Valve Turner Trial

Valve Turner Trial

Shut It Down

-Artist website-

November 21 – November 22
Nov 21 at 9 AM to Nov 22 at 5 PM MST
Chouteau County Courthouse
1308 Franklin St, Fort Benton, Montana

Details
Leonard Higgins, climate activist known as one of the “Valve Turners” is going to trial November 21st, 9am in Fort Beston, Montana.
Leonard faces felony charges with sentences up to ten years for safely shutting down the Spectra Energy’s Express Pipeline on October 11, 2016 and waiting for police to arrive. He was part of the safe coordinated action with other activists who safely closed the valves on 5 pipelines carrying tar sands crude oil into the United States. This act of climate disobedience shut down 15% of US crude oil imports for nearly a day.

Here’s a short video about the action and Leonard.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ClimateDirectAction/videos/?ref=page_internal

The five Valve Turners say their actions are not only necessary, but morally and legally justified to avoid the catastrophic harm caused to humanity by unprecedented climate disruption. Each are taking the “necessity defense” to the courts, asking communities to look at their direct actions as morally imperative. We see their legal process as an opportunity to normalize the necessity of direct action and we hope that local supporters will stand in solidarity at trial to show the courts that Montanans stand for climate direct action. Leonard Higgins’s trial begins November 21st at Choutea County Courthouse in Fort Benton, MT.

Michael Foster and Sam Jessup were just convicted of multiple felonies in North Dakota and are awaiting sentencing in January. Despite the severe outcome, we hold hope that these actions continue to move people to attention and action.

We saw a remarkable recognition of climate catastrophe by jurists at the first of the valve turner trials in Skagit County, WA this year. Many on the jury entered the trial with a strong disbelief in climate change, but during trial were so moved by climate facts and the passion of valve turner Ken Ward, that they became advocates for his innocence, refusing to convict. His first trial resulted in a hung jury on both felony counts, and the second trial ended in a hung jury on one of two counts. We hope for equal revelations by the public, press, and courts in the similarly conservative areas of Montana.

We hope that the valve turner trials will move the public imagination and the courts to embrace direct action as an imperative tactic in forcing recognition of the suffering extractivism wreaks on environments and people.

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