There is something about eco-terrorism and pipelines that seems to get public broadcasting excited. The latest installment in this series came on Thursday’s Amanpour and Company on PBS as actress and far-left activist Jane Fonda lamented to host Christiane Amanpour that people who used IEDs at a North Dakota pipeline protest have been “called domestic terrorists.” Of course, neither Fonda nor Amanpour found such information relevant.
Amanpour led Fonda by lamenting there is no great counterculture movement like there was when Fonda was younger, “What do you think, as an activist and a counterculture member of the '60s, while you were being a great actress as well, you were also right in the middle of the counterculture. There doesn't seem to be an evolved counterculture in the West anymore. The '60s, whether it was in Paris when you were living in France, whether it was in the United States, all over, it was somehow people responding to what was happening to threaten their freedoms. Why—?”
Apparently, being countercultural means posing with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft crew. Fonda, who thinks joking about murdering people for their political beliefs is hilarious, replied, “Well, right now, if—you know, the counterculture, it's not like it was in the '60s, because this is—the needs are different right now. But we can't allow the people who are kind of counter to be called domestic terrorists. Greenpeace was just—they were sued at a trial in North Dakota. They were sued, and now they have to figure out what to do about it. $660 million, it's called a SLAPP suit. It's using Greenpeace as an example to silence public protest. We can't allow this to happen. We just have to fight it.”
Back in 2017, project executive for the Dakota Access Pipeline and Executive Vice President of Energy Transfer Partners Joey Mahmoud told Congress that:
Protestors assaulted numerous pipeline personnel, one of whom required hospitalization. Millions of dollars in construction equipment was destroyed. Two publicly owned vehicles were burned and a pistol was fired at law enforcement personnel. The makings of improvised explosive devices were found at a bridge crossing, one of which exploded causing a protestor to lose her arm. Local ranchers reported incidences of stolen cattle, buffalo, fuel, and farm equipment. As of February 9, over 660 protestors have been arrested for arson, criminal trespass, interference with law enforcement personnel, and in one case, attempted murder. Fewer than 6% of those arrested are from North Dakota.
A year earlier, the North Dakota governor’s office also referenced gunshots, IEDs, and killed livestock.
Despite the fact that Fonda was ostensibly on to promote the idea that free speech is under attack, for some reason, Amanpour’s “truthful, not neutral” side did not emerge after Fonda’s omission of shooters, bomb makers, and killed cattle. Instead, she detoured into remembering the life of Robert Redford.
Here is a transcript for the October 2 show:
PBS Amanpour and Company
10/2/2025
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: What do you think, as an activist and a counterculture member of the '60s, while you were being a great actress as well, you were also right in the middle of the counterculture. There doesn't seem to be an evolved counterculture in the West anymore. The '60s, whether it was in Paris when you were living in France, whether it was in the United States, all over, it was somehow people responding to what was happening to threaten their freedoms. Why—?
JANE FONDA: Well, right now, if — you know, the counterculture, it's not like it was in the '60s, because this is — the needs are different right now. But we can't allow the people who are kind of counter to be called domestic terrorists. Greenpeace was just — they were sued at a trial in North Dakota. They were sued, and now they have to figure out what to do about it. $660 million, it's called a SLAPP suit. It's using Greenpeace as an example to silence public protest. We can't allow this to happen. We just have to fight it.
