After infiltrating Standing Rock for pipeline giant Energy Transfer, TigerSwan mercenaries pitched spy services to other oil firms, new documents show.
Durkan, who has a year left in her first term, struggled to regain her footing after protesters declared an autonomous zone within the city and essentially forced out police and took over a neighborhood.
The problem for both was that the people who perpetrated the violence and destruction in both cities faced few consequences. Few were arrested. Those who were either were released almost immediately or, for those facing the most serious charges, bailed out by other activist groups, such as the National Lawyers Guild.
This type of activism – bailing out rioters so they can return to causing mayhem and destroying property as quickly as possible – didn’t begin with Seattle or Portland. It didn’t begin with the Minnesota Freedom Fund, touted by Kamala Harris and members of Joe Biden’s campaign staff as a way to funnel money to rioters arrested in Minneapolis.