Anti-fracking activists discuss their arrest

The two activists who chained themselves to a gate at the Spectra pipeline project site Thursday morning were released that afternoon from District Court on $1000 personal recognizance pending an August 25th court date. Peter Nightingale, a physics professor from the University of Rhode Island and Dr. Curtis Nordgaard, a pediatrician from Massachusetts left the courthouse in good spirits.

Those tasked with disentangling the activists from the gate they had locked themselves to were for the most part respectful and took care not to harm them, said Nightingale. The point of the action is to call attention to the dangers of fracked gas, and the terrible effect such extraction has on the planet’s climate.

Nordgaard reflected on his privilege, which kept him from facing the worst aspects of his short time in jail and guaranteed his good treatment at the hands of the police.

I spoke with both of them on camera about today’s action: