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#erikprince — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #erikprince, aggregated by home.social.

  1. @justbob , I came across this and thought of you...

    From 2016:

    #StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
    Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

    UPDATES -- "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."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12

    #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy

  2. @justbob , I came across this and thought of you...

    From 2016:

    #StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
    Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

    UPDATES -- "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."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12

    #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy

  3. @justbob , I came across this and thought of you...

    From 2016:

    #StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
    Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

    UPDATES -- "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."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12

    #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy

  4. @justbob , I came across this and thought of you...

    From 2016:

    #StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
    Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

    UPDATES -- "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."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12

    #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy

  5. @justbob , I came across this and thought of you...

    From 2016:

    #StandingRock Camp Battles Cyber Blockers, Improves Service

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
    Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

    UPDATES -- "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."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/12

    #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NeverForgetStandingRock #USGovt #USPol #ErikPrince #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #BigOilAndGas #CorporateCriminals #Oiligarchy

  6. #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:
    democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hel

    #PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity

  7. #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:
    democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hel

    #PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity

  8. #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:
    democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hel

    #PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity

  9. #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:
    democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hel

    #PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity

  10. #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:
    democracynow.org/2026/6/12/hel

    #PMCWagner #ErikPrince #Mercenaries #Blackwater #Oligarchy #ГруппаВагнера #Prigozhin #CorporateColonialism #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateSecurity

  11. #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 2026

    Excerpt: "#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."

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2026/01/03/bl

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/8sHUN

    #NoHumanIsIllegal #ResistICE #HuntingImmigrants #ErikPrinceColonialism #ErikPrinceIsWarCriminal #TrumpIsAWarCriminal #USPol #TrumpSucks #ChristoFascism

  12. 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."

    Source:
    brennancenter.org/our-work/ana

    #BrennanCenter #Authoritarianism #Fascism #NoDAPL #NoKXL #PipelineProtests #WaterIsLife #ACAB #ErikPrince #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #ExxonLied #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux

  13. What do #VanceBoelter and #ErikPrince have in common? Quite a bit! But Prince prefers to farm out #Assassinations to his minions!

    #Theocratic #Mercenary Erik Prince and the #ChristianRight

    by Mike Kuhlenbeck • 19 June 2018

    "Erik Dean Prince was born in Holland, Michigan, on June 6, 1969, the youngest child and only son of Edgar and Elsa Prince, who also had daughters Betsy, Emilie, and Eileen. As documented by author Suzanne Simons in her 2009 book Master of War: #Blackwater USA’s Erik Prince and the Business of War, Prince grew up in a religious household and attended Christian schools; the Princes were members of the Reformed Church in America, a conservative Christian sect that follows the philosophical template of theologian John Calvin.

    "Edgar Prince worked as a die caster and then chief engineer for the die cast machine manufacturing outfit Buss Machine Works after serving in the US Air Force. In 1965 he and two co-workers struck out on their own to establish Prince Manufacturing. By the 1970s the company expanded its operations and became financially successful, as did the Prince family. Edgar Prince died of heart failure in 1995, and the company was sold to Johnson Controls for over $1 billion.

    "Surrounded by those who share their belief in Christian-based politics, the Prince family has used its fortune to help build the #ConservativeChristian movement. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Nixon’s disgraced former special counsel Charles Colson (who became a born-again Christian after serving seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal) were family friends. Edgar and Elsa Prince were major contributors to the Family Research Council and founded the nonprofit Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation in 1979, substantial funds from which have gone toward the effort to abolish the legal wall separating church and state. The Prince family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy (#CNP) which, according to its vision statement, supports “a united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and #JudeoChristian values under the Constitution.”

    "From Reverend #BillyGraham’s “spiritual counsel” to twelve US presidents, to Reverend #JerryFalwell’s #MoralMajority movement of the 1970s and ’80s, to Marion Gordon #PatRobertson’s #ChristianCoalition (now the #ChristianCoalitionOfAmerica), the movement to push a #fundamentalist “Judeo-Christian” agenda into the public sphere has been an ongoing crusade. Keeping with family tradition, Erik Prince’s sister Betsy married fellow Christian right figure Dick DeVos, whose father is the founder of Amway and the past president of the CNP from 1990-1993. Betsy DeVos served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and now serves as US Secretary of Education under Donald Trump. The DeVos dynasty, labelled a “family of extremists” by the Center for American Progress, is undoubtedly having an influence on the Trump White House."

