MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — Environmental group Greenpeace must pay more than $660 million in damages for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline’s construction in North Dakota, a jury found Wednesday.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer and subsidiary Dakota Access had accused Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy and other acts. Greenpeace USA was found liable for all counts, while the others were found liable for some. The damages owed will be spread out in different amounts over the three entities.
Greenpeace said earlier that a large award to the pipeline company would threaten to bankrupt the organization. Following the nine-person jury’s verdict, Greenpeace’s senior legal adviser said the group’s work “is never going to stop.”
“That’s the really important message today, and we’re just walking out and we’re going to get together and figure out what our next steps are,” Deepa Padmanabha told reporters outside the courthouse.
The organization later said it plans to appeal the decision.
“The fight against Big Oil is not over today," Greenpeace International General Counsel Kristin Casper said. "We know that the law and the truth are on our side.”
She said the group will see Energy Transfer in court in July in Amsterdam in an anti-intimidation lawsuit filed there last month.
The damages total nearly $666.9 million. The jury found Greenpeace USA must pay the bulk of the damages, nearly $404 million, while Greenpeace Fund Inc. and Greenpeace International would each pay roughly $131 million.
Energy Transfer called Wednesday's verdict a “win” for “Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law.”
“While we are pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us, this win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace,” the company said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The company previously said the state court lawsuit was about Greenpeace not following the law, not free speech.
In a statement, Energy Transfer attorney Trey Cox said, “This verdict clearly conveys that when this right to peacefully protest is abused in a lawless and exploitative manner, such actions will be held accountable.”
The case reaches back to protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access Pipeline and its Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. For years the tribe has opposed the line as a risk to its water supply.
The multistate pipeline transports about 5% of the United States’ daily oil production. It started transporting oil in mid-2017.
Cox had said Greenpeace carried out a scheme to stop the pipeline’s construction. During opening statements, he alleged Greenpeace paid outsiders to come into the area and protest, sent blockade supplies, organized or led protester trainings, and made untrue statements about the project to stop it.
Attorneys for the Greenpeace entities had said there was no evidence to the claims and that Greenpeace employees had little or no involvement in the protests and the organizations had nothing to do with Energy Transfer’s delays in construction or refinancing.
Greenpeace representatives talk with reporters on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, outside the Morton County Courthouse in Mandan, N.D. From left are Greenpeace USA Interim Executive Director Sushma Raman, Greenpeace USA Senior Legal Adviser Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace International General Counsel Kristin Casper, Greenpeace USA attorney Everett Jack Jr., Greenpeace Fund Inc. attorney Matt Kelly and Greenpeace USA Associate General Counsel Jay Meisel. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rwanda-backed rebels battling Congo's army have pushed into a strategic, mineral-rich town in the east, ignoring calls for a ceasefire this week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents as the M23 rebel group expands its footprint in the conflict-torn African country.
The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February.
The latest escalation came after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda held unexpected talks in Qatar on Wednesday and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
The meeting followed a failed attempt to bring Congo’s government and M23 leaders together for ceasefire negotiations on Tuesday, with the rebels pulling out after the European Union announced sanctions on rebel leaders.
The rebels entered the town of Walikale late on Wednesday, according to residents and civil society leaders. Taking Walikale would give them control of a road linking four provinces in eastern Congo — North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Maniema — and effectively cutting off Congolese army positions.
“The rebels have been seen near the monument and at the Bakusu group office," Prince Kihangi, a former provincial deputy elected for the Walikale territory told The Associated Press over the phone, referring to locations in the town center. He did not elaborate on the sourcing.
Heavy artillery fire could be heard throughout the day but ceased in the evening, giving way to sporadic gunfire, Fiston Misona, a civil society activist in Walikale, told the AP over the phone.
“Our Congolese army is no longer fighting,” he said. “It’s as if we were being sacrificed.”
There was no immediate comment from the M23 or the Congolese government.
The Walikale area is home to the largest tin deposits in Congo and to several significant gold mines. The Bisie tin mine, around 60 kilometers (35 miles) northwest of the town, accounts for the majority of tin exports from North Kivu province. Last week, its operator Alphamin Resources said it was temporarily halting mining operations due to the rebels’ advance.
Speaking on Fox News earlier this week, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said he was open to a deal on critical minerals with the United States, in exchange for the Americans providing security.
“I think that the U.S. is able to use either pressure or sanctions to make sure that armed groups who are in ... (Congo) can be kept at bay,” he said.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.
The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.
The U.N. Human Rights Council last month launched a commission to investigate atrocities, including allegations of rape and killing akin to “summary executions” by both sides.
Doctors Without Borders said its base in Walikale “was caught in the crossfire, with bullets hitting some of our facilities and vehicles” on Wednesday.
Two huge explosions also occurred near the town's general hospital, where medical staff continue to treat around 60 patients. The aid group said it was worried about a "potential influx of wounded in the coming hours and days.”
"In recent days, the town of Walikale had already practically emptied of its population in panic," said the group, also known as MSF after its name in French. “The insecurity in the region in recent weeks has created a climate of fear for the civilian population.”
Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal.
FILE - Former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and police officers who allegedly surrendered to M23 rebels arrive in Goma, Congo, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, file)
