The desperate fight spearheaded by North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against Big Oil to save water and sacred indigenous lands. Known as the largest gathering of indigenous tribes since “Custer’s Last Stand” 140 years ago, native peoples and activists across the world flock to this Peace Garden State to fight the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Standing Rock takes a win, prepares for DAPL response
By C.S. Hagen OCETI SAKOWIN – Rexx Brady rose Sunday morning knowing it was going to be a good day for the fighters against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“It was a spiritual feeling,” Brady, a Cheyenne from Washington State, said. “Calm. I knew something good was going to happen today.”
His first clue was sunshine. After a week of storms and snow, the clouds parted, warming the prairies. Tension lifted, he said. A caravan of cars filled with Veterans for Standing Rock supporters stretched a mile south on Highway 1806. Police barricades disappeared en route to the camps, and Morton County Sheriff’s Department backed away from the militarized zone north of Backwater Bridge.
Activists offering thanks of sage, fir nettles, and tobacco to the sacred fire – photo by C.S. Hagen
“This is what hope looks like, regardless of the color of your skin,” Brady said. “All these prayers are being answered. This is a big turning point for America.”
News on Sunday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of Dakota Access Pipeline, the easement needed to drill across the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, took many by surprise. The Army Corps further stated a full environmental impact statement must be made and a new route must be explored.
DAPL is leaving – photo by C.S. Hagen
“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” Army Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said. The pipeline stretches 1,172 miles to Illinois and is projected to transport as much as 570,000 of crude oil per day, according to the Army Corps. Most, if not all of the oil transported eventually to Texas is for export and not for national consumption, activists and analysts say.
Activists hug each other during celebration of Standing Rock victory – photo by C.S. Hagen
“It’s good news, this is a victory,” attorney Chase Iron Eyes said. He ran for congress in North Dakota this year, and has become active in the DAPL fight since his loss in November. “We were not ready for this, everything here has been so tense, so this comes as a sigh of relief.”
“We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II said.
Archambault further said more peaceful prayer is needed, but hinted that it may be time to return home. Activists on the loud speakers also began talking about how the area of Oceti Sakowin, which is in a floodplain, needed to be cleaned of all debris, tents, tipis, and equipment soon.
“With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families and loved ones, many of whom sacrificed as well,” Archambault said. “We look forward to celebrating in wopila, in thanks, in the coming days.”
As hundreds of veterans with Veterans for Standing Rock slowly caravanned into the camps, Kenny Frost, who works with federal agencies on indigenous training said the day was historically important.
“It would never have happened if the veterans didn’t come here,” Frost said. “First time in history, with 350 tribes together, this is the first time on all our lives for something like this to happen. But more than 500 people have faced a lot of trauma, and right now we just need to move forward and on to a federal level.”
Veterans for Standing Rock before sacred fire – photo by C.S. Hagen
“We’ll take this as a win,” Tom Goldtooth said. Goldooth is the director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “But we are going to wait and see what DAPL does.”
The decision by the Army Corps, while welcome to activists was President Obama’s attempt to secure his legacy before he steps down from office, Goldtooth said. The real fight has only just begun.
Few people are preparing to leave the camps off Highway 1806. After a brief celebration of fireworks, dancing, and singing around the sacred fire, activists resumed their work on sturdier housing. The Cannonball River is quickly freezing, and more snow and lower temperatures are predicted for the week.
John Bolenbaugh, a former oil company employee turned whistleblower after witnessing firsthand oil companies’ tactics behind constructing pipelines and cleaning oil spills, spoke to thousands gathered in an ever-widening circle.
“I’ve wanted to piss them off so much that they killed me, I wanted to be a martyr to start a movement that would bring something like Standing Rock to this world,” Bolenbaugh said. “For some reason God wanted me to stick around. I’ve had many attempts on my life, I’ve had death threats. I’ve been hit over the head. Bullets have been taken out of my wheels from my vehicles, tires have been slashed, brakes cut.
“For some reason, I’m still here. Maybe God wanted me to see this amazing time in history. This is a revolution.”
Bolenbaugh knows the fight isn’t over.
“I don’t believe them when they say they’re going to stop drilling,” Bolenbaugh said. “The National Guard should go and arrest them now.”
Night traffic inside Oceti Sakowin – photo by C.S. Hagen
As the area’s second winter storm in as many weeks hit the camps on Monday, an announcement made by the Lakota People’s Law Project reported DAPL is currently digging under the river. “They are not going to listen to the Army Corps denying the easement. They don’t care about that. They’re still going to go ahead. All the people think this fight is over, but it is not over.
“To get the acknowledgement is noteworthy, however; the fight lingers on.”
Iron eyes and others reiterated the fight is only beginning, and now, more than ever, the camps must not be emptied.
“They are hard to beat,” Iron Eyes said. “This is not the end. The Army Corps denial of the easement means nothing until all law enforcement is gone, until DAPL is gone. Let us strengthen our presence.”
Iron Eyes is further calling for renewed talks with the federal government over treaty rights. “The US has been less than honorable when it comes to the treaties.”
Governor Jack Dalrymple stated last week that all work along the Dakota Access Pipeline has stopped, pending US Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance of an easement. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said Army Corps decision has little to do with his office.
“I have stated from the beginning that the easement is a federal decision and local law enforcement does not have an opinion on it,” Kirchmeier said. “Our role is to enforce the law and that is what we will continue to do.”
Children sledding down Media Hill – photo by C.S. Hagen
North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson said if DAPL begins drilling illegally, he ensures their work will be shut down.
“We are not in DAPL’s corner,” Iverson said. “We absolutely would not allow something unlawful to continue. If that can provide a peace of mind to protesters out there, I am on record right now saying that will not be happening, so without the proper permits and easements, we would not allow that to happen.”
