Talk about so-called unbiased journalism, two reporters working for the New York Times were handcuffed and arrested for trying to blockade construction of the TransCanada pipeline in East Texas. 'Occupy TransCanada' appears to be nothing more than a publicity stunt by the New York Times to boost its dwindling readership.

Organizers of the ‘Occupy TransCanada’ movement have emailed the Dallas Blog to express their delight in recruiting New York Times reporters to support their ‘Tar Sands Blockade Media Team.’ They hope the reporters will join them by climbing trees to protest against TransCanada as well.

Here’s a copy-and-paste of their press release:

Howdy Neighbor,

Two journalists working for the New York Times were handcuffed,
detained and then turned away from private property by local law
enforcement employed as private security guards for multinational
pipeline corporation TransCanada. The journalists reporting on the
first tree blockade in Texas history, now in its third week of
sustained resistance to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, were
grabbed by police, physically restrained, and prevented from
approaching the blockade site or making contact with protesters. These
repressive actions took place on private property, indicating that
TransCanada is employing a private police force to actively patrol
beyond the boundaries of the Keystone XL easement without landowner
permission.

A Times spokesperson released a statement saying, “While reporting a
story on how protestors in East Texas are trying to stop the Keystone
XL pipeline from being built, [a Times reporter] and a Times
photographer were detained yesterday by local police and a TransCanada
security guard; they were told for trespassing.  They identified
themselves as media and were released but told they needed to leave
the private property where they had positioned themselves (with the
permission of the landowner). They complied.”

These events mark the latest in a series in which journalists and the
Constitutional ideal of a free press suffer the same disrespect and
abuse that TransCanada has shown to families along the Keystone XL
pipeline route for years. Reports have included open threats of arrest
on private property, the confiscation of cameras and video equipment,
and arrests of by-standers on public right of ways.

Tar Sands Blockade is a coalition of Texas and Oklahoma landowners and
climate justice organizers using peaceful and sustained civil
disobedience to stop the construction of TransCanada's Keystone XL tar
sands pipeline.


Press Contact:
Ron Seifert, 843-814-2796, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ramsey Sprague, 682-556-0553, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it


Cheers,

Tar Sands Blockade Media Team
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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