Protests Escalate Over Dakota Access Pipeline

“We are deeply saddened that despite the millions of Americans and allies around the world who are standing with us at Standing Rock, a single corporate bully – backed by USA government taxpayer dollars through a militarized law enforcement – continue [s] to be sanctioned by aggressive, unlawful acts”.

In contrast, Dallas Goldtooth, who represents the Indigenous Environmental Network, claimed the use of a water cannon was an excess. He said 17 individuals were sent to hospital to be treated for injuries and, in some cases, hypothermia.

Kirchmeier said local law enforcement has begun getting federal aid in the form of Customs and Border Patrol officers.

Morton County Sheriff’s spokesman Rob Keller denied that water cannons had been used on protesters.

“Officers on the scene are describing protesters’ actions as very aggressive”, the sheriff’s statement read. In that fiery protest, 139 people were arrested on felony charges and demonstrators were forced back. More than 100 people were arrested.

The Dakota Access pipeline poses are reported threat to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, their sacred lands, and the cleanliness of the water.

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

They also worry that construction could threaten sacred sites.

Knudsen said ambulances from Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Kidder and Morton counties were present. Washington tribes have rallied to the cause of Standing Rock even as they fight their own fossil fuel battles back home.

Daniel Kanahele, 64, a native Hawaiian, said he was hit with tear gas, water spray and a rubber bullet in a leg, and “it took me off my feet”.

It took six tries to attach and pull the vehicle, during which time law enforcement told them to stop. “For a lot of us it is just a continuation of 500 years of resistance against colonization and state oppression where we are merely doing what our ancestors did”. There were a lot of people getting hurt.

Tar Houska, an activist from Honor the Earth, told media that over 200 people had been pepper sprayed, tear gassed and doused with water cannon, saying, “They’re using everything and anything”. “We are not sure if it was tear gas or something”.

That barricade was erected after police and troopers from several states and counties pushed the water protectors out from a camp set up north of the Oceti Sakowin Camp.

“Native people. have been disenfranchised and repeatedly shoved aside for profit”, tribal leaders wrote. “If they want to stick around and continue to do what they’re doing, great, but we’re building the pipeline”.

Completion of the pipeline, which will run 1,172 miles from North Dakota to IL, was delayed in September so federal authorities could re-examine permits required by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Dakota Access pipeline has been built to the edge of the lake and the construction site is protected by recently erected walls.

The Standing Rock Sioux and other groups have demonstrated against the four-state, thousand-mile pipeline for months.

A grainy Facebook Live video from the scene shows throngs of people gathered around the Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806, with flood lights shining down on the grass and road below and a haze of smoke and water vapor rising near police vehicles.