Judge: Sheriff must stop blocking property used by pipeline foes

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota district judge has issued a temporary restraining ordered against the Hubbard County sheriff, ruling that the county must stop obstructing access to a property used by opponents of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline project.

Winona LaDuke and Tara Houska, two leaders of protests against the oil pipeline, recently sued Hubbard County and Sheriff Cory Aukes for repeatedly blocking a driveway to a home in north-central Minnesota.

The property is one of several camps near the pipeline route used by Line 3 protesters. Aukes says he will appeal the judge’s order and that deputies “are not blocking” the driveway."