Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe launched a campaign against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in Cannon Ball after tribal leaders alleged the construction project has destroyed several Native American cultural sites and burial grounds.
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Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, S.D., said that many of his tribal members were pepper sprayed by the security officers and attacked by dogs.
Archambault said at least a half-dozen people were maced and pepper sprayed and several people were bitten by the security guards’ dogs – one woman bitten on her breast – after protesters entered the construction zone.
There were no law enforcement personnel at the site when the incident occurred, Preskey said.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe claims the crew dug up and destroyed sacred burial grounds, places of prayer and other cultural artefacts – even after the pipeline developer had voluntarily paused construction in the disputed area less than a mile (1.6 kilometer) from the tribe’s reservation.
Protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota turned violent on Saturday.
His contemporaries say he’s the right person at the right time to lead the fight.
Showing their support for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s ongoing battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, a group of 30 or so people held a protest in Memorial Park Sunday.
The pipeline would transport approximately 470,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil per day across the country to IL.
“They did this on a holiday weekend, one day after we filed court papers identifying these sacred sites”, Archambault added. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings can not be replaced.
A White House petition appealing to the administration of President Barack Obama to stop the pipeline’s construction has over 89,000 signatures, shy of the 100,000 needed in order to garner an official response.
A statement from the local Morton County Sheriff’s Department said protesters “broke down a wire fence” and marched onto private land where the bulldozers were operating, National Public Radio reported. “That’s just wrong”, said Jan Hasselman, attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux.
Protesters say Dakota Access security officers released tear gas and attack dogs on protesters in the construction site.
Morton County Sheriff, Kyle Kirchmeier described what occurred as a “riot”. It’s a few miles away from where the pipeline would cross the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Reservation.
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“We urge all protesters to participate only in peaceful and lawful activities”, Dalrymple said. But Dakota Access Pipeline used evidence submitted to the Court as their roadmap for what to bulldoze.
