Father of injured pipeline protester says she may lose arm

Authorities say the use of water spray in below-freezing temperatures against Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters was necessary, and they won’t rule out doing it again.

A NY woman who was among several hundred people protesting the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota early Monday had her left arm almost “blown off” during an explosion at the protest site, her father said. According to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, 400 protesters attempted to cross Blackwater Bridge on state Highway 1806 after removing a burned-out truck. The unidentified individual had breached police barriers, Kirchmeier said.

They argue the project poses a threat to their sacred tribal lands and water resources, as reported by Reuters.

Observers from the National Lawyers Guild at the site confirmed that multiple protesters were left unconscious or bleeding and that one Native elder went into cardiac arrest.

The Morton County Sheriff’s Office maintains authorities did not use concussion grenades or any similar devices in dealing with protesters Sunday. The bridge is not far from the encampment where they’ve been for weeks as they demonstrate against the pipeline.

“We’re just not going to let people or protesters in large groups come in and threaten officers”, he said.

“Folks have a right to be on a public road”, Goldtooth said.

“They were met by brutal force, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets in unbelievable amounts, a horrific scene”, said Joseph.

“At around 4:30am a grenade exploded right as it hit Sophia in the left forearm taking most of the undersurface of her left arm with it”. Some of those making the trip are also planning to live in Standing Rock through the winter months.

Organizers of the group calling themselves “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock” are urging other veterans to join them in forming what they are describing as a “peaceful, unarmed militia” at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation for three days, beginning on December 4. Authorities have denied using any weapons that could have caused such damage.

Begay said authorities have been preventing protesters from crossing the bridge to “lock us in”. Police said protesters had hurled rocks, striking one officer, and fired burning logs from slingshots.

But police say some of the protesters were not peaceful and that water was used to put out fires as well as to control the crowds.

Vehicles were burned October 27, and the North Dakota Department of Transportation closed the bridge following the incident.

Activists are seeking to stop the 1,200-mile, four-state pipeline, which is being built to carry oil from western North Dakota to a shipping point in IL, from passing close to a reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux. Construction is almost complete, but a planned segment of the project that crosses under the Missouri River has been a source of contention for months.

Sophia Wilansky is one of thousands of people from around the country who have gone to the Standing Rock reservation to protest the pipeline. The tribe has challenged the project in court, and protesters have camped out near the Missouri River site for months. The decision means pipeline consortium Energy Transfer Partners is delayed in the construction of a $3.7 billion pipeline meant to carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from North Dakota oil fields to IL and then onto the southern USA coast.