People protesting the construction on a four-state oil pipeline at a site in southern North Dakota gather at campground near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016.
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In the tribe’s emergency motion, the Standing Rock Sioux accuses the developer, Dakota Access Pipeline, of razing areas on private land that the tribe’s cultural expert recently discovered were significant. A tribal spokesman said six people were bitten by dogs, including a child, and that at least 30 people were pepper-sprayed. By Friday, Judge Boasberg said, he will rule on the tribe’s challenge of federal regulators’ decision to grant permits for the pipeline.
Citibank is being targeted because it is one of the financial institutions whose loans have funded the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. If there’s been a lack of consultation, they say, it’s not for lack of trying.
The tribe fears the pipeline will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the reservation and millions farther downstream.
– A federal judge has issued a limited temporary restraining order stopping a small portion of construction on the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota.
On Saturday, private security guards working for DAPL unleashed attack dogs on American Indian water protectors, drawing outrage from people throughout the country and world.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a temporary restraining order on Sunday following the violent altercation on Saturday.
Tuesday, a federal judge ruled Energy Transfer Partners could continue construction work only in certain areas before a hearing next Friday.
A media representative for Dakota Access could not reached for comment.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which approved the project in July, said it does not oppose the temporary halt in construction work, reportedly telling the court that “the public interest would be served by preserving peace”.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is accused of spray painting machinery during a protest of the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, on Tuesday, according to the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota.
Supporter Scott Carr drove up to North Dakota from Tulsa to spend his Labor Day weekend with the Standing Rock Sioux. Boasberg said he expected to issue a full opinion on that lawsuit on September 9.
Demonstrators protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline say if the courts don’t prevent construction, they have another card to play.
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More than 50 tribes have signed letters of support for the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, including Bad River, Red Cliff, Lac Courte Oreilles, Oneida Nation, Lac du Flambeau, Menominee, Ho-Chunk Nation and Sokaogan Mole Lake tribes.
