Members of House seek information on prosecution for energy infrastructure attacks
More than 80 members of the U.S. House sent a letter Monday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, requesting information on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) actions related to prosecuting individuals involved in criminal activity against energy infrastructure.
The letter asks whether federal statutes sufficiently allow the DOJ to prosecute criminal activity against energy infrastructure and if the DOJ has and will federally prosecute individuals who participate in this kind of illegal activity.
The letter comes after attacks by environmental activists on pipeline infrastructure around the country, a news release from Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who signed the letter, said. The release noted an attempted attack on pipeline infrastructure in October 2016 coordinated by several activists and attacks on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“Environmental activists who choose to use violence against our nation’s energy infrastructure and the men and women who work in the energy industry should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Buck said. “While I will continue to support their right to protest policies they disagree with, we need to send a strong message to those who destroy property that such dangerous behavior will not be tolerated by the communities who live around and rely on this energy infrastructure.”
