Squad likens Biden to Trump after helicopters used to scare off pipeline protesters

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Democrat leader Cori Bush likened president Joe Biden to Donald Trump after a helicopter was allegedly used in Minnesota to scare off protesters against an oil pipeline.

“Trump did this to protesters in DC last year. It was unacceptable then, and it’s unacceptable now. [POTUS], your administration has an obligation to protect Indigenous organisers and their allies. Not corporate interests. Stop the violence. Stop Line 3,” tweeted Ms Bush on Tuesday.

Ms Bush is a member of the grouping of progressive Democrat lawmakers in the US Congress known as “The Squad”, who also include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman. Ms Bush and Mr Bowman became the latest members to join in 2020.

The Squad’s members are known for not mincing their words even when it comes to their own party or president. In February, Ms Ocasio-Cortez criticised the Biden administration after reports emerged that it was reopening a child migrant detention facility in Texas.

The video that Ms Bush’s tweet quoted shows a helicopter of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hovering near protesters causing dust clouds to billow up over them.

Ms Bush’s tweet about similar action by the Trump administration referred to June 2020, when helicopters were reportedly ordered to fly low over protests after the death of George Floyd in Washington DC.

Evan Frost, a photojournalist, tweeted: “DHS/Border Patrol is using helicopter rotor wash to try to clear out activists from an occupied #Line3 pump station north of Park Rapids.”

On Monday, hundreds of “Stop Line 3” demonstrators gathered in Hubbard County in northern Minnesota to protest plans to replace an ageing pipeline that carries crude oil from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin in the US.

On Monday, 2,000 people took part in the protest, during which about 25 people tied themselves to heavy machinery.

According to environmental and indigenous groups, Enbridge Energy’s plan to rebuild Line 3 would contribute to climate change and risk spills in sensitive areas where Native Americans harvest wild rice, hunt, fish, gather medicinal plants, and claim treaty rights.

The groups are already fighting against the project in the courts, with a ruling expected by 21 June.

Enbridge says the 1960s-era Line 3 pipeline is deteriorating and can run at only about half its original capacity while the new line, made from stronger steel, will better protect the environment and at the same time restore its capacity and ensure reliable deliveries to US refineries.

According to the company, the projected total cost for Line 3 in February 2021 was about $7.3bn, providing about 4,000 jobs.

Additional reporting by agencies