    Read more:
    thehumanist.com/magazine/july-

    #ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Mercenaries #PrivateSecurity #MAGA #MAGADeathCult #RightWing #ViolentExtremists

  14. What do #VanceBoelter and #ErikPrince have in common? Quite a bit! But Prince prefers to farm out #Assassinations to his minions!

    #Theocratic #Mercenary Erik Prince and the #ChristianRight

    by Mike Kuhlenbeck • 19 June 2018

    "Erik Dean Prince was born in Holland, Michigan, on June 6, 1969, the youngest child and only son of Edgar and Elsa Prince, who also had daughters Betsy, Emilie, and Eileen. As documented by author Suzanne Simons in her 2009 book Master of War: #Blackwater USA’s Erik Prince and the Business of War, Prince grew up in a religious household and attended Christian schools; the Princes were members of the Reformed Church in America, a conservative Christian sect that follows the philosophical template of theologian John Calvin.

    "Edgar Prince worked as a die caster and then chief engineer for the die cast machine manufacturing outfit Buss Machine Works after serving in the US Air Force. In 1965 he and two co-workers struck out on their own to establish Prince Manufacturing. By the 1970s the company expanded its operations and became financially successful, as did the Prince family. Edgar Prince died of heart failure in 1995, and the company was sold to Johnson Controls for over $1 billion.

    "Surrounded by those who share their belief in Christian-based politics, the Prince family has used its fortune to help build the #ConservativeChristian movement. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Nixon’s disgraced former special counsel Charles Colson (who became a born-again Christian after serving seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal) were family friends. Edgar and Elsa Prince were major contributors to the Family Research Council and founded the nonprofit Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation in 1979, substantial funds from which have gone toward the effort to abolish the legal wall separating church and state. The Prince family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy (#CNP) which, according to its vision statement, supports “a united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and #JudeoChristian values under the Constitution.”

    "From Reverend #BillyGraham’s “spiritual counsel” to twelve US presidents, to Reverend #JerryFalwell’s #MoralMajority movement of the 1970s and ’80s, to Marion Gordon #PatRobertson’s #ChristianCoalition (now the #ChristianCoalitionOfAmerica), the movement to push a #fundamentalist “Judeo-Christian” agenda into the public sphere has been an ongoing crusade. Keeping with family tradition, Erik Prince’s sister Betsy married fellow Christian right figure Dick DeVos, whose father is the founder of Amway and the past president of the CNP from 1990-1993. Betsy DeVos served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and now serves as US Secretary of Education under Donald Trump. The DeVos dynasty, labelled a “family of extremists” by the Center for American Progress, is undoubtedly having an influence on the Trump White House."

    Read more:
    thehumanist.com/magazine/july-

    #ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Mercenaries #PrivateSecurity #MAGA #MAGADeathCult #RightWing #ViolentExtremists

  15. What do #VanceBoelter and #ErikPrince have in common? Quite a bit! But Prince prefers to farm out #Assassinations to his minions!

    #Theocratic #Mercenary Erik Prince and the #ChristianRight

    by Mike Kuhlenbeck • 19 June 2018

    "Erik Dean Prince was born in Holland, Michigan, on June 6, 1969, the youngest child and only son of Edgar and Elsa Prince, who also had daughters Betsy, Emilie, and Eileen. As documented by author Suzanne Simons in her 2009 book Master of War: #Blackwater USA’s Erik Prince and the Business of War, Prince grew up in a religious household and attended Christian schools; the Princes were members of the Reformed Church in America, a conservative Christian sect that follows the philosophical template of theologian John Calvin.

    "Edgar Prince worked as a die caster and then chief engineer for the die cast machine manufacturing outfit Buss Machine Works after serving in the US Air Force. In 1965 he and two co-workers struck out on their own to establish Prince Manufacturing. By the 1970s the company expanded its operations and became financially successful, as did the Prince family. Edgar Prince died of heart failure in 1995, and the company was sold to Johnson Controls for over $1 billion.

    "Surrounded by those who share their belief in Christian-based politics, the Prince family has used its fortune to help build the #ConservativeChristian movement. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Nixon’s disgraced former special counsel Charles Colson (who became a born-again Christian after serving seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal) were family friends. Edgar and Elsa Prince were major contributors to the Family Research Council and founded the nonprofit Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation in 1979, substantial funds from which have gone toward the effort to abolish the legal wall separating church and state. The Prince family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy (#CNP) which, according to its vision statement, supports “a united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and #JudeoChristian values under the Constitution.”

