Coloradoans to spend Thanksgiving at Standing Rock protest

Michael Basillas, who said he was friends with Wilansky, posted a video to Facebook late Monday saying after she was injured she was air lifted to County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where she underwent a round of surgery.

Wilansky’s father told reporters his daughter saw a grenade being thrown by law enforcement, which ultimately injured the young woman.

A media release from Standing Rock says they are praying for Sophia Wilansky and her family after she sustained injuries to her arm.

Kirchmeier said officers reported that there was an explosion in the area, but said they only used pepper spray and water hoses. The work is delayed while the Corps consults with the Standing Rock Sioux, who oppose the project. Protest organizers said at least 17 protesters were taken to the hospital and that some were treated for hypothermia.

“She was air lifted to County Medical Center in Minneapolis were she’s now undergoing extensive, hours-long surgery from injuries sustained from the blast”, said a GoFundMe page raising money for her medical costs.

Powell raised more than $4000 through an online fundraiser. “If she maintains her arm, she will have very minor function”. Both her radial and ulnar artery were completely destroyed. Sophia Wilansky locked herself to a piece of heavy machinery in that action, forcing Williston firefighters to cut her free and leading to her arrest.

Wilansky noted his daughter, who might need as many as 20 surgeries to fix her forearm, still remained focused on the pipeline fight. She will be, every day for the foreseeable future, fearful of losing her arm and hand.

Also, he said his daughter told him authorities fired the grenade at her forearm and she was hit by 14 rubber-coated bullets. “I died a thousand deaths today and will continue to do so for quite some time”.

“She’s going to have to undergo many surgeries”, said Wayne Wilansky.

The pipeline would carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in IL.

How did Dakota Access become world’s largest pipeline protest? Activists have destroyed construction equipment as part of their protests.

What’s known as the Backwater Bridge on state Highway 1806 has been shut down for weeks because authorities say it might be unsafe due to earlier fires set by protesters. However, the Morton County Sheriff’s Office said concussion grenades were not used, nor were devices that produce a flash or loud sound. “Given what we are now fighting against, Thanksgiving is not really a celebration for us”, Dallas Goldtooth, a Native American activist on the ground in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, told ABC News today. Some activists spent today demonstrating against the pipeline in Mandan, North Dakota, but tonight they are coming together for an “Appreciation Dinner” served by actress Jane Fonda and others.

“We can see that when a pipeline was rerouted because the people in Bismark didn’t want it, but it was rerouted through their reservation, and when they say they don’t want it and they’re ignored, I will leave you to decide what that means”, said Nic McCarthy.