(Drew Wrigley, Lieutenant Governor) “There’s no way to lawfully participate in an unlawful protest.”
(Becky Farr, KX News) Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley is referring to protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
He’s been outspoken recently in his opposition to the protesters who he thinks are blurring the lines between fact and spin.
That’s why the Ward County Bar Association asked Wrigley to talk about legal issues regarding the matter.
“We’ll discuss a little bit of the actual facts on the ground as they’ve played out as opposed to how the protestors slash rioters, which is what they are, how they have been pushing their narrative out on social media in particular.”
Even with the last remaining easement denied by the Obama Administration, Wrigley says thousands of demonstrators are still acting illegally.
“There’s a thing that that’s called. It’s terrorism. When you use unlawful means, and force, and threats and assaults and fire bombs.”
Wrigley says the First Amendment does not trump unlawful acts.
(Drew Wrigley, Lieutenant Governor) “It’s important that North Dakota stand up to the fact that you cannot avail yourself of unlawful tactics in attempting to push back and reach a political objective.”
The outgoing Lieutenant Governor says legal matters regarding both the protests and the appeasement of the pipeline construction are completely unheard of – and one of the most incredible law enforcement challenges in North Dakota’s history.
