Charges dropped against pair who filmed pipeline protest

Source: Associated Press

Gene Johnson, Associated Press

Updated 4:55 pm, Monday, November 7, 2016


SEATTLE (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges including burglary and sabotage against two filmmakers who recorded a protest at an oil pipeline in Washington state last month.

The filmmakers, Lindsey Grayzel of Portland, Oregon, and Carl Davis of Orcas Island, Washington, say they were working on a documentary about climate activist Ken Ward on Oct. 11 when Ward broke through a fence and turned a safety valve along the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline near Burlington. Ward also livestreamed his actions.

The three were among 11 people arrested that day amid attempts to shut down oil pipelines in Washington, North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana in solidarity with those protesting the four-state Dakota Access pipeline project in North Dakota, said Jay O'Hara, a spokesman for the environmental activism group Climate Disobedience Center.

Charges remain against the other nine, who include two people who were recording actions in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Charges-dropped-against-pair-who-filmed-pipeline-10598707.php