A number of actions have taken place recently against the NAFTA Superhighway I-69, a Corridor of the Future:
June 23; Kalamazoo, MI: Protesters bearing drums and whistles paraded through the offices of DLZ Corporation, an engineering firm involved in I-69 construction and planning.
June 24; Hicksville, NY: An office of HNTB at 40 Commerce Pl. was found to have its windows and front door covered in paint, with messages spray-painted all over the front and sides: “Deal with I-69, Deal with Us.” The locks on the front and back doors were glued shut. The windows could not be cleaned, as the paint was etched into the glass.
On the morning of Tuesday June 24, employees of HNTB arrived at their Hicksville, NY office to find the building defaced with spray paint. DEAL WITH I-69 DEAL WITH US was written across the front of the building. When they went to the front door, the lock was glued and the door was covered in paint. They walked around to the back and the back doors were glued too. Other slogans were painted on the sides of the building and all the windows were covered in paint. They called the locksmith to break in for them and then called the cleaning people. The cleaning crew told them there was nothing they could do about the windows, the paint was etched into the glass.
June 24; Evansville, IN: The River City Animal Defense league visited an office of Bernardin-Lockmueller and Associates (BLA), the company responsible for planning the entire route of I-69. Denied entrance to the building, the protesters banged on windows and shouted through an intercom, and a window on the building was smashed. The group released a communique with this message to BLA:
“We know you’ve been targeted in the past, but since construction has recently begun- expect more chaos and aggression directed at your company and the workers that make what you do possible. Next
time maybe we’ll pay your homes a visit,because we know where you live and we know what you do…. Let this be a call for others to take action against this highway which not only effects Indiana, but the entire continents of North, Central, and South America. Those of us who have the privilege of being North
American must use our privilege to fight for a world where the Global South is no longer exploited by capitalism.”
June 25; Haubstadt, IN: Protesters shut down a work yard of Gohmann Asphalt and Construction — the company building the first 1.77 miles of Interstate 69 north of Evansville — for 3.5 hours. One person stopped a truck exiting the site, giving others time to let the air out of the vehicles tires then lock onto it both below and above. They were soon joined by a crowd chanting and holding signs.
One person was arrested for allegedly letting the air out of the tires, but the other protesters negotiated with police to be released without being arrested or even identified.
Now is the time to decisively stop I-69! Contact Roadblock Earth First! to join the struggle today!
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
