Water Protectors Blockade St. Louis Wells Fargo in Solidarity with Camp Makwa

Earlier this morning—November 14, 2017—five water protectors took action in solidarity with frontline Indigenous resistance efforts at Camp Makwa in Northern Minnesota to stop the construction of the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline in. The activists locked down to each other with lockboxes and used their bodies to disrupt business as usual at Wells Fargo, one of the major financial players behind this genocidal, extractive fossil fuel project. Wells Fargo has $743 million invested in Enbridge, which funds many tar sands projects including their Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

This action is one of hundreds that have taken place across the globe to call for divestment from financial institutions invested in the destructive fossil fuel industry.

“Wells Fargo is just another institution that continues to make blood money off of fossil fuels at a time when scientists are telling us that we must make a just transition to renewables. Another institution that continues to make blood money off of Indigenous genocide,” said a spokesperson for Earth Defense Coalition.

The water protectors successfully disrupted Wells Fargo employees from parking for three hours while engaging with hundreds of other employees. We are proud to say that we have met all of our goals of standing in Solidarity with Makwa—bringing local attention to Line 3 and joining the global movement to pressure financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels. All five lockdowners were able to leave the lockdown site without arrest.