Private security allegedly hired by Energy Transfer Partners brought dogs and pepper spray to an area where protesters gathered on Saturday. The Indian reservation in North Dakota is the site of the largest gathering of Native Americans in more than 100 years.
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Demonstrators supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe faced off with private security officers from Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners.
“This demolition is devastating” said Tribal Chairman David Archambault in a press release. FOX News reported that he said, “These grounds are the resting places of our ancestors”. The desecration of these ancient places has already caused the Standing Rock Sioux irreparable harm. “They did this on a holiday weekend, one day after we filed court papers identifying these sacred sites”.
Donnell Preskey, spokeswoman for the Morton County Sheriff’s Office, said no one was arrested after the incident that occurred Saturday, and the sheriff’s department and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating it. Two security K-9s were also taken to veterinarians to be treated for injuries.
During the Saturday protest, at least six people, including a child, are said to have received bites from guard dogs belonging to a private security company at the site, according to tribe spokesperson Steve Sitting Bear.
Preskey said that there were not any law enforcement officials around when the protest broke out.
The crowd dispersed quietly once law enforcement arrived. She mentioned that no arrests were made.
The Army Corps of Engineers granted permits the Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners.The project is estimated to cost $3.8bn and will carry some 500,000 barrels of crude per day from North Dakota to IL, according to NBC News. Our Northwest treaty tribes have sent delegations to Standing Rock.
“They were able to stop the pipeline by giving them the run over the next ridge”, said George Henry, a bystander.
The DAPL crosses several states, including not only North Dakota, but also South Dakota, Iowa, and IL.
“We urge all protesters to participate only in peaceful and lawful activities”, Dalrymple said.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is anxious that the DAPL will disturb or potentially destroy sacred sites and might negatively impact drinking water for both thousands of tribe members and millions of others downstream.
Court documents by tribal officer Tim Mentz confirm that burial rock piles and historical artifacts have been found on the site.
“I wasn’t expecting them to mace, it came out of nowhere”, one protester said. “According to numerous witnesses within five minutes the crowd of protestors, estimated to be a few hundred people became violent”.
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The line is planned to go under the Missouri River, threatening the only water source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal land.
