Nearly 900 people have been arrested during protests against the Line 3 oil pipeline, which is being built in northern Minnesota. Most were cited with misdemeanors, but many have been charged with gross misdemeanors or felony charges. The number of legal cases is straining resources in the northern Minnesota counties where most of the protests took place. In addition to waiting for months for a public defender, some defendants also argue that the charges they're facing are unfairly severe.
Officers from 31 different law enforcement agencies assisted in the removal of the demonstrators from private property. A total of 179 demonstrators were arrested and charged with gross misdemeanor trespassing with an additional 68 individuals cited with public nuisance and unlawful assembly.
More than two dozen arrests were made as a result of a peaceful Line 3 protest blockading an Enbridge construction site with a prayer lodge on Thursday. According to arrest records, 92% of the protestors arrested live at addresses outside of northern Minnesota.
Today, Dec. 11, the coldest recorded temperature in the United States occurred 15 miles east of Park Rapids, Minn. Meanwhile, Fairbanks Alaska, had a low of a toasty 8 degrees above zero.
FARGO — Numbers recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau show Williams County in North Dakota led the nation in growth rate between July 2017 and July 2018 when its population jumped by 5.9%.
NEVIS, Minn. — Law enforcement officials say the three people who died in a north-central Minnesota shooting that also left a deputy wounded, knew each other.