BATON RED, Louisiana (AP) – A federal ruling has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 3 other people who say they were unlawfully arrested while protesting the structure of a major pipeline in southern Louisiana.
The complaint filed last year through protesters Cynthia Spoon, Sophia Cook-Phillips and Eric Moll, who say they were illegally arrested while on a canoe-kayak on a waterway near the pipeline site in August 2018.
One of the main defendants, Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC, called for the complaint to be dismissed, saying the allegations were ambiguous and did not express enough about the defendant’s role in alleged misconduct. Other defendants come with personal security company HUB Enterprises and the sheriff of the parish of Saint-Martin.
In a resolution dated Tuesday, federal district judge Shelley Dick of Baton Rouge rejected the company’s argument and wrote that “BBP is informed of the allegations made against her. “
Dick also rejected the argument that the prosecution has in particular met the company’s workers who allegedly acted inappropriately.
The lawsuit filed through lawyers from Roderick Justice Center and Solange MacArthur. Other defendants come with more than a dozen sheriff’s agents and state probation and probation officials who, according to the lawsuit, were hired to keep the pipeline safe.
The 162-mile (260-kilometer) Bayou Bridge pipeline began operations in March 2019.