Congressman Kevin Cramer R-ND., called the Obama administration lawless. “Today’s unfortunate decision sends a very chilling response to others who want to build infrastructure in this country. I feel badly for the Corps of Engineers because of the diligent work it did on this project, only to have their Commander-in-Chief throw them under the bus.”
Carvan to Standing Rock, from early morning until late night, the thousands of vehicles streetched for more than a mile – photo by C.S. Hagen
Morton County Chairman Cody Schulz reiterated that the federal government should send financial resources and the necessary troops to deal with the situation outside of Standing Rock, and is placing his hopes in the President-elect Donald J. Trump.
“It appears the federal government let the citizens of Morton County, law enforcement, and protesters suffer for months while making a political decision that is likely to be overturned when the new administration takes office next month,” Schulz said.
“We still don’t have finality.”
Tribal leaders hope the new administration will respect the Army Corps stance, Archambault said. “When it comes to infrastructure development in Indian Country and with respect to treaty lands, we must strive to work together to reach decisions that reflect the multifaceted consideration of the tribes.”
Activists rejoicing at Army Corps news denying DAPL easement – photo by C.S. Hagen
By C.S. Hagen MANDAN – Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear welcomed gifts donated by Oceti Sakowin and International Indigenous Youth Council Friday when the No DAPL activists delivered boxes filled from the department’s winter donation list.
Transparent tote boxes filled with batteries, granola bars, thick socks, trail mix, and hand warmers, were brought to Morton County Sheriff’s Department by Native Americans, including three veterans involved in Iraq Veterans Against the War. Before bringing the gifts inside the department, activists, known as water protectors, spoke and prayed on the public sidewalk.
Activists speaking before bringing winter gifts to Morton County Sheriff’s Department – photo by Chad Nodland
Leonard Crow Dog led the activists in prayers, which were also on the sheriff department’s wish list – at the top.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department – photo by Corey Carson Elevate Studios
“What we’re doing here is offering them this water of life, to show the Morton County Sheriff’s Office, to show the people who believe that we’re here to hurt them that we’re actually here fighting for your rights to clean water, for your rights to clean air,” member of the International Indigenous Youth Council Thomas Lopez said.
“Thank you to the members of the International Indigenous Youth Council who stopped by with gifts and supplies and snacks for our employees,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page, which is now running again. “Your kindness and support is very much appreciated.”
Activists who brought the supplies hoped for a reciprocation of compassion and respect, LZ Amsterdam said.
Activists cheer after speeches are given – photo by Chad Nodland
“They seemed pretty caught off guard,” Amsterdam said. “They wouldn’t let us inside, even though they have asked the public to bring supplies to them. We showed compassion and humanity today and they had the opportunity to do the same, which they did not.”
Morton County Sheriff’s Department welcoming committee – photo by Corey Carson Elevate Sutdios
The gifts were brought two days before the expected arrival of more than 2,500 veterans coming from around the United States and with Veterans for Standing Rock. The veterans en route have promised to show solidarity with Standing Rock, and to surround them in a human shield during any actions that may take place.
“We hold no hatred in our hearts,” Lopez said. “We don’t want to see you hurt. You are our brothers and sisters and we will treat you as such.”
Morton County Sheriff’s Department winter donation list
Chairman says law enforcement and locals are victims, hopes to influence nationwide veterans movement
By C.S. Hagen
FARGO – As thousands of US veterans prepare to converge on Standing Rock, North Dakota Veterans took a step back.
They’re remaining neutral. Their stance nationally is not popular, Chairman of the North Dakota Veterans Coordinating Council Russel Stabler said during a press conference. And they’re adamantly opposed to any North Dakota veteran joining Veterans for Standing Rock movement set to arrive on December 4. The North Dakota Veterans organization also refuses to take a stance on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“The one thing we’ve fought for all our lives is the right for someone to have an opinion, and we do not want to step on anyone’s rights,” Stabler said. “We’re not standing in support of either side, everyone has the right to protest peacefully and not to attack law enforcement,”
Chairman of the North Dakota Veterans Coordinating Council Russel Stabler during press conference – photo by C.S. Hagen
Bolstered with a total membership of approximately 60,000, the North Dakota Veterans organization said DAPL protesters have cost the state USD 10 million, and wreaked millions of dollars in damages to vehicles, equipment, property, and livestock owned by private corporations, citizens, family farms, and government agencies.
“Slaughtering livestock, throwing Molotov cocktails, and assaulting law enforcement officers is not the military manner in which our veterans behave and not the kind of assembly and actions veterans should be a part of,” Stabler said.
North Dakota Stockmen’s Association Executive Vice President Julie Ellingson said several cases involving stolen cows and butchered buffalo are still under investigation, and the agency is still accepting tips, and offering a reward up to USD 14,000 for information that leads to arrest and conviction.
Attorney Chase Iron Eyes, who ran for Congress this year, said media and law enforcement agencies are misinforming many across the state. “They are trying to instill fear, confusion, and doubt,” Iron Eyes said. “We are the new Ghost Dancers, only this time others of all origins are in this vision with us.”
Since the beginning, tribal leaders have called for prayers and peace. More than 130 charges against the 561 arrested have already been dropped by Morton County, according to court records. Some charges have been combined and changed from misdemeanors to felonies; one case has gone federal.
“Natives are peaceful and passive right now because of a very deliberate process of de-arming us, destroying our economy, imposing poverty cultures and values to turn us into begging dependents, forcefully colonizing us via boarding school, spiritual invasion, emasculation, and capturing methods,” Iron Eyes said. “Our natural state as human being is to be liberated; it’s not to be passive. Peace requires action.”
Approximately 2,500 veterans plan to arrive at Standing Rock December 4, according to Michael A. Woods Jr., an organizer for Veterans for Standing Rock. They are coming to take a stand against what they call police militarized aggression. There are thousands more who want to come to Standing Rock, but finances, which have come in the form of donations now exceeding USD 250,000, will limit the numbers, Woods said. The organization’s goal is to reach USD 500,000 in donations.
