Authorities arrested three people Wednesday morning, September 14, in connection with Dakota Access Pipeline protests and expected to arrest three more who were still attached to construction equipment, a Morton County sheriff’s spokeswoman said.
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“These [the Standing Rock Sioux] are my native brothers and sisters”, said Danielle Hergenrader of Youngstown.
Protests were scheduled throughout the day in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and numerous other cities.
Protests against the pipeline were planned for Tuesday from coast to coast.
Last Friday, a federal judge rejected an attempt by Standing Rock Sioux tribal leaders to halt the pipeline’s construction, only to have the United States government block the undertaking moments later.
The tribe’s effort to temporarily block construction near its reservation was denied by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Friday.
The Texas company that is building the pipeline says construction is nearly 60 percent complete and says concerns about the impact on water are unfounded.
McGarvey said that federal action went back on the typical procedure, which could have a “chilling effect” for future construction and infrastructure projects beyond oil or gas pipelines. But company officials said they would meet with federal administrators to better understand concerns.
In a memo obtained by Common Dreams, Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren wrote that his firm is “committed to completing construction and safely operating the Dakota Access Pipeline within the confines of the law”.
“The chairman of that tribe put out a call to other nations to come join the resistance, saying they are trying to blockade the pipeline”, said Andy Pearson, a coordinator for the environmental activist group MN350, who was marching in St. Paul.
The partnership behind the Dakota pipeline said it’s needed to accommodate and distribute the amount of crude oil being produced from the Bakken shale oil basin in North Dakota.
The announcement came the same day as a planned “day of action” in cities around the USA and in other countries, including the Toronto demonstration.
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But opposition to it is growing louder and more violent by the day.
