Greenpeace says a pipeline company's lawsuit threatens the organization's future

A Texas pipeline company's lawsuit accusing Greenpeace of defamation, disruptions and attacks during protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline goes to trial in North Dakota on Monday, in a case the environmental advocacy organization says threatens free speech rights and its very future. The lawsuit stems from the protests in 2016 and 2017 over the oil pipeline's planned Missouri River crossing, upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation. Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access allege trespass, nuisance, defamation and other offenses by Netherlands-based Greenpeace International and its American branch, Greenpeace USA.