Special Snowflake Update: Dozens Arrested in Washington State Environmental Protest 

Protestors and ‘kayaktivists’ came by land and by sea, camping in tents and floating in canoes.

Dozens of people were arrested in Washington state on Sunday, two days after protesters set up a blockade on railroad tracks leading to a pair of oil refineries as part of a global protest over dependence on fossil fuels, authorities said.

The protesters, camping out on BNSF Railway BNI tracks at Anacortes, Washington, about 70 miles (113 km) north of Seattle,refused police orders to disperse, said Katie McCulloch, a spokesman for the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management.

All of the 52 protesters under arrest were charged with trespassing, while one person was also charged with resisting arrest, according a statement on the department’s website. No injuries were reported.

[Read the full story here, at Fortune]

Billed as Break Free 2016, the protests on six continents are part of a 12-day campaign to call attention to climate change and to demand a transition to clean energy, according to the organization’s website.

“Break Free is about pressuring the system so we get the change we need, but it’s also about imagining an alternative,” said Ahmed Gaya, an organizer for Break Free Pacific Northwest.

About 150 people began demonstrating on Friday night in Anacortes on tracks leading to Tesoro TSO 2.13% and Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A 2.76% refineries. Tesoro spokeswoman Destin Singleton said operations at the refinery were not affected.

The protesters had about 40 tents on the rail property, said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas. The rail line was shut down during the protests…(read more)

Source: Fortune