Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe fear the construction will also taint the area’s drinking water supply, in addition to concerns about recently discovered sacred sites in the area. State and local law enforcement officials kept telling the media without proof, that the protestors are committing unlawful acts.
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The protesters marched from property on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land to the private property on the west side of Highway 1806.
No one was arrested after the incident that occurred Saturday, and the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating.
CANNON BALL, ND-The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed an emergency motion Sunday for a temporary restraining order to prevent further destruction of the Tribe’s sacred sites by Dakota Access Pipeline. The oil pipeline is scheduled to next “run under the Missouri river”.
An Indian site in North Dakota is the scene of the biggest Native American crowd in over 100 years.
Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donnell Preskey told reporters four security guards not affiliated with law enforcement and two guard dogs were injured as several hundred protesters living in the Standing Rock Sioux reservation confronted pipeline workers at the site. “These grounds are the resting place of our ancestors”. “They did this on a holiday weekend, one day after we filed court papers identifying these sacred sites”.
Tribe leaders have challenged the permits in a federal court, and a judge is expected to decide whether or not the construction can be halted on 9 September.
Three private security guards were reported injured after around 300 protesters entered the worksite Saturday afternoon.
The Bismarck Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2bWbel4 ) North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s office Sunday urged protesters “to participate only in peaceful and lawful activities”.
Harold C. Frazier has called on members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to avoid travelling to main centres in the Mandan-Bismarck area and says he is concerned for their safety.
Demonstrators supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe faced off with private security officers from Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners.
Some protesters allege that the dogs belonged to the very police force deployed to ensure the situation remained peaceful and no one got hurt.
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Amid tensions surrounding an oil pipeline in North Dakota, representatives from more than 200 tribes around the nation came together for a ceremony encouraging non-violent protesting. He continued by saying that numerous witnesses had said the crowd of a few hundred protesters became violent within about five minutes. Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said it “was more like a riot than a protest”.
