikPrince Talks About Wagner, War, and More
By Greg Chabot, July 24, 2022
"After the success of this program [Blackwater], Prince was approached by officials in Russia asking for his help to start up a PMC. Prince turned down the generous offer that he says could have made him a billionaire. The #PMC nevertheless formed, he says, and is known as the #Wagner Group."
https://sofmag.com/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-talks-about-wagner-group/
#WagnerGroup #PMCWagner
#TrumpIsARussianAsset
#AntiWoke #ChristoFacists #ChristoFascism #Mercernaries #Prigozhin -
#PMCWagner isn't just emulating #ErikPrince, he was asked to found them (more about that in my next post)...
#Putin’s “Erik Prince” is tied to some of #Russia’s riskiest covert operations
By Greg Walters, February 21, 2018
Excerpt: "In #Syria, a mysterious private military firm called PMC Wagner has been tied to #Prigozhin. The firm is sometimes described as the Russian #Blackwater in reference to the U.S. private military contractor founded by Erik Prince, a likeness Prigozhin appears to be emulating, according to Nance."
#WagnerGroup #Putin #TrumpIsARussianAsset #AntiWoke #ChristoFacists #ChristoFascism #Mercernaries
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From 2021... This started before #Trump, but things are way worse now!
#AntiProtestLaws Threaten #Indigenous and #Climate Movements
“#CriticalInfrastructure” laws in over a dozen states wrongly invoke national security to justify targeting #PipelineProtesters.
Kaylana Mueller-Hsia, March 17, 2021
"In 2016 as a member of Congress, #DebHaaland stood for four days in solidarity with protesters at the #StandingRockSioux Reservation against construction of the #DakotaAccessPipeline. Today, as the first #NativeAmerican to be the secretary of the interior — the first to lead any cabinet department — she has the opportunity to support the #FirstAmendment rights of the protesters she joined in the past.
"With her authority over energy development on federal lands, Haaland can be a voice for Indigenous and climate movements facing an urgent threat: the rapid spread of laws to protect 'critical infrastructure' that single out activists.
"Since 2016, 13 states have quietly enacted laws that increase criminal penalties for trespassing, damage, and interference with infrastructure sites such as oil refineries and pipelines. At least five more states have already introduced similar legislation this year. These laws draw from national security legislation enacted after 9/11 to protect physical infrastructure considered so 'vital' that the 'incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety.'
"Many industry sectors are designated critical infrastructure, including food and agriculture, energy, water and wastewater, and communications, but most state critical infrastructure laws focus more narrowly on oil and gas #pipelines. While protecting critical infrastructure is a legitimate government function, these laws clearly target environmental and Indigenous activists by significantly raising the penalties for participating in or even tangentially supporting pipeline trespassing and property damage, crimes that are already illegal. Many laws are modelled on draft legislation prepared by the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as #ALEC, a powerful lobbying group funded by #FossilFuel companies like #ExxonMobil and #Shell.
"Central to the new critical infrastructure laws are increased criminal penalties and vague, broad definitions that could discourage protest and particularly, nonviolent civil disobedience. Many laws make any 'damage' to or 'interference' with a facility deemed critical infrastructure a felony. Under #Ohio’s law, trespass with the purpose of 'tampering' with a facility is a third degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. In Indiana, a felony conviction is applied for any facility trespass, a crime that is typically a misdemeanor or fine.
"Vague language like 'damage,' 'tamper,' and 'impede' in critical infrastructure laws makes it unclear if, for example, knocking down #SafetyCones and starting a fire next to a natural gas facility are the same under the law. Many critical infrastructure laws do not clarify if they apply only to land a company fully owns or also to pipeline easements, which run through both public and private lands. At least some laws apply to both. Only a week after Louisiana’s critical infrastructure law was enacted, opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline were charged with trespassing for boating on public waters on the border of a pipeline easement.
"The combination of overly broad language and steep penalties in critical infrastructure laws make it likely that future activists and supporting organizations will be discouraged from exercising their First Amendment-protected protest rights. A lawsuit brought in response to the #BayouBridge charges will test the laws for the first time on First Amendment grounds.
"Many of these laws even extend beyond the protesters. In a proposed law in #Minnesota, anyone who 'recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires' someone to trespass without a 'reasonable effort' to prevent the trespassing is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. In #Oklahoma organizations that conspire with perpetrators are liable to be fined up to $1 million. These laws may infringe on the freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Indeed, the Supreme Court ruled that the illegal actions of a few individuals do not implicate an entire group.
"The criminalization of environmental protest is fueled by federal security agencies and oil and gas companies, who are often major political donors. For years, the Department of #HomelandSecurity and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have labelled activists at infrastructure sites as #DomesticTerrorists and violent extremists in order to justify further #surveillance and #policing. Government documents have been released that detail the FBI’s focus on '#AnimalRights / #EnvironmentalExtremism,' describing even #NonviolentProtesters as #extremists.
"At Standing Rock, a private security firm [#Blackwater] hired by the pipeline companies consistently referred to protesters as 'terrorists' while working with law enforcement. Ahead of the #KeystoneXLPipeline protests in 2018, #DHS agents held an '#AntiTerrorism training' for state and local authorities. In contrast, members of the #FarRight militant group the #ThreePercenters have established a significant presence at oil and gas plants with little law enforcement reaction.
"To be sure, as the recent power outages in Texas showed so vividly, the United States needs reliable energy. But it’s questionable whether pipeline construction sites that could feasibly be moved or replaced with renewable energy sources should legitimately be considered 'vital' to the energy grid. Furthermore, a singular focus on this aspect of security comes at the cost of others. Whose essential resources do pipeline projects protect and whose do they threaten? Black Americans are disproportionately likely to live near natural #GasPipelines and experience higher #CancerRisk due to unclean air. An oil spill from the Dakota Access Pipeline could devastate the #SiouxTribe’s water source. Meanwhile, on some reservations, 10 percent of households lack electricity and as many as 40 percent of households must haul water and use outhouses. The well-being of these communities must count too.
"The rise in critical infrastructure laws may foreshadow more anti-protest legislation to come. A similar wave of anti-protest laws has already begun in response to the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests. State legislators contemplating critical infrastructure laws should bear in mind that laws that criminalize trespassing and protect the safety of construction workers and law enforcement already exist. Critical infrastructure laws don’t fill an unmet need — they only raise the penalties for specific groups of people. Courts adjudicating #FirstAmendment challenges in the coming years should recognize that these laws are overbroad and impose disproportionately severe penalties that chill freedom of assembly and association.
"As secretary of the interior, Haaland promises to uplift the voices of Indigenous and climate protesters in the Biden administration. State legislators, law enforcement, and the fossil fuel industry should follow suit and listen to these activists rather than suppressing constitutionally protected activity under the guise of national security."
#BrennanCenter #Authoritarianism #Fascism #NoDAPL #NoKXL #PipelineProtests #WaterIsLife #ACAB #ErikPrince #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #ExxonLied #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux
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YIKES! Please read and share this!
via @UnicornRiot
"We’ve been forced to spend around $55,000 to date because of Energy Transfer’s legal campaign against our freedom of the press.
"We’ve only raised back $38,916 of this so far.
"Your donation helps us keep operating despite corporate attempts to silence us"
https://donorbox.org/unicorn-riot-nodapl-legal-defense
#EnergyTransfer #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #MutualAid #LegalDefenseFund #SilencingDissent #Resistance #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchy #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism #EnergyTransfer #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux #IndigenousResistance #IndigenousAllies #DAPL #NorthDakota #StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPsLawsuits #FossilFuel #BigOilAndGas #Academi #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #PrivateSecurity #BigOil #KelcyWarren #Oiligarchy #WaterProtectors #CorporateFascism #StandingRockReservation
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#GOREY ANTIQUES, VINTAGE & COLLECTABLES FAIR at the Amber Springs Hotel, 12pm-5:30pm, this Sunday, 13th April.
Admission €2.50 with this flyer (full price: €3.50). Under-16s enter free but must be supervised.
#Wexford #Enniscorthy #Clogh #Courtown #Ballycanew #Arklow #Clugga #BrittasBay #Brittas #Oulart #Kilmuckridge #Camolin #Blackwater #Curracloe #Cahore #Ireland
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#StandingRock Chair on #Greenpeace Verdict -- False, Self-serving Narrative in Insulting Lawsuit
"If Greenpeace can be held liable for telling the truth about #SiouxNation Treaty rights, then we are all in trouble."
By Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire, via #CensoredNews, March 27, 2025
"As Chairwoman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I take offense to the jury verdict in the #EnergyTransfer #SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace. We expect more from #NorthDakota judges and members of the jury from our neighboring communities.
"#EnergyTransfer’s claims in this case were ridiculous. They were wholly disrespectful of the #StandingRockSioux Tribe, our ancestors, and our youth, who started the movement in 2016 to protect our water from an oil spill from #DAPL. Neither Greenpeace nor anyone else paid or persuaded Standing Rock to oppose DAPL.
"Our young people and our elders urged us to protect our water and #UnciMakah (grandmother earth). That is what happened, and is happening still. Energy Transfer’s false and self-serving narrative that Greenpeace manipulated Standing Rock into protesting DAPL is patronizing and disrespectful to our people.
"We understand that many Morton County residents support the #OilIndustry, even out-of-state #pipeline companies such as Energy Transfer. But we are your neighbors, and you should not be fooled that easily. Energy Transfer does not know us. They don’t know who we are – an Indigenous Nation that has survived every attack because our ancestors are with us.
"Greenpeace did not manipulate Standing Rock, but #EnergyTransfer has manipulated #MortonCounty. DAPL crosses our Treaty and aboriginal land for hundreds of miles.
"Our ancestors occupied this land for thousands of years before #NorthDakota came into existence. The land between the Heart and Missouri River are our #unceded Treaty lands under the 1868 and 1851 Fort Laramie Treaties. Our aboriginally-occupied territories extend east to the James River and beyond. That is a historical truth. If Greenpeace can be held liable for telling the truth about Sioux Nation Treaty rights, then we are all in trouble."The construction of Fort Rice on our northern boundary in 1864 was a violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties. This required our Tribe to be vigilant. No one should be surprised that warrior society burials are found in this area, near the pipeline route.
"And do not insult our cultural experts, who have wisdom over matters most residents of Morton County or bureaucrats at the State Historical Society know absolutely nothing about. Energy Transfer and its lawyers should be ashamed of themselves. Everyday North Dakotans on the jury should know better.
"When it comes to the excessive police and private security response to the generally peaceful protests at #CannonBall, believe your eyes. The scenes of guard dogs menacing Tribal members are reminiscent of the violence of #WhiteSupremacists in the #DeepSouth during the 1950’s and 60’s, but it was in North Dakota, in this day and age. It was on the news and on the internet.
"Many of the protesters were Native American veterans of the United States armed forces. Energy Transfer used attack dogs against peaceful protesters and war heroes. But the jury sided with the out-of-state, unlicensed security with the attack dogs, instead of North Dakota veterans who supported Standing Rock.
"A Texas oil company has come to North Dakota, and its lawyers and propaganda machine are weaving stories about how the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our supporters have lied, and how the poor pipeline company, a trillion dollars richer than in 2016 when this all started, should receive extra millions from non-profit organizations. It’s a funny thing about liars – they always accuse everyone else of lying. The Greenpeace trial was marked by secrecy.
"The court is not making the transcript public. The documents obtained by Greenpeace about Energy Transfer’s terrible safety record are protected by a secrecy order and are not available to the public. The judge exhibited so much bias in favor of Energy Transfer that a team of international human rights lawyers felt compelled to monitor the trial. One prominent monitor stated 'In my six decades of legal practice, I have never witnessed a trial as unfair as the one against Greenpeace that just ended in the courts of North Dakota.'
"Standing Rock has tried to work for greater transparency on DAPL. It is our experience with the Army Corps of Engineers and Energy Transfer that all documents relating to DAPL pipeline safety are heavily redacted, and kept secret. What are they hiding? Who is looking out for the communities that may be affected by an oil spill? And why didn’t the North Dakota court allow Greenpeace to address these questions at the trial?
"DAPL is a dangerous pipeline. It crosses our unceded Treaty and aboriginal land. Energy Transfer destroyed Tribal burials as identified by our cultural experts, and committed violence against our people. That is the history that North Dakota and Morton County must reckon with. After the Greenpeace verdict, that day seems farther off than ever."Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/standing-rock-chair-on-greenpeace.html
#StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPsLawsuits #SLAPPs #FossilFuel #BigOilAndGas #Academi #EricPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #PrivateSecurity #BigOil #KelcyWarren #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #WaterProtectors #StevenDonziger #EnvironmentalRacism #ReaderSupportedNews #CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #StandingRockReservation -
Statement of #IndependentTrialMonitors
On Verdict in #GreenpeaceUSA Trial:"It is our collective assessment that the jury verdict against Greenpeace in #NorthDakota reflects a deeply flawed trial with multiple due process violations that denied Greenpeace the ability to present anything close to a full defense. Attorneys on our team monitored every minute of the proceedings and found multiple violations of #DueProcess that denied Greenpeace its right to a fair trial. The problems included a jury that was patently biased in favor of #EnergyTransfer, with many members working in the #FossilFuel industry; a judge who lacked the requisite experience and legal knowledge to rule properly on the complex #FirstAmendment and other evidentiary issues at the center of the case; and incendiary and prejudicial statements by lawyers for Energy Transfer that tried to criminalize Greenpeace and by extension the entire #ClimateMovement by attacking constitutionally-protected advocacy.
"Our fear that this was an illegitimate #corporate-funded #SLAPP harassment case was confirmed by our observations.
"We will be issuing a full report documenting these violations and larger flaws in the case in the coming weeks.
"While the trial court verdict is in, the case is far from over. Greenpeace has a right to appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court and ultimately to the #USSupremeCourt. Our committee will continue its work monitoring this critically important case that raises troubling concerns for all advocates in the country."
— #MartyGarbus | #NataliSegovia | #JeanneMirer | #TerryCollingsworth | #StevenDonziger | #NadiaAhmad | #ScottWilsonBadenochJr. | #PaulPazYMiño | #AyishaSiddiqa | #WadeMcMullen | #KipHale | #SimonTaylor
Read individual statements:
https://www.trialmonitors.org/statement-of-independent-trial-monitors-on-verdict-in-greenpeace-trial
#NorthDakota #EnergyTransferPartners #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #SLAPPs #ViewerSupportedNews #GreenpeaceUSA #SLAPPsLawsuits #CriminalizingDissent #NorthDakota #StandingRockSiouxTribe #StandingRockReservation #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #KelcyWarren #ArrestKelcyWarren #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #FreeSpeech -
Britain leads the world in cracking down on climate activism, study finds
Research shows UK police arrest environmental and climate protesters at three times the average global rate
Damien Gayle
Wed 11 Dec 2024 01.00 EST"British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average rate, research has found, revealing the country as a world leader in the legal crackdown on climate activism.
"Only Australia arrested climate and environmental protesters at a higher rate than UK police. One in five Australian eco-protests led to arrests, compared with about 17% in the UK. The global average rate is 6.7%."
Original article:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/11/britain-leads-the-world-in-cracking-down-on-climate-activism-study-findsArchived version:
https://archive.ph/ukkvZ#CriminalizingDissent
#ACAB #Autocracy #Corporatocracy
#Fascism #CriminalizingDissentIsAutocracy
#ClimateCrisis #GlobalBurning
#CorporateFascism #HumanRights #CivilLiberties #ClimateActivists
#Blackwater #NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock
#ClimateAction #PipelineProtests #WaterProtectors #BigOilAndGas #AntiProtestLaws #SLAPPs #ErikPrinceColonialism #Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct
#Project2025 #HR9495 #GlobalWitness #AntiTerrorLaws -
Pioneering research reveals growing dangers and repression of climate activism globally
Press release issued: 11 December 2024
"A new report has uncovered the many risks of participating in climate and environmental protests across the world – and how more countries are criminalising and repressing this activity in a bid to keep it in check.
"The report, led by the University of Bristol, is the first to examine global statistics on this form of protest and identify alarming trends. It reveals that more than 2,000 climate and environmental protesters have been killed over the past 12 years and that a raft of new anti-protest legislation has been enacted.
"It calls for governments, police forces and the legal system to help protect people’s right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."
"Lead author Dr Oscar Berglund, Senior Lecturer in International Public and Social Policy at the University’s School for Policy Studies, said: “This research sheds important light on how the growing pursuit of climate and environmental protest is being handled globally. Our evidence clearly shows a global crackdown in liberal democracies as well as autocracies.
"'This is worrying because it focuses state policy on punishing dissent against inaction on climate and environmental change instead of taking adequate action on these issues. It also represents authoritarian moves that are inconsistent with the ideals of vibrant civil societies in liberal democracies.'
"The findings showed murders and disappearances of climate and environmental activists are common in many countries, with international non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness reporting at least 2,106 killings between 2012 and 2023. Brazil had the highest number with 401 fatalities, followed by 298 in the Philippines, 86 in India, and 58 in Peru.
"A significant proportion of climate and environmental protests involved arrests, according to the research. The highest proportion, one in five, was found in Australia, followed by 17% in the UK – much higher than the international average of 6.3%.
"Non-violent protesters were also found to be given lengthy prison sentences to act as a deterrent. For example, this year in the UK many climate activists have been sent to prison, with the longest sentence being five years.
"The report defines environmental protests as being aimed at stopping specific environmentally destructive projects, such as fossil fuel exploration and #extraction, #deforestation, dam building or #mining. #ClimateProtests are described as more urban-based events, which tend to have broader policy demands, such as ending oil exploration, or more overarching political demands, for instance enacting a #GreenNewDeal.
"The researchers analysed data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) and Global Witness to gather global data and explore trends as well as new anti-protest legislation introduced in countries in different parts of the world.
"Four main ways were identified to criminalise and repress climate and environmental protests. Anti-protest laws are being introduced, criminalising groups, introducing new crimes, making punishment more severe for existing crimes, increasing police powers, and giving officers impunity when harming activists. Protest is also being criminalised through prosecution and courts.
"Dr Berglund explained: 'This involves using existing legislation, including anti-terror or anti-organised crime laws, to curb protest. Climate protest is being de-politicised in the courts, prohibiting mentions of climate change or environmental damage in proceedings, or otherwise changing court processes in order to increase the likelihood of activists being found guilty.'
"The third category is through policing, which is carried out not only by state actors like police or military, but also private security and military or organised crime groups. This sees a range of attempts to prevent protests through using stop and search, arrests, physical violence, and threats and intimidation of protesters.
"Dr Berglund said: “Perhaps most shockingly, we found killings and disappearances to be common in some countries. In many ways, these are an extension of policing as they are either carried out or permitted by the same authorities, often following death threats and other forms of intimidation.”
"The report makes numerous recommendations, including for public authorities to conduct regular evaluations and publish data demonstrating how their actions help safeguard the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. It also calls for anti-terror and anti-organised crime legislation against climate and environmental activists to stop.
"Dr Berglund said: 'Human rights frameworks should be at the forefront of policing considerations and operations to ensure that the public can exercise their right to protest without impediment or fear.'
"'Climate and environmental protests are increasingly prevalent, for good reason as the climate crisis worsens, and responses to this activity are evolving at pace. Further research is needed to better understand the situation so suitable measures can be identified and implemented to protect human rights and keep protesters safe.'"
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2024/december/climate-activism.html
#CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Autocracy #Corporatocracy #Fascism #CriminalizingDissentIsAutocracy #ClimateCrisis #GlobalBurning #CorporateFascism #HumanRights #CivilLiberties #ClimateActivists #Blackwater #NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock #ClimateAction #PipelineProtests #WaterProtectors #BigOilAndGas #AntiProtestLaws #SLAPPs #ErikPrinceColonialism #Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct
#Project2025 #HR9495 #GlobalWitness #AntiTerrorLaws -
US mercenary firms compete for 'huge contracts' to control security in north Gaza
Israel is examining the launch of a “pilot program” that could see US private security firms replace the army in northern Gaza
to “accompany food and medicine convoys” for Palestinians who remain in the devastated region, according to a report by Israeli daily Globes.Among the top competitors for the multi-million dollar contract are #Constellis, the direct successor to infamous mercenary company #Blackwater,
and #Orbis, a little-known South Carolina company run by former generals that has worked with the Pentagon for 20 years.Officials say the pilot program for north Gaza aims to “prevent Hamas or other gangs from taking over the aid trucks and free the IDF soldiers from the dangerous mission.”
The UN has said these gangs are likely “benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence” or “protection” from the Israeli army.In October, a third US security firm – Global Delivery Company ( #GDC )
– which describes itself as “Uber for warzones"
– claimed to be working with another firm to create and manage “humanitarian bubbles” in Gaza.GDC is run by Mordechai Kahane, an Israeli businessman who worked with Israeli intelligence during the war on Syria to arm extremist groups seeking to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Although no official figure exists about the size of the contracts being offered by Tel Aviv for these mercenary firms, Globes cites Lt. Col. Yochanan Zoraf, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and former advisor on Arab affairs in the Israeli army, as saying the figure will likely reach
“billions of shekels per year.”“These are not companies that will manage the daily lives of the residents,” Zoraf claims, adding that “peripheral responsibility for the defense of [north Gaza] as well as the civil responsibility itself” falls at Israel's feet.
The former army officer also says Tel Aviv will likely “ask that the US – or an outside party – finance the program -
The Intercept and Grist begin release of 50 #TigerSwan documents
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 14, 2023
"The #Intercept and #Grist began releasing new TigerSwan spy documents in new coverage of the mercenaries hired by the #DakotaAccess Pipeline. They now have 50,000 TigerSwan documents, and another 9,000 are held up in the court battle for now. The documents reveal TigerSwan spying on #WaterProtectors at #StandingRock in #NorthDakota, Bold Iowa, and at other locations.
"[Murdered] #Pauite #journalist, drone #activist and filmmaker #MyronDewey was among those that TigerSwan spied on and stalked at Standing Rock..."
#WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #IndigenousNews #Blackwater #ErikPrinceRead more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-intercept-after-spying-on-standing.html
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2016 via #DemocracyNow: #TigerSwan Security, Linked to #Blackwater, Now Coordinates Intel for #DakotaAccess
"We speak with Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill, who has spent years reporting on private security contractors such as the private security firm TigerSwan, which has links to the now-defunct mercenary firm Blackwater and is in charge of coordinating intelligence for the Dakota Access pipeline company. He discusses the company’s track record as more than 100 #NativeAmericans and allies fighting the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline have been injured by police in North Dakota. Many were attacked with rubber bullets, tear gas, mace canisters and water cannons in freezing temperatures. The attack began after the water protectors attempted to clear access to a public bridge, which has been blocked by authorities using military equipment chained to concrete barriers."
#NoDAPL #ErikPrinceListen: https://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/21/jeremy_scahill_tigerswan_security_linked_to
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2007: #Blackwater's #ErikPrince Has #GOP, #Christian Group Ties
By Corey Flintoff, NPR
"Prince grew up in Holland, Mich., where his father, Edgar Prince, built Prince Corporation, an auto-parts company that based its success on novel products, such as the lighted vanity mirror for car window visors. The elder Prince was a close friend and supporter of Christian #Evangelists such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family, as well as a contributor to the Republican Party. He was an early benefactor of the #FamilyResearchCouncil.
"Erik Prince was accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy, but dropped out after three semesters. He later told the Virginia-Pilot newspaper that he loved the Navy but disliked the academy. He finished his schooling at the Christian-oriented #HillsdaleCollege in Michigan.
"Other members of Prince's family have been active in Republican politics. His sister, #BetsyDeVos, has served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and her husband, Dick DeVos, was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor of Michigan in 2006. Dick DeVos, a member of the conservative family that co-founded Amway, succeeded his father as president of that company."
Read more: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14659780
#GOP #ChristoFacist #Mercenaries #PrivateArmies #ChristoFascism #Fascism #PoliceState #Blackwater