An oil pipeline protest in North Dakota turned violent on Saturday, as private contractors reportedly used dogs and pepper spray against demonstrators who say the construction project will desecrate sacred lands and damage the environment.
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Tim Mentz, a tribal preservation officer, said the tribe was only recently allowed to survey private lands north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Standing Rock Sioux tribe spokesperson Steve Sitting Bear also told the Associated Pressthat a young child had been bitten, and 30 people were pepper sprayed.
Preskey said the sheriff’s department isn’t planning to send additional officers to the construction site after what happened Saturday, but they will go out there if similar incidents were to arise. She says the crowd disbursed when officers arrived and no one was arrested.
On Saturday, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe condemned the construction of “sacred places containing ancient burial sites, places of prayer and other significant cultural artifacts of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe” by Energy Transfer Partners.
Archaumbault says that Dakota Access Pipeline workers continued construction during the early morning hours on Sunday.
His contemporaries say he’s the right person at the right time to lead the fight.
“I join with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the many tribal nations fighting this unsafe pipeline”.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg will rule by Friday on an injunction to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline as requested by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Citing the safety and security of law enforcement, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said that the number of protesters made it “unsafe for officers to directly respond until further officers were able to respond”. “This was more like a riot than a protest”.
The pipeline would transport approximately 470,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil per day across the country to IL.
Since the beginning, Archambault said his message has been about non-violence and promoting peace. The desecration of these ancient places has already caused the Standing Rock Sioux irreparable harm.
Hundreds of protesters confronted a bulldozer crew in an area known as Cannon Ball, amid the vast grasslands of the northern USA state. “In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground”.
According to the Bismarck Tribune, Governor Jack Dalrymple’s office issued a statement telling protesters to participate in activities in a peaceful and lawful manner.
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“Regardless of the court’s decision, the Dakota Access pipeline must be stopped”, he said.