    "From Reverend #BillyGraham’s “spiritual counsel” to twelve US presidents, to Reverend #JerryFalwell’s #MoralMajority movement of the 1970s and ’80s, to Marion Gordon #PatRobertson’s #ChristianCoalition (now the #ChristianCoalitionOfAmerica), the movement to push a #fundamentalist “Judeo-Christian” agenda into the public sphere has been an ongoing crusade. Keeping with family tradition, Erik Prince’s sister Betsy married fellow Christian right figure Dick DeVos, whose father is the founder of Amway and the past president of the CNP from 1990-1993. Betsy DeVos served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and now serves as US Secretary of Education under Donald Trump. The DeVos dynasty, labelled a “family of extremists” by the Center for American Progress, is undoubtedly having an influence on the Trump White House."

    Read more:
    thehumanist.com/magazine/july-

    #ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Mercenaries #PrivateSecurity #MAGA #MAGADeathCult #RightWing #ViolentExtremists

  16. What do #VanceBoelter and #ErikPrince have in common? Quite a bit! But Prince prefers to farm out #Assassinations to his minions!

    #Theocratic #Mercenary Erik Prince and the #ChristianRight

    by Mike Kuhlenbeck • 19 June 2018

    "Erik Dean Prince was born in Holland, Michigan, on June 6, 1969, the youngest child and only son of Edgar and Elsa Prince, who also had daughters Betsy, Emilie, and Eileen. As documented by author Suzanne Simons in her 2009 book Master of War: #Blackwater USA’s Erik Prince and the Business of War, Prince grew up in a religious household and attended Christian schools; the Princes were members of the Reformed Church in America, a conservative Christian sect that follows the philosophical template of theologian John Calvin.

    "Edgar Prince worked as a die caster and then chief engineer for the die cast machine manufacturing outfit Buss Machine Works after serving in the US Air Force. In 1965 he and two co-workers struck out on their own to establish Prince Manufacturing. By the 1970s the company expanded its operations and became financially successful, as did the Prince family. Edgar Prince died of heart failure in 1995, and the company was sold to Johnson Controls for over $1 billion.

    "Surrounded by those who share their belief in Christian-based politics, the Prince family has used its fortune to help build the #ConservativeChristian movement. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Nixon’s disgraced former special counsel Charles Colson (who became a born-again Christian after serving seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal) were family friends. Edgar and Elsa Prince were major contributors to the Family Research Council and founded the nonprofit Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation in 1979, substantial funds from which have gone toward the effort to abolish the legal wall separating church and state. The Prince family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy (#CNP) which, according to its vision statement, supports “a united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and #JudeoChristian values under the Constitution.”

    "From Reverend #BillyGraham’s “spiritual counsel” to twelve US presidents, to Reverend #JerryFalwell’s #MoralMajority movement of the 1970s and ’80s, to Marion Gordon #PatRobertson’s #ChristianCoalition (now the #ChristianCoalitionOfAmerica), the movement to push a #fundamentalist “Judeo-Christian” agenda into the public sphere has been an ongoing crusade. Keeping with family tradition, Erik Prince’s sister Betsy married fellow Christian right figure Dick DeVos, whose father is the founder of Amway and the past president of the CNP from 1990-1993. Betsy DeVos served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and now serves as US Secretary of Education under Donald Trump. The DeVos dynasty, labelled a “family of extremists” by the Center for American Progress, is undoubtedly having an influence on the Trump White House."

    Read more:
    thehumanist.com/magazine/july-

    #ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Mercenaries #PrivateSecurity #MAGA #MAGADeathCult #RightWing #ViolentExtremists

  17. What do #VanceBoelter and #ErikPrince have in common? Quite a bit! But Prince prefers to farm out #Assassinations to his minions!

    #Theocratic #Mercenary Erik Prince and the #ChristianRight

    by Mike Kuhlenbeck • 19 June 2018

    "Erik Dean Prince was born in Holland, Michigan, on June 6, 1969, the youngest child and only son of Edgar and Elsa Prince, who also had daughters Betsy, Emilie, and Eileen. As documented by author Suzanne Simons in her 2009 book Master of War: #Blackwater USA’s Erik Prince and the Business of War, Prince grew up in a religious household and attended Christian schools; the Princes were members of the Reformed Church in America, a conservative Christian sect that follows the philosophical template of theologian John Calvin.

    "Edgar Prince worked as a die caster and then chief engineer for the die cast machine manufacturing outfit Buss Machine Works after serving in the US Air Force. In 1965 he and two co-workers struck out on their own to establish Prince Manufacturing. By the 1970s the company expanded its operations and became financially successful, as did the Prince family. Edgar Prince died of heart failure in 1995, and the company was sold to Johnson Controls for over $1 billion.

    "Surrounded by those who share their belief in Christian-based politics, the Prince family has used its fortune to help build the #ConservativeChristian movement. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Nixon’s disgraced former special counsel Charles Colson (who became a born-again Christian after serving seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal) were family friends. Edgar and Elsa Prince were major contributors to the Family Research Council and founded the nonprofit Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation in 1979, substantial funds from which have gone toward the effort to abolish the legal wall separating church and state. The Prince family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy (#CNP) which, according to its vision statement, supports “a united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and #JudeoChristian values under the Constitution.”

    "From Reverend #BillyGraham’s “spiritual counsel” to twelve US presidents, to Reverend #JerryFalwell’s #MoralMajority movement of the 1970s and ’80s, to Marion Gordon #PatRobertson’s #ChristianCoalition (now the #ChristianCoalitionOfAmerica), the movement to push a #fundamentalist “Judeo-Christian” agenda into the public sphere has been an ongoing crusade. Keeping with family tradition, Erik Prince’s sister Betsy married fellow Christian right figure Dick DeVos, whose father is the founder of Amway and the past president of the CNP from 1990-1993. Betsy DeVos served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and now serves as US Secretary of Education under Donald Trump. The DeVos dynasty, labelled a “family of extremists” by the Center for American Progress, is undoubtedly having an influence on the Trump White House."

    Read more:
    thehumanist.com/magazine/july-

    #ChristoFascists #ChristoFascism #Mercenaries #PrivateSecurity #MAGA #MAGADeathCult #RightWing #ViolentExtremists

  18. HT @wendysiegelman

    "Trump EO 'Project Homecoming' says after 60 days #DHS will add 'no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily' - double the 10,000 agents Erik Prince had in his $25Bil proposal"

    whitehouse.gov/presidential-ac

    #Trump #TrumpEO #USPol #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #PrivatePrisons #Gestapo #ProjectHomecoming

  19. HT @wendysiegelman

    "Trump EO 'Project Homecoming' says after 60 days #DHS will add 'no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily' - double the 10,000 agents Erik Prince had in his $25Bil proposal"

    whitehouse.gov/presidential-ac

    #Trump #TrumpEO #USPol #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #PrivatePrisons #Gestapo #ProjectHomecoming

  20. HT @wendysiegelman

    "Trump EO 'Project Homecoming' says after 60 days #DHS will add 'no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily' - double the 10,000 agents Erik Prince had in his $25Bil proposal"

    whitehouse.gov/presidential-ac

    #Trump #TrumpEO #USPol #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #PrivatePrisons #Gestapo #ProjectHomecoming

  21. HT @wendysiegelman

    "Trump EO 'Project Homecoming' says after 60 days #DHS will add 'no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily' - double the 10,000 agents Erik Prince had in his $25Bil proposal"

    whitehouse.gov/presidential-ac

    #Trump #TrumpEO #USPol #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #PrivatePrisons #Gestapo #ProjectHomecoming

  22. HT @wendysiegelman

    "Trump EO 'Project Homecoming' says after 60 days #DHS will add 'no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily' - double the 10,000 agents Erik Prince had in his $25Bil proposal"

    whitehouse.gov/presidential-ac

    #Trump #TrumpEO #USPol #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #PrivateSecurity #PrivatePrisons #Gestapo #ProjectHomecoming

  23. Michigan native #ErikPrince proposes #deportation plan to #ElSalvador, report says

    By Justin Engel, Apr. 14, 2025

    "Erik Prince, the former CEO of #Blackwater USA and a Michigan native, is among a group of defense contractors proposing to expand plans for deporting #immigrants to a prison in El Salvador, Politico reported.

    "The pitch would attempt to avoid #legal challenges by designating part of the El Salvador prison system as #AmericanTerritory, the report stated.

    " 'It’s unclear how seriously the White House is considering the plan by Prince, who has drawn scrutiny for his firm’s role in a deadly massacre in Iraq two decades ago,' the Politico report stated. 'But it would give Prince’s group an unprecedented and potentially highly lucrative role in an expanded version of a transnational operation that has elicited its own web of controversies, in part because it has swept up immigrants who do not have criminal records in the United States.'

    "The report coincides with President Donald Trump’s plans to host #NayibBukele, the president of El Salvador, at the White House on Monday, April 14.

    "Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. more than 200 #Venezuelan immigrants — whom officials with President Donald Trump’s administration have accused of gang activity and violent crimes — and placed them inside the country’s notorious maximum-security gang prison. It is also holding a Maryland man who the administration admits was wrongly deported but has not been returned to the U.S., despite court orders to do so.

    "Trump has ties to the family of Prince, an automotive supplier heir from Holland. Prince is the brother of #BetsyDeVos, the secretary of education during the first Trump administration.

    "Prince, a major Republican donor, has been accused of acting as a back channel on behalf of Trump. As Trump was preparing to take office in 2017, Prince met with a official close to Russian President Vladimir #Putin in the #Seychelles, islands off the coast of east Africa. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his Russia investigation said the meeting was set up ahead of time with the knowledge of former White House aide #StephenBannon.

    "Prince soared to notoriety after Blackwater USA employees in 2007 shot and killed #Iraqi #civilians in Baghdad’s #NisourSquare during the Iraq war, casting a light on the role played by private contractors in U.S. military operations overseas.

    "In the wake of the scandal the company’s name was changed and Prince sold his shares to a private equity fund."

    mlive.com/politics/2025/04/mic

    #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #TripleCanopy #PrivateArmy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas #Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism
    #Authoritarianism

  24. Exclusive- #Trump supporter #ErikPrince reaches deal with #Congo to help secure [steal] mineral wealth

    Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley
    Thu, April 17, 2025

    Excerpt: "Democratic Republic of Congo has vast reserves of #copper, #cobalt, #lithium and #coltan - a mineral used widely in smartphones, computers and electric vehicles - but has been plagued for decades by violence in its eastern region.

    "The agreement between Congo and Prince initially involved a plan to deploy contractors to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and the largest city in eastern Congo. But Goma is now under M23 control and that plan has been put on hold. M23 controls tracts of mineral-rich territory.

    "A source close to the Congolese government told Reuters an initial deployment of Prince's advisers was expected to start in the south, far from the area controlled by #M23 and its allies.

    " 'If you just look at Katanga, if you look at Kolwezi down just off the Zambian-Congo border, they claim that there's like $40 million a month in lost revenue of what's going out and what's coming in,' the source said.

    "A diplomatic source also told Reuters the first stage of Prince's effort in Congo would focus on securing mines and tax revenues in copper-producing Katanga province.

    "One of the sources close to Prince said advisers were expected to deploy with technical experts from a company specialised in testing and inspecting commodities. The advisers would initially target larger mines and expand as revenue collection improved.

    "The source did not provide details on how the advisers would tackle corruption in the sector that has long drained revenue that would otherwise flow to the state.

    "A source in the office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said an agreement in principle had been signed with Prince, but the details on where and how many advisers would be deployed remained to be established."

    aol.com/news/exclusive-trump-s

    #ErikPrinceColonialism
    #PrivateArmy #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal
    #TripleCanopy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas
    #Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism #Authoritarianism #Colonialism #Mining #Pollution #Genocide #Corruption #CopperMining #MiningPollution #CorporateColonialism

  25. #ErikPrince: Private sector can help with #MassDeportations

    Leland Vittert
    Tue, February 25, 2025

    "Erik Prince, founder of the former security contractor #Blackwater, denied proposing a 'private army' for mass deportations and instead described a logistics plan to help the #Trump administration fulfill its immigration goals.

    " 'This is not some idea of a private army,' Prince said Tuesday on NewsNation’s On Balance. 'It was a memo generated to describe how to achieve the logistics necessary to move the millions of people that they intend to deport.'

    "Prince pushed back against a Politico report that described a plan circulated among Trump allies calling for 'processing camps' and a private citizen force to carry out deportations.

    "He said that the memo outlines how to accomplish mass deportations 'in a #legal, #ethical manner” with necessary #DueProcess. [WHAT A JOKE!!!]

    " 'If people think it’s a huge number, think about how we’ve been invaded. We’ve had millions of people float into the country illegally, actually paying the cartels to smuggle them in,' Prince said.

    "According to the Politico report, Prince and other contractors submitted a 26-page proposal before Trump’s inauguration that included using private aircraft, 'processing camps' on military bases, and deputizing private citizens to make arrests.

    "The plan reportedly carries a $25 billion price tag to deport 12 million people before the 2026 midterms.

    "Prince suggested the government would eventually need the private sector to help achieve Trump’s immigration goals, noting that deportation flights 'for years, even when other administrations are doing it, were largely contractor managed and operated.'

