According to a post on Michigan IMC, on Saturday June 4, 24 people were arrested at the Indianapolis State Capitol protesting plans for the construction of the I69 NAFTA superhighway. Reportedly, at about 2pm, a crowd of 50 people representing several groups joined Roadblock Earth First and converged on the Indianapolis state capitol. After a short time demonstrating, police surrounded and attacked the protesters. One young woman was shot with a Taser, another was pepper-sprayed and suffered an asthma attack. Many were reportedly wrestled to the ground, handcuffed to each other behind their backs and left in the sun for hours without being processed or informed of their charges. Local Massasauga Earth First!ers are among those arrested as were two people from Michigan. According to the IMC post, the police did not issue an order to disperse before arresting people. The people arrested were charged with disorderly conduct while the woman who was shot with the Taser gun was charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
According to the local corporate media, there were anti-I-69 slogans spray painted on the state capitol building. As would be expected, the corporate media focused almost exclusively on this "vandalism", while one of the organizations involved, Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, or CARR, issued a statement Sunday evening denouncing the vandalism and calling for ongoing nonviolent activism against the project. The police noted that many of the protesters were from out of state and claimed, rather preposterously, that they were "'protesters for hire' that likely don't have a specific interest in I-69."
The protest was an educational event meant to kick off a summer of actions and community organizing around the Roadless Summer project, an ongoing campaign to end the proposed I69. I69 is part of a proposed superhighway from Mexico to Canada, cutting through Michigan. Both of the current routes being considered cut through wetlands, forests and family farms. The highway would be built using taxpayers' money, thus forcing citizens to financially support the profit of companies as they destroy natural habitats and family farms. For more on the Roadless Summer project, visit their website at www.roadless-summer.org. For more on the role of highways as a tool of neo-liberal economic development, click here.
