According to tribal preservation officer Tim Mentz, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe did not know about the sites until recently, when it was allowed, as reported in court documents, for private land located north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation to be surveyed.
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ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty ImagesNative American protestors and their supporters are confronted by security during a demonstration against work being done for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) oil pipeline, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, September 3, 2016.
Some protesters allege that the dogs belonged to the very police force deployed to ensure the situation remained peaceful and no one got hurt. “The unity developing in the face of it is palpable”.
There was no law enforcement presence during the violence and when they did show up nobody was arrested.
The site is called the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.
Those involved in the opposition movement have spent months attempting to block construction of the 1,172-mile pipe claiming the environmental threats it poses have been ignored.
Protests are becoming increasingly heated in North Dakota between activists and workers moving forward on the $3.8 billion dollar oil pipeline construction.
Protesters fear the construction will disturb sacred sites and contaminate drinking water for the tribe and millions more and a pipeline leak would be an ecological disaster.
The pipeline would deliver 400,000 barrels per day of oil from the Bakken region to an existing pipeline in IL, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, adding that the Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of the project, says that Native American tribes had plenty of time to raise their concerns during a lengthy review process.
According to Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeir, the event looked like a riot, not a protest.
Lendman said it was not surprising that the bullies were using their media access to appear as the victims and go after the people who were peacefully protecting their rights.
Preskey said that there were not any law enforcement officials around when the protest broke out.
“Regardless of the court’s decision, the Dakota Access pipeline must be stopped”, he said. He said that when construction crews were working “it was peaceful at first until they started spraying us with mace”. Guards can be seen with dogs going after some of the protesters before the crowd eventually seemed to drive them off. Her full report can be viewed below.
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“I am calling on all members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to avoid traveling to or doing business in the Mandan-Bismarck area until this crisis is resolved”, Frazier said.
