Morton County, North Dakota, officials said Tuesday that local prosecutors are preparing charges against Stein after she joined about 200 people demonstrating against the Dakota Access pipeline.
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The AP reports that Stein spray painted the words, “I approve this message” in red paint, while Baraka painted the word “decolonization” on a piece of bulldozing equipment.
Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka are accused of “spray-painting construction equipment during a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline”, reported The Associated Press.
The tribe contends that the pipeline, which would snake through North Dakota and three other states, would endanger its drinking water, and destroy historic and sacred sites.
Although no one’s been arrested, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said the case is ongoing.
Jill Stein announces that she will seek the Green Party’s presidential nomination, at the National Press Club, June 23, 2015 in Washington, DC.
More than 1,000 people, including families and children, are gathered at the Dakota Access pipeline protest site in North Dakota.
Hasselman said Tuesday that the tribe was “disappointed that some of the important sacred sites that we had found and provided evidence for will not be protected”.
A federal judge approved a temporary halt on construction on some of the pipeline, according to ABC News. The pipeline has been controversial, prompting large protests from Native American tribes, who say it will traverse sacred lands pose environmental risks.
In a statement Wednesday, Stein stood by her actions at the protest, calling the pipeline “another deadly blow to a climate teetering on the brink”.
Stein spent the day campaigning in Chicago, calling herself the better alternative to two unpopular major party candidates. Kirchmeier said protesters chased away some private security officers who were on site before jumping onto equipment and vandalizing it with graffiti.
Although at least 43 states will include Stein on their ballots, her poll numbers have hovered in the single digits, far below the 15 percent threshold needed to participate in the upcoming debates.
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Energy Transfer Crude Oil Company, LLC, the company contracted to complete the pipeline, issued a statement about protests that took place over the weekend: “What has been represented over the past several weeks as a peaceful protest is simply not the case”.