“If the cops there want to be state sanctioned agents to brutally beat non-violent veterans that have served their country honorably, if they’re going to beat us, then that should be the signal to the rest of the world what our country is doing,” Woods said.
The North Dakota Veterans would prefer out-of-state veterans didn’t come at all, Stabler said.
“We don’t need that many coming, and as we said, putting disrespect on veterans, because as a veteran they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and to fight against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Stabler said. “I for one, and these gentlemen behind me, will not violate that oath.
“We’re hoping to influence them… and everything, and hope that if they do come they will be respectful. If not, we want it understood, these are not North Dakota veterans, and they do not represent the veterans of North Dakota, and we are encouraging all of our people not to go out there.
“Please don’t punish the North Dakota veteran for what someone from outside this state does.”
The Veterans for Standing Rock organization is proud to be standing with Standing Rock. “We are a support mission,” Woods said. “We’re there to protect the water protectors and to get in front of them. We are veterans, we are trained, we have resources, and we will be guided by the locals that know exactly what they’re doing.”
The stand could become a “battle of attrition,” Woods said. As a former police officer, Woods said law enforcement do not want to be out in the cold, and a battle of “who wants it more” could ensue.
“And I think we want it a hell of a lot more than the cops do.”
Logistics for the endeavor are massive, Woods said, but necessary. He is constantly reminding veterans to be respectful toward local culture, native traditions, and to remember that many natives also are veterans. Police, he added, are not to be considered enemies, as the Veterans for Standing Rock should not be considered an enemy of the state. Officers are simply caught up in a system directed by an “oligarchy” that writes their paychecks, and they should understand the organization’s goals.
“Native American people in this country have served at a higher percentage in the United States military than any group in this entire country,” Woods said. “The Navajo saved us through code talking and being able to pass intelligence around. If there was one group in this country that adequately and thoroughly represents the military it is the Native American people.”
Oceti Sakowin – wintry wonderland – photo by Terry Wiklund
The Peace Garden State and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have recently begun a type of modern siege against the camps outside of Standing Rock by first issuing emergency evacuation orders, then announcing anyone supplying Standing Rock with goods or equipment could face up to USD 1,000 in fines. Highway 1806, the main road leading to the camps and Cannonball, has been closed for weeks, increasing trip duration from Mandan by at least 30 minutes.
Both Governor Jack Dalrymple and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Colonel John Henderson later backtracked their statements, saying law enforcement will not be shutting down any additional roads, or hunting out-of-state activists, but anyone left on Army Corps lands after December 5 may still be subject to arrest.
More than 95 percent of the pipeline in North Dakota is finished, Dalrymple said. The only part that remains is the section under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, and which Energy Transfer Partners, Dakota Access Pipeline’s parent company, lacks the easements for. On behalf of Energy Transfer Partners, North Dakota politicians have been increasing the pressure on President Obama’s administration and on the Army Corps for weeks in attempts to obtain the necessary permission.
“National Guard is mobilized, the governor keeps posturing, first responders are filling up Bismarck,” Iron Eyes said. “If the Army Corps grants this easement to drill under the river, it’s going to be unpredictable. December 5th draws neigh. It’s scary as hell, not going to lie. What’s scarier is watching your children die because we didn’t stop this pipeline.”
Cyber warfare and misinformation directed at No DAPL activists creates real damage
By C.S. Hagen OCETI SAKOWIN – An invisible enemy – streaming the airwaves – haunts Standing Rock’s supporters. The nemesis’ presence has long been felt inside the camps opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline, but few had proof of its existence until recently.
Cell phone and live streaming problems were jokes, hidden behind nervous chuckles. Then people began pointing to the ubiquitous airplane circling on the hour, nearly every hour, wondering if their sudden connection issues were created by someone inside. The reports were rumors, conspiracy theories. Soon, few among the thousands could say their devices were not being affected.
The difficulties spring partly from the area’s remoteness and the rugged terrain, but more-so now from what can only be psychological-driven digital attacks. Sudden signal loss, computer files disappearing, fried fiber optic cables, sudden battery deaths from a near full charge, are common. At least one person’s PayPal account was emptied of all monies, according to activists.
“There is an invisible antagonist winking at us, but no one knows exactly what that means, but we know how it feels,” Ari Herman said. He’s from northern California and is daily at the front lines facing heavily protected law enforcement with tear gas, pepper spray, water cannons, and percussion grenades.
Herman discovered this “antagonist” when he received an email from Google on November 9, reverse traced the email through an IP search and discovered it was sent by a technical department of North Dakota from Fort Totten, approximately 200 miles to the north.
“It’s egregious, and it’s terrifying,” Herman said. “It’s a very sound approach when you think about it. It’s subversion. Less violent. Less costly. I felt it. I felt it was like an emotional waterboarding, it was happening to me and a lot of people. It was creating a very strange aura of suspicion.
“People who announce they are coming to Standing Rock start to have issues even before coming to the state. The precedence this sets is disturbing to say the least.”
A non-profit organization savvy about online setups in conflict zones, was alerted to Standing Rock’s situation. Geeks Without Bounds, a Washington state organization established in 2010, is an accelerator for humanitarian projects. They’ve been working with the Oceti Sakowin camp since September, setting up Internet and Intranet accesses in specific spots by using a “network hop” to catch the signal from Standing Rock Telecom. A giant geodesic dome, known as the big white dome, donated by participants from Burning Man, became the camp’s first Internet café. Power to run the equipment comes from the sun, and a mini tower called “the stick in the ground on Hop Hill” has been erected to boost signals.
The organization reports many people’s cell phones are acting strangely, and legal observers are documenting and investigating the real threats that come from digital surveillance and communication interference.
Files from long-term criminal defense attorney Bruce Ellison’s computers have disappeared, he said. Ellison is working pro bono as legal team coordinator for the Lawyer’s Guild Mass Defense Committee.
