and to all the people here who have been helping bring these tar sands protests to everyone's attention.
I was in the first wave of protesters arrested, on saturday morning. The police told our legal team that they wanted to make an example of us, to deter other people from coming. As a result, we were held in Washington DC's Central Cell Block, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds like. None of the 40 men I was with got much sleep, because we were two to a cage on metal slabs with no bedding of any kind and in really intense heat. (The women, housed separately, didn't even have beds, and they had to huddle together on the floor because they were blasting them with air conditioning). We spent the final day of our arrest with our feet shackled together in a large cage with everyone else who'd been arrested in DC. But then, quite quickly, they simply uncuffed us and ushered us out--apparently an appalled judge had bawled the police out about our treatment and dropped all charges. So I'm no more or less of a criminal than the day I left home!
Anyway, the best news is that it didn't deter a soul. More and more people signed up, for what's becoming the biggest civil disobedience campaign in climate movement history on this continent. We've had three days of arrests since--I just watched 61 people go to jail with the actors Margot Kidder (Lois Lane!) and Tantoo Cardinal in the lead. But these people are not going to spend the night inside--the police are arresting them, booking them at the station, and then fining and releasing them. It's still not an easy thing for any good law-abiding person to get arrested, but not scary.
Actors Margot Kidder and Tantoo Cardinal among 60 arrested at White House protest against XL tar sands pipeline:
The iconic Canadian actors Margot Kidder and a Tantoo Cardinal were arrested this morning at 11:30 AM in Washington, DC as part of an ongoing sit-in at the White House to pressure President Obama to deny the permit for a massive new tar sands oil pipeline.
“I can’t think of a more important place to be,” said Kidder, who is best known for her role as Lois Lane in four of the original Superman movies. “President Obama has the chance here to do the right thing and stop this pipeline. I’m here to help make sure he does it.”
“It’s an honor to be here with so many people from across the US,” said Tantoo Cardinal, the iconic indigenous actor best known for her roles in Legends of the Fall, Dances with Wolves,and Smoke Signals. Cardinal was born in the capitol of the tar sands, Ft. McMurray, Alberta. “This is about protecting our land, our water, and our climate. The tar sands destruction has to stop.”
The best news of all is that it's really working. When we came out the jailhouse door, someone handed me the new york times for that day, with an amazing editorial demanding that the president shut down the pipeline plan. This has become the single most important environmental test for the president between now and the election, and a wonderful chance for him to remind many of us why we were so enthused about his election.
People from all 50 states are flocking here for the protests, which will continue till Sept. 3, there is still plenty of time to sign up and come at tarsandsaction.org. I hope you will; it's a special feeling to get to take a stand like this (though if I were you I might not sign up over the weekend, since it looks like a hurricane is headed our way! Happily, there's a full week left afterwards).
Sign Up Here to Participate
arrestee support fund here.