WPLC was born out of a need for mass defense of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Water Protectors who were criminalized by the state and federal authorities for peaceful protest and standing against the Dakota Access Pipeline in order to protect the Water and the Earth. Today, WPLC continues this work by centering work on behalf of political prisoners, SLAPP defense, and other forms of defense work, as well as strategic litigation and impact litigation.
We stand with our relatives and work to protect them the way they have protected all of us.
We are not free until all are free.
#NoDAPL Political Prisoners
Those who faced federal charges are all Indigenous people.
The NoDAPL Political Prisoner Support Committee members consist of sentenced federal defendants/Water Protectors Michael Little Feather Giron, Michael Rattler Markus, RedFawn Fallis, Dion Ortiz, and James Angry Bird White, along with their family members and members from their legal teams.
We work to ensure Angry Bird, Dion, RedFawn, Little Feather, and Rattler hold the reins to coordinating their own support while facing court, imprisonment, and probation; we aid them to keep direct connection to the outside while incarcerated; we continue to provide legal support and advocacy through the coming years while enduring incarceration in prison, halfway houses and probation; we enable their work and prayer as protectors to continue within prison walls; we focus on advocating and informing the public about the reality of their political imprisonment so their sacrifices are not made in vain.
For more info on the Water Protector political prisoners check out the collaborative website www.nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org. This is the official and only collaborative support committee for the NoDAPL political prisoners.
Leonard Peltier
"Leonard Peltier’s continued incarceration remains heavy in the hearts and minds of Indigenous Peoples of the world, who too often fail to find justice in the law. Our relative has spent nearly five decades behind bars. We will continue to support him until he is free. The time for freedom is now.”
Natali Segovia (Quechua), WPLC Executive Director
Elder Leonard Peltier, a 79-year-old Citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and of Lakota/Dakota descent, is the longest-serving political prisoner in United States history. Leonard Peltier was one of the original leaders of the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM is a prominent Indigenous civil rights organization founded in 1968. AIM played a pivotal role in raising awareness about issues like land rights, cultural preservation, and social justice.
Protect Protectors:
Steven Donziger
Steven Donziger, the environmental and human rights lawyer who won a $9.5 billion settlement against Chevron over oil dumped in Indigenous lands in the Amazon rainforest. The courts in Ecuador had found Chevron guilty of one of the worst environmental crimes in history—deliberately dumping 16 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into Indigenous territories in the Amazon. Ordered by those courts to pay $9.5 billion, Chevron sold its assets and fled the country. By evading court judgments, Chevron has yet to pay even one penny to the 30,000 people it poisoned. WPLC serves on Steven's Appellate team.
Jessica Reznicek
In 2016, Jessica Reznicek took action to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) by dismantling construction equipment and pipeline valves. In 2021, she was sentenced to 8 years in prison with a domestic terrorism enhancement. Under normal conditions, Jess would have been sentenced to 37 months, but the terrorism enhancement resulted in a sentence of 96 months. NLG and WPLC filed a joint amicus brief in support of Water Protector, Jessica Reznicek.
Support Jessica at supportjessicareznicek.com.