“I know we’ve been investigating a lot of claims of mass data seizure,” Ellison said.
An electronics bug was found inside the Prairie Knights Casino. The device fell from under a table during a meeting inside the Indigenous Environmental Network’s suite, Ellison said. The bug wasn’t sophisticated enough to come from government; he suspects DAPL security teams.
Cyber warfare isn’t the only subversive threat, Ellison said, he knows from experience that agitators and infiltrators posing as activists try to blend in, especially during times of chaos, such as the case of DAPL security employee Kyle Thompson who was apprehended by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on October 27. Police and state’s attorneys called Thompson a victim, and did not file charges against Thompson.
Or the instance when an unknown person came up behind an activist at the front line, pointed at her to police, and then shoved her forward, Ellison said.
“There’s all kinds of stuff going on there that isn’t good, and certainly isn’t democratic. Historically, company security really takes the lead. They provide information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies. We suspect that this comes down to corporate security.”
Additionally, video footage shows an FBI agent with the Joint-Terrorism Task Force waiting outside Sophia Wilansky’s hospital door, he said. Wilansky nearly had her arm blown off by a percussion grenade after she was hit, and knocked to the ground by a rubber bullet on November 20, medics and activists said.
“There’s a lot of unknowns going on, and we’re trying to keep our eyes and our ears open.”
After Ellison returned home from Standing Rock approximately three weeks ago, one of his telephone lines connected to the Internet – the only line he used while at the camp – was completely destroyed.
A complete new line had to be installed, Ellison said.
Many at Oceti Sakowin have felt “lost in the wind,” Herman said, without access to their digital worlds. He’s also a writer on The Lego Box Travelogue, and some of his stories have been featured on the Oceti Sakowin webpage. Movements such as Standing Rock’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline need social media and Internet access to grow.
“Living out here under the security apparatus, it’s terrifying,” he said. To a small extent, the experience has taught him as a white person, what it might feel like living as a native person, or black person, or as a LGBT person, he said.
Herman arrived at the camps in early November. “I heard the calling, a little whisper,” he said. “I was ashamed of our treatment of Native Americans, and I wanted to come out here on the ground with my beliefs. This is an important frontier for our relationship with native communities, but setting an important precedent for climate issues… and the climate of surveillance in the occupation camps.” He’s an American, and he’s not against corporations making money, but recognizes the need for change.
“The intimidation is strongly reminiscent of the motto used by the Air Force’s Special Operations Wing in charge of Psy-Ops, “Never Seen, Always Heard,” Herman wrote in his article. He is currently helping out at Oceti Sakowin, he said.
“No one knows for sure who is behind the attacks, but the top suspects include a collusion between Morton County Sheriff’s Department, Energy Transfer Partners’ security and intelligence contractor TigerSwan or another military contractor, the National Guard, and/or the North Dakota Police,” Herman wrote.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier has repeatedly denied that his agency is involved in cyber warfare against Standing Rock and its supporters. The FBI refuses to answer questions to its involvement in the DAPL controversy, and spokespeople from Energy Transfer Partners and its subsidiary, Dakota Access Pipeline, would not return telephone calls or emails for comment.
Lisha Sterling, the Geeks Without Bounds executive director, said she can’t solve hackers, and she can’t hack back against DAPL or law enforcement as that is illegal and dangerous to Standing Rock.
“What we can do is teach people how to be safer,” Sterling said. “We’ve got encrypted comms options in camp, something called a Mumble server, that anyone can connect to over the Wi-Fi Mesh Intranet if they use that instead of calling each other over the phones their conversations will not be listened in on.”
Encryption is one of the keys to help protect laptops, cell phones, and even personal banking accounts. Also, downloading “Signal” to use for text messaging and for voice calls, turning off automatic updates in Settings, backing up phone data to computer, and being careful to update operating systems, are other ways to help limit hackers’ success rates.
Herman says that another media blackout is currently underway – once again – at the camps, and fears that a police plan is in the works. The FAA has issued another no-fly zone at Standing Rock until December 2, and the “siege” tactics declared by Governor Jack Dalrymple against Standing Rock, authorizing police to fine anyone hauling supplies to Standing Rock up to USD 1,000, and threatening to take away emergency response teams is only part of the state’s strategy.
The legal repercussions are not known, even more ethereal are legal strategies to combat these digital wraiths. “I can tell you I was really pissed off when I found out who did it, I was surprised…” Herman said.
His voice scrambled on the phone, like listening to an AM radio station halfway tuned in. And then the line went dead.
Tipis with snow at Oceti Sakowin – photo provided by Terry Wiklund
Radio, Facebook, and hacks
Last week, Anonymous, the international network of activists and hacktivists, threatened Morton County Sheriff’s Department, and allegedly destroyed its website and Facebook pages. On Wednesday, a new Morton County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page, followed by more than 600 people, reported the following:
“Greetings, everyone. We’d like to formally apologize for being ignorant f*cks. We know no better. We are privileged and do not understand the importance of water and its connection to the essence of life. We do not believe in science, climate change, or sustainability. Sincerely. The Pipeline Pigs.”
On Tuesday, the Facebook page posted: “On this white and snowy day in North Dakota, we’d like to announce that our pig heads are so bloated, we think we have the authority to illegally interfere with interstate commerce. We think we can trample over the constitution with our cloven hooves. We are looking to hire lawyers as we can face jail time for violating the Constitution and people’s civil rights.”
A different Morton County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page has cultivated approximately 30 followers, and appears to be Pro DAPL, or at least supportive of government decisions to restrict emergency services to Standing Rock, and to fine anyone carrying supplies up to USD 1,000.
“Soon there will be nothing to keep those crybaby anarchists fed and warm but peace signs and prayer,” the alternative Facebook page reports. “It’s been fun terrorizing them, but all good things must come to an end. Us boys in blue are starting to get chilly, even in full combat gear we’re wearing. Time for you hippies to give up and move on. No more supplies, no more emergency services, take the hint already… Love being evil.”
