Dem House candidate's 2013 arrest resurfaces in pivotal race for control of Congress
A far-left candidate running for the House of Representatives in Michigan was arrested for resisting police during a 2013 protest.
William Lawrence, co-founder of the progressive Sunrise Movement, is challenging Rep.
Tom Barrett, R-Mich., in one of the most closely-watched elections in the country.
With so few congressional seats still expected to be up in the air, a victory there could be decisive for whichever party wins control in November.
Fox News Digital obtained documents that show Lawrence was among a group of people arrested in 2013 during a demonstration against the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline, a 645-mile piece of infrastructure running crude oil and natural gas between Wisconsin and Ontario — with Michigan in between.
SUNRISE MOVEMENT CO-FOUNDER DEFEATS ESTABLISHMENT-BACKED DEMS IN PIVOTAL MICHIGAN RACE He and others chained themselves to machinery in protest of the pipeline, which helps the U.S. meet critical energy needs but has also been a subject of pushback by environmental groups and indigenous tribes whose land the pipeline partially runs through.
The defendants were charged with trespassing, as well as resisting and obstructing a police officer.
The documents stated that Lawrence and three others had to be cut off of the equipment but were then arrested without incident.
DSA CANDIDATE PUSHES FEDERAL AI DATA CENTER MORATORIUM WITH MICHIGAN EARLY VOTING UNDERWAY Lawrence himself previously posted on X, "Defund the Police!" in May 2020.
A tweet the following month called to defund the Lansing, Michigan police, specifically.
Fox News Digital reached out to his campaign about the arrest and his statements on police funding.
He's since addressed the arrest himself on Instagram, however.
He said in a video earlier this year that he "took a stand" against energy company Enbridge, adding, "Was it righteous? Absolutely.
Was it wise? Perhaps not." "The fact is, they were back operating that afternoon, while my collaborators and I faced legal consequences for years," he said.
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