    Source:
    yahoo.com/news/erik-prince-pri

    #ErikPrinceColonialism #PrivateArmy #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #TripleCanopy #PrivateArmy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas #Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism #Authoritarianism #PrivateSecurity

  26. 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:
    trialmonitors.org/statement-of
    #NorthDakota #EnergyTransferPartners #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #SLAPPs #ViewerSupportedNews #GreenpeaceUSA #SLAPPsLawsuits #CriminalizingDissent #NorthDakota #StandingRockSiouxTribe #StandingRockReservation #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #KelcyWarren #ArrestKelcyWarren #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #FreeSpeech

  27. #CriminalizingDissent: #Greenpeace Ordered to Pay $667M to #DakotaAccessPipeline Firm over #Protests

    #DemocracyNow, March 20, 2025

    "A jury in #NorthDakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay more than $660 million in damages for defaming #EnergyTransferPartners, the corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Texas-based pipeline company accused Greenpeace of orchestrating criminal behavior by training and providing funds to the #Indigenous-led protests at #StandingRock. Greenpeace and its supporters, including other #nonprofits and #advocacy groups, argued that the lawsuit is part of a conspicuous attempt by #corporations to destroy the right to #FreeSpeech. Longtime #HumanRights and #environmental lawyer #StevenDonziger, who was part of the independent trial monitoring team observing the trial, says it was purposely held in a region of the country with deep ties to the #FossilFuel industry. Donziger said most of the jurors in the case were connected to the industry and were 'predisposed' to rule in favor of Energy Transfer despite the 'false narratives' presented at the trial. Greenpeace plans to appeal the ruling."

    Watch / listen / read transcript:
    democracynow.org/2025/3/20/gre
    #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #SLAPPs #ViewerSupportedNews #GreenpeaceUSA #SLAPPsLawsuits #CriminalizingDissent #NorthDakota #StandingRockSiouxTribe #StandingRockReservation #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #KelcyWarren #ArrestKelcyWarren #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB

  28. Boo hiss...! Jury Finds #Greenpeace at Fault, Awards #Pipeline Developer Hundreds of Millions

    By Mary Steurer, North Dakota Monitor, via #CensoredNews

    "Breaking news from the courtroom
    A Morton County jury on Wednesday ordered Greenpeace to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the developer of the #DakotaAccessPipeline, finding that the #environmental group incited illegal
    behavior by anti-pipeline #protesters and defamed the company in the late 2010s.

    "During closing arguments on Monday, the lead attorney representing #EnergyTransfer told jurors that Greenpeace’s actions caused between $265 million and $340 million in damages to the company. He asked the jury to award Energy Transfer that amount plus additional punitive damages.

    "The nine-person jury delivered a verdict in favor of Energy Transfer on most counts. The verdict brought to a close a more than three-week trial in Mandan.

    "The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon after hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses, including current and former Greenpeace employees, #IndigenousActivists, Energy Transfer representatives and law enforcement.

    "This story will be updated.

    "Thank you to the non-profit media #NorthDakotaMonitor for sharing their coverage with other media."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03
    #StandWithStandingRock #GreenpeaceUSA #SLAPPs #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #NorthDakota #StandingRockSiouxTribe #StandingRockReservation #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #UnicornRiot #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

  29. Witness: Most tribal nations at #DakotaAccessPipeline #protest ‘didn’t know who #Greenpeace was’

    By: Mary Steurer - March 3, 2025

    "A #Lakota organizer said in a video deposition played to jurors Monday that the #StandingRockSiouxTribe led the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, not Greenpeace.

    "#NickTilsen, an Oglala Sioux Tribe citizen and #activist, called the notion that Greenpeace orchestrated the protests 'paternalistic.'

    "'I think that people underestimate the complexity and the sophistication of tribal nations,' Tilsen said.

    "Tilsen’s deposition was the latest testimony heard by the nine-person jury in the marathon trial between pipeline developer Energy Transfer and Greenpeace.

    "#EnergyTransfer claims Greenpeace secretly aided and abetted destructive and violent behavior by protesters during the #demonstrations, which took place in south central #NorthDakota near the #StandingRockReservation in 2016 and 2017. It also claims that Greenpeace orchestrated a misinformation campaign to defame the company, leading a group of banks to back out of financing the project. Energy Transfer seeks roughly $300 million from the environmental organization.

