Local activists protest TD Bank's involvement in Dakota Access Pipeline
Two activists from the local organization Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG) were arrested after blockading the entrance of TD Bank in downtown Providence this morning. They were protesting because the bank is one of the main lenders for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, which would cost...
Two activists from the local organization Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG) were arrested after blockading the entrance of TD Bank in downtown Providence this morning. They were protesting because the bank is one of the main lenders for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, which would cost $3.8 billion in total. One of the main groups opposing the tribe is the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, who say that the pipeline could taint the water supply, and would encroach on tribal burial sites.
Earlier this year, Sherrie Andre of the FANG collective went to North Dakota and worked with the tribe for a month. At the protest this morning, she helped hand out flyers explaining TD Bank’s involvement with the pipeline.
“We wanted to send a message to TD Bank, who was one of the main funders of this pipeline project, that we here in Rhode Island are still very connected to those people in North Dakota. We’re not going to stop and we’re going to continue fighting, and we want them to stop investing in projects like this,” she said.
During the two hour blockade, activists from FANG spoke to customers who were trying to come into the bank. Andre said some customers were shocked at hearing TD’s involvement in the pipeline and said they were interested in changing their bank, while others seemed ambivalent.
Credit: Fibonacci Blue, Flickr http://bit.ly/2ebxx6h. Dakota Access Pipeline protests are taking place across the country, including here in Providence.