MOUNT VERNON – Fossil fuel protesters arrested during the Break Free PNW event last month made their first appearances Thursday in Skagit County District Court.
Criminal charges were filed against 52 people who on the first night of the three-day event walked onto BNSF Railway tracks that lead to the Tesoro and Shell oil refineries at March Point and remained there for about two days, when law enforcement moved in and cleared them out.
Those arrested appeared in court Thursday for preliminary hearings where a judge informed them of the charge or charges they face and asked whether they would hire their own lawyer or have one appointed for them at public expense. Formal pleas will be entered and trial dates set at a later date.
Lawyers from the Skagit County Public Defender’s Office assisted protesters during their hearings.
Keith Tyne, the office’s director, said he expects his office will represent a number of those who appeared in court Thursday.
The 52 protesters were each charged with second-degree criminal trespass, and one was also charged with resisting arrest.
The offenses are misdemeanors, which carry the possibility of a maximum of 90 days in jail or a court fine not to exceed $1,000, according to state law.
Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney Rich Weyrich said no additional charges have been filed against the protesters following their May 15 arrests. None of those arrested was booked into jail.
Ahmed Gaya, a Break Free PNW organizer, was among the protesters in court Thursday.
Gaya, in a statement, defended the actions of those who participated in the railway blockade. He accused BNSF of “illegally sending oil trains” through land owned by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and said the Shell and Tesoro companies “are violating our constitutional rights to the public trust of clean air, water” and a habitable planet.
“These companies are the real criminals,” Gaya said. “Grandmothers, students and people of faith from across the Northwest took action to defend our rights and enforce the laws government won’t.”
Debby McGee, a co-founder of 350 Eugene, one of the groups that participated in the protest, said she and many of the others now charged with criminal offenses were consulting with lawyers and deciding whether they will take their cases to trial.
In an interview Thursday before her court appearance, McGee spoke of the motivating drive behind the Break Free event – a call for a full transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources – as “the justice movement of our time.”
She said she felt that as a mother and a lifelong public school educator, she felt “morally compelled to do everything I can to bring about a just transition.”
“Our government is knowingly implementing policies and actions that are putting our basic life support systems at risk,” McGee said.
Break Free PNW was part of a campaign launched by the nonprofit 350.org in 2015. The March Point event, which ran May 13-15, was one of several occurring throughout the U.S. and the world.
No other arrests were made during the event, which included several marches and other actions in and around March Point.
Officials at the Shell and Tesoro refineries said operations at the facilities continued uninterrupted during the event.
