MANDAN, N.D. (AP) \u2014 A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims brought by a Dallas-based pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.<\/p>\n
The nine-person jury awarded Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit had accused Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy and other acts.<\/p>\n
Following the verdict, Greenpeace\u2019s senior legal adviser said the organization\u2019s work \u201cis never going stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the really important message today, and we\u2019re just walking out and we\u2019re going to get together and figure out what our next steps are,\u201d Deepa Padmanabha said.<\/p>\n
The organization said it plans to appeal the decision.<\/p>\n
Energy Transfer called the verdict a \u201cwin\u201d for residents of Mandan, N.D., and across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we are pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us, this win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace,\u201d the company said in a statement to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
The company, which previously said the lawsuit was about Greenpeace not following the law and not free speech, also called the verdict a win for \u201cAmericans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case reaches back to protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access oil pipeline and its Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe\u2019s reservation. For years the tribe has opposed the line as a risk to its water supply. The multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since mid-2017.<\/p>\n
Plaintiffs\u2019 attorney Trey Cox has said Greenpeace carried out a scheme to stop the pipeline\u2019s construction. During opening statements, he alleged Greenpeace paid outsiders to come into the area and protest, sent blockade supplies, organized or led protester trainings and made untrue statements about the project to stop it.<\/p>\n
Attorneys for the Greenpeace entities said there is no evidence to the claims, that Greenpeace employees had little or no involvement in the protests and the organizations had nothing to do with Energy Transfer\u2019s delays in construction or refinancing.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace representatives have said the lawsuit is a critical test of First Amendment free speech and protest rights and could threaten the organization\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
By JACK DURA with the Associated Press<\/p>\n
The verdict in the case against Greenpeace has significant implications for the organization and its future. The lawsuit has been seen as a critical test of First Amendment free speech and protest rights, and the outcome could have far-reaching consequences for environmental and social justice movements.<\/p>\n
A: The jury found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims brought by Energy Transfer and awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.<\/p>\n
A: The lawsuit accused Greenpeace of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy and other acts in connection with protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.<\/p>\n
A: Greenpeace has said it plans to appeal the decision and that its work will not stop despite the verdict.<\/p>\n
A: The verdict could threaten the organization\u2019s future and has significant implications for environmental and social justice movements, as it has been seen as a critical test of First Amendment free speech and protest rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Greenpeace Found Liable for Defamation and Other Claims MANDAN, N.D. (AP) \u2014 A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims brought by a Dallas-based pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The nine-person jury awarded Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access hundreds of millions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/3BHD3ZPF3VBG5LYWBU5W4LIRMY.jpg?auth=ecd1734d432efca3c21020403ab2babc4c0f8a29abba645df027f8c2aa14819c&height=630&width=1200&smart=true&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2088,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions\/2088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}