3 Water Protectors Released From Jail After Dropping Banner During Football Game

By Yessenia Funes Jan 03, 2017

The Minneapolis Police Department arrested three supporters of the #NoDAPL movement on January 1. Two water protectors, 32-year-old Karl Mayo and 26-year-old Sen Holiday, climbed the rafters of the U.S. Bank Stadium around 12:47 p.m. CST during a Minnesota Vikings game against the Chicago Bears to drop a banner. “Divest,” it read—a direct message to U.S. Bank, which has reportedly invested $175 million toward the Dakota Access Pipeline project.

Mayo and Holiday were held in the Hennepin County Jail on burglary and trespassing charges. The police department also arrested Carolyn Feldman, 27, for “obstructing the legal process,” according to an official department Facebook post, though the jail roster noted burglary and trespassing charges. All three were released from the jail yesterday (January 2).

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Their action was part of a greater defunding campaign to halt the 1,172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline running across four states. To date, the campaign says that over $42 million has been divested from the oil project. This includes individual and bank divestment. The goal is that, regardless of how the incoming administration decides to handle the $3.78 billion project, investors will pull out after suffering losses, resulting in the pipeline’s demise.

In other related developments, Wells Fargo initiated discussions in December with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has been at the forefront of the struggle. Norway’s largest bank, DNB, pulled $3 million in holdings from the project in November. Seattle’s city council is ending its contract with Wells Fargo, which manages $3 billion worth of city money, because of the bank’s funding for the pipeline.

(H/t Fox 9)