NEW ORLEANS — It’s a Louisiana felony that has been heard around the world, shocking even two veteran activists who are protesting a proposed plastics plant in St. James Parish.
Their Thursday arrest was for a felony charge of terrorizing.
It happened in Baton Rouge.
There have been marches, petitions and videos protesting a proposed Formosa Plastics Plant in St. James Parish, but it was a box of plastic pellets left on the doorstep of a Baton Rouge lobbyist that led to the arrest of two environmental activists, including Ann Rolfes.
Rolfes said she was charged with terrorizing, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
“Part of their menu is to intimidate, to harass, to bully, so I was not surprised by the charge,” Rolfes told EyeWitness Investigator Mike Perlstein.
What surprised Rolfes and fellow Bucket Brigade activist Kate McIntosh was the timing. The activists said they left the box at the home of a lobbyist in December.
Director of the ACLU of Louisiana, Alanah Odoms Hebert, was part of an overnight outpouring of support for the activists who were released from a Baton Rouge jail yesterday after posting bail.
“These are trumped-up charges,” Hebert said. “If they wanted to institute charges for this conduct, they could have done so in December. These arrests really represent what we believe to be retaliation for citizens exercising their fundamental First Amendment right to speech and protest.”
Rolfes said she believes the timing of the arrest warrants was no coincidence.
“The timing was really suspicious because last week we had some pretty intense court battles that we won in court against Formosa Plastics,” Hebert said.
While Rolfes and her group won the right in court to hold a Juneteenth rally at the St. James site, she wonders if her arrest will have a chilling effect on future protests, scaring people from taking part in constitutionally protected protests.
In a statement, Formosa said it had nothing to do with the arrests and only heard second-hand about the delivery of the plastic pellets.
Formosa said that it hoped the community ultimately comes together around the multi-billion dollar project.
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