There is also two more Facebook pages, one called Morton County Sheriff Department, which appears to be a venting platform.
Scott Hennen, a partner at Flag Family Media, who broadcasts on stations such as KFYR 55 AM Bismarck and WZFG 1100 AM Fargo, called the activists at Standing Rock “sick,” “a group of lawless thugs,” and “eco-terrorists” on his Facebook page. He believes North Dakota should sue the federal government, according to Facebook posts.
On Monday, Hennen interviewed Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, reporting 110 days had passed since the beginning of the “siege,” as Hennen described the situation outside of Cannonball.
Kirchmeier won’t send law enforcement to clear Oceti Sakowin, and doesn’t expect federal assistance, “as long as the current administration is there,” the sheriff said during the interview.
“I’ve heard stories of rampant drug use and rapes, I don’t know, they’re just stories,” Hennen said. “Do we know what’s happening in the way of lawless behavior in the camp?”
“There is definitely, the alcohol, the drug use, the sexual assault, we do have reports of that.” Kirchmeier said, adding that such reports are forwarded to the Army Corps.
Henner praised Dalrymple’s decision to stop emergency responses to the camps. He called a lawsuit against Kirchmeier and the Morton County Sheriff’s Department’s use of excessive force “bunk.”
“Law officers have been shot at, spit on, had feces thrown at them, had their families terrorized – and now they’re being sued. Throw it out of court – along with the violent extremists invading Morton County.”
Hennen’s claims have been called lies by people supporting Standing Rock.
Cannonball Sacred Stone Camp – photo provided by Terry Wiklund
Dalrymple’s orders
On Wednesday, the governor backtracked the seriousness of his emergency evacuation message, saying that law enforcement will not be hunting Standing Rock suppliers, or arbitrarily stopping people. He also petitioned for a meeting with Standing Rock leaders, he said, and wants to discuss how to rebuild the relationship between the tribe and the state.
“We want the entire public to know that this is not a safe place,” Dalrymple said. During a press conference reporters asked Dalrymple why call the emergency evacuation if he wasn’t planning on cleaning the camps out.
“We get that question every time there is a flood too, what purpose does it serve. It is an official notice from the state, from the National Guard, from law enforcement that we may not be able to help you in an emergency situation. No, we are not going to be having roadblocks or stopping vehicles.”
Dalrymple’s assurances did not ease activists’ fears near Standing Rock late Wednesday afternoon, especially after an online report that a Red Cross shipment was stopped by North Dakota National Guard.
Lynn Speral, chief executive officer for American Red Cross Dakotas Region, said she was aware of the online reports, but that the American Red Cross is a neutral organization and is not assisting anyone involved in the DAPL controversy at this time.
“If things would warrant a disaster type relief response, such as cars stranded because of a storm,” then her organization would respond. “But the situation there is not one that requires the American Red Cross’ assistance, Speral said. If Standing Rock required blood then the supplies would not come from the American Red Cross.
Dalrymple also said he has never contemplated using National Guard or federal or state officers to forcibly remove activists from Army Corps lands. The pipeline is finished everywhere in North Dakota, 95 percent complete, with one exception: under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
“To change the route now is probably not feasible,” Dalrymple said.
Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley said the state will not be held responsible if serious injury or death occurs at Oceti Sakowin. “They’re there without a permit… they’ve stayed through many seasons. This snowstorm was predicted several days in advance, all of it was out in the media. At some point there’s an assumption of risk, there’s a lot that’s involved and I don’t mean to make light of any of it. There are some people there who probably don’t know anything about this weather.”
Emergency response crews will attempt to respond to calls, Dalrymple said, but arrivals will not be guaranteed.
Dalrymple further mentioned that he has had no official offers from Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, to pay government costs, which are expected to reach a total USD 17 million.
“I don’t even know if it’s possible,” Dalrymple said.
A decision for Morton County to accept any official offer would not rest in the governor’s lap, he said.
Dalrymple also stated during a press conference that his office has been in constant contact with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II, however; according to an official request for information filed with the governor’s office approximately six weeks ago, the governor had no contact with Archambault’s office during a two-week period when tensions were heightening between the state and the tribe.
Ladonna Tamakawastewin Allard, a historian and owner of the Sacred Stone Camp lands, said the governor’s office doesn’t understand the tenacity of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters.
“We have been here for thousands of years,” Allard said. “We understand North Dakota winter. When they first issued the order to cow the Indian people, to get back to the reservation, there was a blizzard. And the winter was hard. And the Indian said, ‘Who moves in a blizzard?’ Now we come to 2016 we’re saying the same thing, ‘Who moves in a blizzard?’
“We are not going to back down. We are not in anyone’s home, we are in our own home. Awake. We are in our own home, from the Heart River, to the Platte River, to the plateaus, to the Missouri, 1851 is the supreme law of the land.”
She believes in the rule of law, but says that it is no longer working.
“What do you do against injustice? You stand up, you stand in prayer, you stand in the best way you can. So the governor doesn’t understand prayer. The governor doesn’t understand that the real power is the people, and the real power has always been the people, not a corporation. I think we are seeing that today, where the people are saying ‘We need to change.’ We are not standing down. We are in our home. We are strong, and we have prayer. The governor has no idea what he’s facing.”
Federal prosecutors pick up first DAPL-related case with new charge; governor orders emergency evacuation of Oceti Sakowin
By C.S. Hagen
BISMARCK – State charges were dropped against Red Fawn Fallis Monday, but felony charges were filed against the No DAPL activist in federal court.
“This is the first DAPL-related case we’ve had in federal court,” Head Federal Public Defender for North and South Dakota Neil Fulton said.
The state dropped the attempted murder charge against Fallis, according to Morton County Clerk of Court. Instead, she will be tried for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, according to Fulton. Fallis faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment if proven guilty.
