Court throws out conviction of Line 3 protester after finding misconduct in Minnesota trial
An appeals court in Minnesota overturned the felony conviction of a woman who protested the Line 3 pipeline, citing widespread prosecutorial misconduct during her trial.
Nina Lakhani reports for The Guardian.
In short:
- Mylene Vialard, a climate activist convicted in 2023 of felony obstruction, will receive a new trial after a Minnesota court found that prosecutors failed to ensure she had a fair trial.
- Vialard was arrested in 2021 after attaching herself to a bamboo tower to block a pumping station on Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, which runs through Indigenous territory and has faced major opposition due to environmental risks.
- The appeals court said the misconduct was “pervasive,” including false claims by prosecutors and violations of court orders, and that the trial judge’s instructions didn’t offset the prejudicial effects.
Key quote:
“It is everyone’s role to resist bullies and protect the only world we have that can feed and provide for all of us humans and non-humans.”
— Mylene Vialard, environmental activist
Why this matters:
The Line 3 pipeline has long been a flashpoint in debates over fossil fuel expansion, Indigenous rights, and environmental protection. It cuts through fragile ecosystems and treaty-protected lands, raising concerns about oil spills and long-term damage to water systems, including rivers that feed into the Mississippi. Protesters say the state’s crackdown on civil disobedience — backed in part by payments from the pipeline company to police, The Guardian reports — represents a dangerous entanglement of corporate interests and law enforcement. This case throws a spotlight on how protestors, many of them Indigenous or allied with tribal groups, face legal threats even when engaging in peaceful resistance.
