A $300 million trial over Greenpeace’s role in damaging protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) began on Monday, putting the eco-activist group at risk of bankruptcy.
Jury selection begins Monday in the trial that Greenpeace says has the potential to bankrupt the international environmental group. Energy Transfer Partners, the developer of the DAPL, has accused Greenpeace of defamation and inciting damaging sabotage during the pipeline’s construction in 2016 and 2017.
The environmental group has said the lawsuit is a fight over free speech.
“This case is a prime example of corporations abusing the legal system to silence critics and keep their operations secret,” Greenpeace USA interim executive director Sushma Raman said in a statement. “It is also a critical test of the future of the First Amendment – both freedom of speech and peaceful protest – under the Trump…