Chris Bellmore, of the Federal Public Defender’s Office, was assigned to Fallis’ case.
Red Fawn Fallis – online sources
Fallis, 47, still faces misdemeanor charges in Morton County, which include disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, and maintaining a public nuisance, according to Morton County Clerk of Court. She is being held by U.S. Marshals, and under no bond at this time, Fulton said.
Friends, family, and supporters maintain the Denver woman’s innocence, and her name has become a rallying cry during many protests inside Bismarck and Mandan. Signs demanding her release are stretched out along the fence surrounding Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp.
Some supporters online stated her case should be moved out of state. Many called her “their hero,” while others declared they would wear red in support of Fallis.
Fallis allegedly fired three shots at law enforcement officers after they tackled her while she resisted arrest, according to affidavits released by the South Central Judicial Court.
Pennington County Sheriff’s Department deputies Rusty and Thad Schmit stated in an affidavit they saw a female, later identified as Fallis, acting disorderly, and when she walked away from the group the two deputies approached her and “took Red Fawn Fallis to the ground.”
During the struggle, deputies gave no indication as to where the handgun came from. Fallis did not have the gun in her hand when she was tackled, and the officers involved believe that Fallis was able to retrieve the gun when one of the deputies stopped pulling on her left arm, according to the affidavit.
Activists and freinds of Red Fawn Fallis say she is innocent – photo by C.S. Hagen
Two gunshots were fired quickly, one bullet striking the ground close to a deputy’s knee, according to the affidavit. One of the deputies saw the handgun in her left hand and struggled with her over the gun, according to the affidavit. A third shot was fired, and the weapon was retrieved after assistance from other officers.
According to the affidavit, Fallis said she “was trying to pull the gun out of her pocket and the deputies jumped her and the gun went off.” During transport, she also allegedly said law enforcement was lucky she didn’t shoot them all, according to the affidavit.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported on October 27 that the northern Treaty Camp was emptied because activists refused to leave after repeated requests. A total of 561 people have been arrested since early August. Morton County Sheriff’s Department has spent in excess of USD 10 million, and approximately 1,300 officers have assisted from 25 North Dakota counties, 20 cities, and nine states.
Snow at Oceti Sakowin – photo by Leland B Benoist
The day after Thanksgiving, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a 10-day warning to Standing Rock tribal leaders to evacuate Oceti Sakowin, which is currently on federal lands. Eight days remain before those remaining on federal lands may be subject to arrest.
Despite repeated requests by state leaders, including Governor Jack Dalrymple, Congressman Kevin Cramer R-N.D., senators John Hoeven R-N.D., and Heidi Heitkamp R-N.D., the Army Corps has relaxed its stance saying that it has no plans to use force to evacuate Army Corps lands, including activist and DAPL employees, after December 5. The Dakota Access Pipeline runs along Army Corps lands its entire length in North Dakota, according to Julie Fedorchak, the public service commissioner.
Dalrymple is “frustrated at every level,” he said at a press conference, and on Monday issued an emergency “mandatory evacuation” order to safeguard against harsh winter conditions of all persons residing on Army Corps lands.
“These persons are ordered to leave the evacuation area immediately, and are further ordered not to return to the evacuation area,” Dalrymple said. “The definition of the evacuation area shall remain in effect even if the United States Army Corps of Engineers redefines or removes these prohibited areas.
“All persons in the evacuation area shall take all their possessions with them upon their evacuation. Any action or inaction taken by any party which encourages persons to enter, reenter, or remain in the evacuation area will be subject to penalties as defined in law.”
Dalrymple further added his office has the executive power to issue the warning on Army Corps lands in order to avert a possible disaster, and that anyone who chooses to disregard the order will stay at their own risk.
“I direct state agencies, emergency service officials, and nongovernmental organizations to reduce threats to public safety by not guaranteeing the provision of emergency and other governmental and nongovernmental services in the evacuation area, unless otherwise approved by a case by case basis by the Morton County Sheriff or Superintendent of the Highway Patrol.
“The general public is hereby notified that emergency services probably will not be available under current winter conditions.”
Cecily Fong, of the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, said no law enforcement or National Guard will be used to enforce the governor’s order. DAPL employees are not subject to the order, according to Fong, as they are not camping in the elements.
Standing Rock and supporters have stated they’re not going anywhere. The land in question falls under the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie and was taken away by the Army Corps after it was condemned due to the devastating effects of the Pick-Sloan legislation.
“The Army Corps of Engineers is seeking a peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location, and has no plans for forcible removal,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Commander John W. Henderson said in press release. “But those who choose to stay do so at their own risk as emergency, fire, medical, and law enforcement response cannot be adequately provided in these areas.”
Additionally, more than 1,500 veterans with Veterans for Standing Rock are planning to arrive at Oceti Sakowin on December 4, according to the Veterans for Standing Rock’s Facebook page.
Thousands of US veterans plan to converge on Standing Rock, elected officials praise Army Corps deadline, and Morton County Sheriff’s Department uses Craigslist as vetted intelligence
By C.S. Hagen
CANNONBALL – A flurry of activity followed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers threat to Standing Rock that the tribe has 9 days left to evacuate camps situated against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“The letter means nothing to us,” Nick Tilsen, co-founder of the Indigenous People’s Power Project, said. “Indigenous people are here to stay, and we’re not going to move unless it’s on our own terms, because this is our treaty land, this is our ancestral land, and this is where our people have been for thousands of years.”
No one at the camp is fearful, Tilsen said. Months of ceremony and training have eradicated all fear, leaving only a deep love for their people and their land. “Our purpose here is to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
“Any person found to be on the Corps lands north of the Cannonball River after December 5, 2016, will be considered trespassing and may be subject to prosecution under federal, state, and local laws… any person who chooses to stay on these Corps’ lands… does so at their own risk,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Commander John W. Henderson stated in Friday’s letter.
Despite the deadline, Standing Rock spokesperson Sue Evans said the tribe is determined as ever to protect its land and water.
