A North Dakota jury has found Greenpeace liable for defamation, ordering it to pay more than $660m (£507m) in damages to an oil company for the environmental group’s role in one of the largest anti-fossil fuel protests in US history. Texas-based Energy Transfer also accused Greenpeace of trespass, nuisance and civil conspiracy over the demonstrations nearly a decade ago against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The lawsuit, filed in state court, argued that Greenpeace was behind an “unlawful and violent scheme to cause financial harm to Energy Transfer”. Greenpeace, which vowed to appeal, said last month it could be forced into bankruptcy because of the case, ending over 50 years of activism. Protests against the pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation drew thousands, but Greenpeace argued it did not lead the demonstration and that the lawsuit threatened free speech. The nine-person jury reached a verdict on Wednesday after about two days of deliberating.
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