Why tipis, pipeline protesters and a big security force have descended on Minnesota Capitol

Aug. 24—The marbled austerity of the Minnesota Capitol this week suddenly took on two other distinct — and clashing — aesthetics: Indian tipi villages against police-patrolled concrete barriers with cyclone fencing.

The juxtaposition is the result of a major protest, centered by Native American activists, planned for Wednesday in opposition to an oil pipeline, followed up Saturday by a busy day of demonstrations that span the political spectrum from anti-masking to pro-voting rights to cancer research — all in a post-George Floyd/post-Jan. 6 insurrection world that has security planners erring on the side of too much security rather than too little.

Roads immediately around the Capitol have been closed and the building itself will be closed to the public through Saturday.

Here's a primer.

PIPELINE PROTEST

Wednesday's protest could feature hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of people marching from Crocus Hill in St. Paul to the Capitol in opposition to the new Enbridge Line 3 pipeline.

Wednesday's march, generally planned for between 2 and 5 p.m., is actually the climax in a dayslong series of demonstrations that began Monday, as groups of tipis were erected on the Capitol mall and Native American grandmothers held spiritual events. Final events will be held Thursday.

The events, formally called the "Treaties Not Tar Sands Rally," is a call for President Joe Biden to try to stop the pipeline from being completed and an expression of disapproval against Gov. Tim Walz, who has declined to attempt to halt it.

WHICH PIPELINE?

The new Enbridge Line 3 pipeline is a re-routing of the original Line 3 pipeline, which carries crude oil about 1,000 miles from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to port in Superior, Wis., cutting across northern Minnesota.

The existing pipeline, built in the 1960s, is running at about 50 percent capacity. The new pipeline follows the same general path but cuts a new route through Minnesota.

Despite numerous challenges, the pipeline appears to have cleared most of its major hurdles to allow completion of construction.

If you vaguely recall Biden already stopping something like this, you're thinking of a different pipeline. That's the Keystone XL pipeline, which was planned to cut through South Dakota, not Minnesota. Via an executive order, Biden did, in fact, put the kibosh on that one, and on June 9, TC Energy, the group behind that pipeline, terminated the project.

So Keystone is dead, but Line 3 is very much alive — and nearing completion, with oil expected to be flowing before the year is out. In that sense, this week's protest can be fairly seen as a last gasp by opponents.

WHY NATIVE AMERICANS?

Some Native Americans and indigenous peoples of Canada have opposed pipelines for a number of reasons. In the case of Line 3's Minnesota leg, it crosses lands claimed by various Ojibwe tribes in treaties.

Another name for this week's protests is "Rights of Mahnomin," a nod toward a lawsuit that claims the pipeline will threaten wild rice, a foundation of traditional Ojibwe diets that relies on clean water to thrive.

CLIMATE ARGUMENT

Pipeline opponents have attracted a patchwork of brethren often aligned with Democrats because the situation carries overtones of racial justice (the rights of a non-white group), environmental justice (risking pristine lands used by non-whites), and climate change (it's carrying crude oil).

Politically, those arguments haven't worked. While the Keystone XL pipeline proved to be a line in the sand for Democrats to draw in solidarity with opponents, Line 3 is the one many have chosen to support. Walz signifies that: While he has enabled the completion of Line 3, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, has remained opposed.

The simplest reason is this: Even though Line 3 represents an investment in climate-changing carbon fuel, and even though pipeline spills can cause major environmental damage, pipelines are widely regarded as cheaper and safer than the other methods of transporting crude: trucks or trains. Besides, the reasoning goes, even if the goal is to end use of gasoline in the future, we still need it today.

A number of environmental groups have opposed the project, and even the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which traditionally focuses on bringing awareness of anti-Muslim acts, is planning to join the protest Wednesday.

These wider coalitions increase the chances of the protest drawing thousands of people to set off an already busy end-of-summer week outside the Capitol.

WHY THE SECURITY?

Here's the official line, from Bruce Gordon, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety: "Out of an abundance of caution, the Minnesota State Patrol asked the Department of Administration to add fencing around the Capitol, just as it has for other recent large-scale events. Increased fencing helps the State Patrol protect people and property and doesn't interfere with permitted, peaceful gatherings occurring at the Capitol."

The fact is that the closed roads, concrete-based fencing and garrisons of police — both visible and unseen — stationed around the Capitol is not the tradition in St. Paul.

It was first seen following the widespread civil unrest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in the spring of 2020, and it returned in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and again as the jury deliberated the case against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis cop convicted of murdering Floyd.

To be clear, the current increase in security around the Capitol doesn't appear to be on the scale of the previous high-profile footings. While officers from the State Patrol and Department of Natural Resources have been assigned, on Tuesday there didn't appear to be any plan to station National Guard soldiers and equipment.

The resurrection of the fortified Capitol appears to be a signal of a new normal for Capitol security in Minnesota, and likely other states, when there are large numbers of people expected — and at least a few of them could be willing to go beyond peaceful demonstrations.

Anti-pipeline protesters have a history of civil disobedience. A relatively small but dedicated cadre have often chained themselves to each other or construction equipment and trespassed into pipeline-controlled areas in maneuvers that seek to disrupt construction. Last week, marchers briefly shut down the iconic Lift Bridge in Duluth. (The toppling of a Christopher Columbus statue at the Capitol during George Floyd protests was carried out by an Indian activist but was not directly tied to a pipeline opposition.)

But authorities are concerned with more than just Wednesday's pipeline protest.

In a communication to some Capitol workers this week, the Department of Administration, which oversees state facilities, referred to "a very busy week for events on the Capitol grounds."

Indeed, the calendar for permitted events includes five events scheduled for Saturday. One event sure to draw the gaze of security officials is a "Medical Freedom" rally that is expected to feature anti-mask demonstrators who oppose a range of mandates Walz has implemented at various times during the coronavirus pandemic. Such events often draw some level of the far-right. Saturday also includes a "March for Voting Rights" at 4 p.m., and a cancer-research event scheduled for 7 p.m.