    "Greenpeace denies Energy Transfer’s allegations. The group says it has never condoned violence, and only played a supporting role during the protests.

    "Tilsen said he got involved in the protests before Greenpeace. He was invited to join the cause by former Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault and his sister, Jodi Archambault, he said.

    "'They called me and said, ‘Hey, we need your help at Standing Rock,’ Tilsen said.

    "Standing Rock has long opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, stating the project poses a pollution threat, infringes on tribal sovereignty and has disrupted sacred cultural sites.

    "It was Standing Rock leadership that laid the groundwork for the protests against the pipeline’s construction in 2016, Tilsen said.

    "He said organizers later invited Greenpeace to support the camps, including by providing supplies and nonviolent direct action training. Tilsen said he only felt comfortable reaching out to Greenpeace because a friend of his, Cy Wagoner, worked there.

    "He said since Wagoner is from the #NavajoNation, he trusted that Greenpeace would respect Standing Rock’s leadership of the camps.

    "Indigenous communities are often reluctant to invite outside nonprofits to help with Native rights issues, Tilsen added. He said they often don’t understand Native nations’ unique relationship with the U.S. government.

    "Greenpeace wasn’t a big part of the protests, Tilsen said.

    "'To be honest, most of the tribal nations didn’t know who Greenpeace was,' he said.

    "Countless other groups — including representatives from more than 300 Native nations — came to the protest camps in solidarity with Standing Rock, said Tilsen.

    "'Quite frankly, our list of allies was hundreds,' he said.

    "Tilsen said he was involved in several protest actions against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017, including those that involved marching on the pipeline easement, jumping in front of equipment and using lockboxes — also known as 'sleeping dragons' — to disable construction machinery.

    "None of the protest actions were coordinated by Greenpeace, he said.

    "Tilsen said he never saw or endorsed any destruction of property or acts of violence toward construction workers or law enforcement. He also pushed back on the assertion that any of the protest activities he participated in qualified as trespassing.

    "The pipeline passes through land recognized as belonging to the #SiouxNation under #treaties signed by the U.S. government in 1851 and 1868. The U.S. government later annexed that land in violation of those treaties.

    "Tilsen asked how Lakota citizens could be trespassing on land that was unlawfully taken from them.

    "'This is the conundrum we find ourselves in,' he said.

    "Employees of Greenpeace said during video depositions played last week that the environmental organization brought 20 to 30 lockboxes to the camps.

    "Tilsen said while he saw many lockboxes during protests, he wasn’t sure where any of them came from. He also said he never heard anyone from Greenpeace tell demonstrators to use the devices.

    "Tilsen said that David Khoury, an employee for Greenpeace, helped identify potential sites for protest actions. Tilsen added that while Wagoner — another Greenpeace employee — didn’t plan protest activities, he trained people on how to conduct them.

    "The trial, which is before Southwest Central Judicial District Judge James Gion, is expected to last roughly four more weeks."

    Source:
    northdakotamonitor.com/2025/03
    #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

  30. #WinonaLaDuke: #DAPLPipeline Lawsuit Against #Greenpeace Aims to Silence #Indigenous #Protests, Too

    #DemocracyNow, March 04, 2025

    "As the oil company Energy Transfer sues Greenpeace over the 2016 #StandingRock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, we speak with #IndigenousActivist Winona LaDuke, who took part in that historic uprising. LaDuke is an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of #Anishinaabe who lives and works on the White Earth Nation Reservation and was among the thousands of people who joined the protests in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protect water and Indigenous lands in North Dakota. She highlights the close links between North Dakota’s government and Energy Transfer and says that while the lawsuit targets Greenpeace, Indigenous water and land defenders are also on trial. 'North Dakota has really been trying to squash any kind of #resistance,' says LaDuke. 'If they can try to shut down Greenpeace, they’re going to shut down everybody.'"

    Watch / listen / read transcript:
    democracynow.org/2025/3/4/wino
    #ViewerSupportedNews #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

  31. #Greenpeace on Trial: $300M Lawsuit over #StandingRock #Protests Could Shutter Group & Chill #FreeSpeech

    #DemocracyNow, March 04, 2025

    "A closely watched civil trial that began in #NorthDakota last week could bankrupt Greenpeace and chill #EnvironmentalActivism as the climate crisis continues to deepen. The multimillion-dollar lawsuit by #EnergyTransfer, the oil corporation behind the #DakotaAccessPipeline, claims Greenpeace organized the mass protests and encampment at Standing Rock between 2016 and 2017 aimed at stopping construction of the project.