“The timing of this latest action by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is demoralizing and disrespectful for Native Americans and the millions of peaceful water protectors and supporters in America and across the globe who are standing with Standing Rock to protect the water and 17 million Americans downstream on the river,” Evans said.
The chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Harold Frazier, condemned the deadline, saying the Army Corps “dangerously and profoundly misunderstands the basic function and status of a tribal government and its elected leaders.”
Veterans from around the nation are signing up to travel to Standing Rock on December 5, the final day Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp is allowed to stand on Army Corps lands.
Governor Jack Dalrymple praised the Army Corps decision, but insisted federal agencies must be responsible for clearing the camps.
“Our state and local law enforcement agencies continue to do all they can to keep private property and public infrastructure free from unpermitted protest activities, and its past time that the federal government provides the law enforcement resources needed to support public safety and to enforce their own order to vacate,” Dalrymple said. “For more than 100 days now, the federal government has allowed protesters to illegally entrench themselves on Corps land and it is the federal government’s responsibility to lead the camp’s peaceful closure.”
The land Dalrymple described is Army Corps land, where Oceti Sakowin was setup. It was originally included in the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty as the tribal land, and taken from the Standing Rock Sioux without consent when it was condemned after devastation from the Pick-Sloan legislation.
Senator Heidi Heitkamp R-N.D., said the Army Corps decision is a relief after more than four months of violence. “The decision by the Army Corps is a needed step to support the safety of residents, workers, protesters, and law enforcement,” Heitkamp said in a press release. “For too long, we have waited in limbo as the decision is put off. This issue needs to be put to rest once and for all for the sake of the safety of our communities.”
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers map of the area surrounding Oceti Sakowin
Eryn Wise, of the Indigenous Youth Council and niece of Ladonna Allard, the woman who began the movement on Sacred Stone Camp, said sanctioned harm against Mother Earth will not be allowed. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers need to realize that these are children we are protecting… and we will continue to make our stand,” Wise said during a press conference.
She questioned the Army Corps creation of a free speech zone. “I just wanted to clarify for everyone, and you guys correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the United States was a free speech zone.”
Dallas Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said the Army Corps letter was a “disgusting continuation” of 500 years of colonization.
“It’s absurd for us to see such a declaration the day after Thanksgiving, but that’s the state of affairs we are in,” Goldtooth said. “This is the land where our ancestors come from, this is the land where our ancestors dreamed of our existence, of our songs, and of our future lives. In defense of our dreams and in defense of our ancestors we stand strong. We stand strong to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth. We stand strong to defend our rights as indigenous peoples, we stand strong to defend our territorial treaty rights.
“We got this,” Goldtooth said. “This is nothing new to us as native people. We’ve been here before and we’ve gotten through this. These are just intimidation statements, things to put us into a reactionary space, and we refuse to be put into a reactionary space.”
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said the foremost action the Army Corps can take to ensure peace is to permanently deny the easement needed for Dakota Access Pipeline to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. Additionally, the Army Corps sent its letter to all tribes involved at Standing Rock, and is trying to pressure the tribe, Archambault said.
“We have an escalating situation where safety is a concern for everybody,” Archambault said. “They’ve given us notice, because they want to reduce their liability when something serious happens.”
The main camp, Oceti Sakowin, is on a floodplain, Archambault said, and leadership is currently planning its next steps. “We’re trying to be proactive for when a situation comes. I don’t think the Army Corps of Engineers will come on the fifth. I don’t think anybody is going to come. The Morton County police would have jurisdiction over these lands if ever there are any crimes taking place. We’re not committing any crimes. If Morton County wanted to, they would be able to come in and move us. I don’t think that will happen.
“What they gave us is a notice that these public lands are no long available for hunting, for fishing, and for recreation, recreation can include camping, but what we’re doing here is exercising our First Amendment right, and we’re not breaking any laws.”
The Army Corps does not have an armed force, so they would have to call in other agencies to forcibly evict. “If it was to happen, we need to be given notice, so we can ensure a lot of the property is not damaged. I don’t think it will be an eviction where forces will come and push people off.”
Tribal leaders reported a total of 748 tribal nations are currently at Standing Rock.
No DAPL sign along Highway 1806 – photo by C.S. Hagen
Paid Protesters
Citing Craigslist as a vetted source for information, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier called the activists at Standing Rock, “paid protesters.”
“The energy these paid agitators and protesters exerted to try and draw our law enforcement into confrontations did not work,” Kirchmeier said. “We will respond in kind to any advances protesters make on our line. It’s their decision and they can bring an end to this.”
His department added they know the protesters are paid from information on Craigslist in New York and Fargo.
“This is from intel that has come into us from people saying they were paid to Craigslist ads in NY and Fargo asking for people to give up their job and get paid to come to Standing Rock,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Many activists, journalists, photographers, and even the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have asked for donations to assist actions and basic survival against the Dakota Access Pipeline, but such solicitations do not fit the definition of hiring for protest.
Fargo Police Department reported no actions taken at West Acres Shopping Center on November 18, the day an ad in Craigslist appeared calling for people to quit their jobs, be paid USD 1,000, and converge at the shopping mall. Valley News Live Chris Berg reported on the anonymous advertisement on November 16.
“Someone is soliciting to pay #NoDAPL protesters in Fargo via Craigslist,” Berg wrote. “He is inviting people to show up at West Acres Mall…”
The advertisement gave no indication if a male or female posted the advertisement on Craigslist.
Additionally on November 25, a pro DAPL protest advertisement hit Craigslist. “Let’s support DAPL by shutting down the Main Avenue McDonalds on Friday,” the advertisement read. “I will pay $50 to any adults who show up. Come on oil protectors. This is not a hoax this is real.”
The Fargo Police Department had no records of any responses for a pro DAPL protest at McDonalds on Friday.
