Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: [New post] Glitter Activists Face Trial!
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2016 13:58:28 -0500
Three years ago I chained myself to an excavator working on digging a
new oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma south to Houston. It was
considered to be the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline from the
Canadian oil sands ecocide.
After the series of protest actions, another protest was carried out the
new 50 story skyscraper of Devon Energy, a leader in fracking and the
largest Oklahoma based independent oil company. Two advocates of planet
earth unveiled a banner "The Odds Are Never In Our Favor' from the
second story atrium. More is in the story forwarded below. They are
being brought to trial on June 30th. I am not aware of anything we are
asking of people not in the area, but if you know some Okies, we are
wanting people to attend the trial. If there is something folks can do
from elsewhere, I will post a followup.
The odds are never in our favor, but that doesn't stop us from doing
what's right for people, the planet, and the future. Please feel free
to forward this on elsewhere.
Bob Waldrop, Okie City
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: [New post] Glitter Activists Face Trial!
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2016 17:30:40 +0000
From: Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance <donotreply@wordpress.com>
To: bob@bobwaldrop.net
WordPress.com
GPTSR posted: "On December 13th, 2013, Moriah Stepheson and Stefan
Warner were arrested while taking part in a non-violent peaceful
protest. The two activists were taken into custody after hanging a
glittery Hunger Games themed banner in the open-to-the public atrium of"
On December 13th, 2013, Moriah Stepheson and Stefan Warner were arrested
while taking part in a non-violent peaceful protest. The two activists
were taken into custody after hanging a glittery Hunger Games themed
banner in the open-to-the public atrium of the Devon Energy Center. The
activists were booked into the Oklahoma County Jail under the felony
charge Terrorism Hoax, which carries up to 10 years in prison. The
activists’ arrest gained international media attention due to the
severity of the arresting charge. Documents obtained by journalists
proved that the Joint Terrorism Task Force, TransCanada Corporation, and
the Oklahoma City Police had met together prior to the construction of
the Keystone XL pipeline to strategize ways to prosecute environmental
activists as terrorists. The terrorism hoax charges have been dropped,
but Stefan Warner and Moriah Stephenson will stand trial for misdemeanor
disorderly conduct on June 30th at 8 am in the Oklahoma City Courthouse.
A charge which their lawyer argues is still a violation of free speech.
Glitter Banner
<https://earthfirstnews.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/glitter-banner.jpg>The
glittery banner in question read, “The Odds Are Never in Our Favor.” The
banner highlights the disproportionate ways in which oil and gas
development occurs, granting power, wealth, and access to oil
corporations while disenfranchising communities of color and
low-income-rural communities. The reality that “The Odds Are Never in
Our Favor” has become even more clear in recent years as Oklahoma’s
budget deficit has resulted in funding cuts for public education and
public needs programs while continuing to offer tax incentives to large
oil corporations.
Warner and Stephenson had no intention of causing panic or alarm, they
simply were using free speech to highlight the similarities between The
Hunger Games series and our everyday lives in Oklahoma: a small group of
people profit off of the resources and labor of many, while exploiting
marginalized communities. These activists wanted to highlight at least
three primary injustices perpetrated by Devon Energy: 1) Devon Energy is
involved in extracting and transporting tar sands oil, the heavy and
toxic crude that the Keystone XL pipeline carries from Canada to the
Gulf of Mexico to be sold on the global market, 2) Devon Energy’s
practice of tar sands extraction is environmental racism, most
negatively impacting low-income, indigenous communities in Canada and
across the U.S. such as the Lubicon Cree First Nation, Mikisew Cree
First Nation and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation 3) Devon Energy
lobbies for and receives large tax incentives which have resulted in the
disastrous budget deficit Oklahoma is currently facing. In all of these
ways the dominance of the oil and gas industry and the failure of the
Oklahoma state government to diversify the economy create a situation in
which “The Odds Are Never in Our Favor.” These activists’ arrest
highlights another way that “The Odds Are Never in Our Favor,” violation
of free speech. The odds are not in our favor when the oil and gas
industry is protected when environmental catastrophe or economic crisis
occurs, but individual residents are persecuted for spilling glitter
from a banner. Stephenson and Warner invite community members to be
present at their trial on June 30th at 8 AM.