    "Although the uprising at Standing Rock was led by #Indigenous #WaterDefenders, Energy Transfer is instead going after Greenpeace for $300 million in damages — an amount that could effectively shutter the group’s U.S. operations. 'This case is not just an obvious and blatant erasure of #IndigenousLeadership, of #IndigenousResistance,' says Deepa Padmanabha, a senior legal adviser for #GreenpeaceUSA. 'It is an attack on the broader movement and all of our First Amendment rights to free speech and #PeacefulProtest.'"

    Watch / listen / read transcript:
    democracynow.org/2025/3/4/gree
    #ViewerSupportedNews #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

  32. #StandingRock Chair: #EnergyTransfer's Lawsuit Against #Greenpeace: 'Frivolous,'
    Seeks to Silence #Tribe and #Allies

    "The #DakotaAccessPipeline, referred to in our prophecy as the #BlackSnake, has come to harm our land, our water and our people." -- Standing Rock Chairwoman #JanetAlkire

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, March 4, 2025

    STANDING ROCK NATION, #NorthDakota -- "In the case now before the district court in North Dakota, Energy Transfer versus Greenpeace, Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire blasted Energy
    Transfer with the facts and made it clear that the #StandingRockNation led the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline.

    "Chairwoman Alkire said Dakota Access Pipeline destroyed #BurialGrounds, brought in #SecurityForces and #LawEnforcement that brutalized peaceful #protesters, and has already had a spill at Standing Rock -- while the pipeline is concealing its devastating safety records.

    "'From the beginning, Energy Transfer has engaged in a security battle, secrecy battle and #propaganda battle against our Tribe,' Alkire said.

    "'It promotes lies and propaganda to discredit our Tribe and our good faith concerns with DAPL’s impacts on our Reservation environment, and the global climate. Part of the attack on our Tribe is to attack our allies.'

    "'Today, Energy Transfer is taking Greenpeace to court, frivolously alleging defamation and seeking money damages, designed to shut down all voice supporting Standing Rock.'"

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03
    #ReaderSupportedNews #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

  33. Trump allies circulate #MassDeportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘#army

    The group, led by #Blackwater veteran #ErikPrince, has close #Trump ties.

    By Dasha Burns and Myah Ward
    02/25/2025 05:55 AM EST

    "Prince declined to comment, and the other contractors and former immigration officials listed as key personnel in the document also declined to comment or could not be reached.

    "The founders of the new special entity called #2USV have a long history with the U.S. government. Blackwater was formed by Prince in 1996 to provide training services to law enforcement, military personnel and other government agencies. It gained widespread attention for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing security services for U.S. officials and military personnel, with critics viewing its rise as a result of the U.S. military’s overextension in the Middle East.

    The military contractor came under scrutiny in 2007 following the #NisourSquareMassacre, when #Blackwater contractors opened fire and killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others — raising questions about oversight and accountability of private contractors. Several contractors were charged with manslaughter, and four were convicted in 2014. Trump pardoned them at the end of his first term in December 2020.

    "Trump’s pardon was just one example of the influence of Prince’s family during the first Trump administration. #BetsyDeVos, Prince’s sister, served as the president’s #Education secretary, while Prince used his Trump connections as he chased business ventures in the U.S. and abroad.

    "In 2018, he reportedly helped raise money for an effort to spy on progressives and Democratic organizations opposed to Trump." [As well as #DAPL #WaterProtectors!]
    politico.com/news/2025/02/25/d
    #Blackwater
    #ErikPrinceColonialism
    #SilencingDissent
    #USPol #Project2025 #CriminalizingActivism
    #ClimateActivists #NoDAPL #Crapitalism
    #Fascism #Trump #ChristoFascist
    #CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists #Activists #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent
    #CrackdownOnProtests #AntiProtestLaws #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism
    #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

  34. And of course there's a #Blackwater connection!!!

    HT @cdarwin

    The armed individual who blocked senators from entering federal property bears the insignia of "Triple Canopy", which merged with Blackwater in 2014.

    This is a mercenary paramilitary guard for Musk and his minions. *Anyone wearing this insignia should be considered extremely dangerous.
    bsky.app/profile/spartacus-nem
    #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

  35. From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States

    Report to the Inter-American
    Commission on Human Rights

    Prepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective

    6/24/2019

    Introduction

    1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.

    2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
    Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
    Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).

    3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
    indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.

    4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.

    5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.

    Read more:
    law.arizona.edu/sites/default/

    #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred