Sen. Paul Utke | Minnesota Senate Republicans
Sen. Paul Utke | Minnesota Senate Republicans
After a Marcell-based logging company filed a lawsuit seeking damages and an injunction against individuals who vandalized equipment on a worksite in February 2019, Sen. Paul J. Utke issued a statement, condemning the actions of individuals he calls “eco-terrorists.”
The lawsuit, filed in late January, seeks damages and an injunction that would prohibit named defendant Shawn Etsitty and others from engaging in this type of behavior. In the 2019 event, Etsitty and others are accused of harassing employees of Scheff Logging and Trucking Inc., on a worksite near Cloquett, and vandalized equipment as other protests happened elsewhere in the state.
Utke called the actions of so-called eco-terrorists a sign that legislation he wrote in the last session, the “Worker Safety and Energy Security Act,” should be passed.
That bill would increase penalties for the individuals who train and finance these acts along with the individuals who criminally trespass and damage both property and Minnesota’s critical infrastructure, Utke said in a prepared statement.
“This legislation will help clarify the boundary of free speech, curtail these dangerous actions, stop terrorism, and protect all parties involved from the loss of life or property," he said.
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