Morton County has spent more than 10 million tax dollars in its actions against Standing Rock and Supporters, soliciting assistance from nearly 1,300 officers from 25 North Dakota counties, 20 cities, and nine states.
Veterans for Standing Rock
Michael James, an Absentee Shawnee, the warrior clan of the Shawnee tribe, is a veteran with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard. He’s planning to travel to Oceti Sakowin with Veterans for Standing Rock on December 5.
“Mother Earth is calling her children to help,” James said.
One of the group’s organizers, Michael A Wood Jr., is a retired Baltimore police officer and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. On his Twitter account, Wood posted, “We with #VeteranStandingRock are deploying to prevent this state sanctioned violence on peaceful protectors… We look to be 2,000 strong and need to transition into a continuous operation.
“The Cavalry of Peace is coming.”
Veterans for Standing Rock include the U.S. Army, United States Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard, and are planning to assemble as a “peaceful, unarmed militia” at Standing Rock from December 4 through December 7, according to the group’s Facebook page.
They have a roster of 2,100 people, and told its members to prepare for mace, sound cannons, sniper guns, rubber bullets, attack dogs, concussion grenades, and the effects of hyperthermia. “Bring body armor, gas masks, earplugs, and shooting mufflers (we may be facing a sound cannon) but no drugs, alcohol or weapons.
“Let’s stop this savage injustice being committed right here at home,” the group’s introduction states. “If not us, who? If not now, when? Are you a hero? Are you honorable? Not if you allow this to be the United States.”
Tribal leadership reported at least 1,500 veterans are scheduled to arrive on December 4.
Standing Rock’s resolve is “stronger than ever,” more arrests in Bismarck, and a North Dakota sheriff is suspended
By C.S. Hagen BISMARCK – Standing Rock and supporters have 10 days to move camps, or face possible mass arrests, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported Friday.
“This decision is necessary to protect the general public from the violent confrontations between protestors and enforcement officials that have occurred in this area, and to prevent death, illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh North Dakota winter conditions,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Commander John W. Henderson stated.
“Any person found to be on the Corps lands north of the Cannonball River after December 5, 2016, will be considered trespassing and may be subject to prosecution under federal, state, and local laws… any person who chooses to stay on these Corps’ lands… does so at their own risk.”
A “free speech zone” south of Cannonball River on Army Corps lands will be authorized.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers map of the area surrounding Oceti Sakowin
“Our tribe is deeply disappointed in this decision by the United States, but our resolve to protect our water is stronger than ever,” Standing Rock reported in a statement. “The best way to protect people during the winter, and reduce the risk of conflict between water protectors and militarized police, is to deny the easement for the Oahe crossing, and deny it now.”
Standing Rock further reported that the tribe’s stance on the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing the Missouri River at Lake Oahe less than a mile from the reservation was stated clearly in a meeting with DAPL representatives and the North Dakota Public Service Commission on September 30, 2014, more than two years ago.
North Dakota government agencies have reported frequently the tribe did not involve itself in hearings and discussions pertaining to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“It is both unfortunate and disrespectful that this announcement comes the day after this country celebrates Thanksgiving – a historic exchange of goodwill between Native Americans and the first immigrants from Europe,” Standing Rock reported. “Although the news is saddening, it is not at all surprising given the last 500 years of mistreatment of our people.
“Although we have suffered much, we still have hope that the President will act on his commitment to close this chapter of broken promises to our people and especially our children.”
Standing Rock is currently planning if and how an exodus from Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp will occur, Standing Rock spokesperson Sue Evans said.
“The timing of this latest action by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is demoralizing and disrespectful for Native Americans and the millions of peaceful water protectors and supporters in America and across the globe who are standing with Standing Rock to protect the water and 17 million Americans downstream on the river,” Evans said.
Standing Rock is ready, however. Other camps exist in the area, and leadership is planning the tribe’s next steps.
The deadline brings back a similar deadline issued a century ago for attorney Chase Iron Eyes. On December 3, 1875, the US government issued a deadline for all Native Americans not on reservations to return to their areas of confinement, or else they would be considered hostile.
Turtle Hill, Cantapeta Creek, law enforcement has now stretched razor wire across the bank opposite Oceti Sakowin – photo provided by Digital Smoke Signals
“We are tired of the protests too,” Iron Eyes, who ran for congress this year, said. “DAPL is backing us into a corner. This is about standing up to Trump fascism, and we’re going to be considered trespassers on Army Corps land. We’ve seen what Morton County is capable of… they tell lies, but by the time we disprove them they’ve already been able to manipulate the public narrative and push that out to the world as truth.”
For instance, Morton County reported its use of water cannons to put out fires on November 20, but turned the same high-powered hoses onto activists in sub freezing temperatures because they feared activists might push through multiple rows of razor wire, cement blocks, hidden hedgehogs, and fully-armed police.
Morton County also reported Sophia Wilansky, who nearly had her left arm blown off the same night, was not harmed by law enforcement’s less-than-lethal armaments, but by an explosion from the activists’ side, even after many eyewitnesses came forward saying that Wilansky was first struck with a rubber bullet, and then targeted by a compression grenade while she was on the ground.
Iron Eyes calls for those involved to keep prayer and peaceful civil disobedience at the center of all direct actions, but he refuses to be intimidated
“If it’s too risky for Bismarck, it’s too risky for us,” Iron Eyes said. “We have to stand up. If a law allows for water to be poisoned or put our children’s future at stake, then that law has no moral or spiritual authority, and we should be within rights to stand up to that law. We have to be very, very clear about this; these are risks that we choose to assume.
“It’s easy to be neutral when it’s not your family at risk,” Iron Eyes said. “We must always fight for the democracy we want.”
Additionally on Friday, Governor Jack Dalrymple granted McKenzie County Commissioners’ request to remove Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger from office after the state attorney general’s office investigated him, according to state news outlets.
“We are now witnessing the first action against local law enforcement tonight for their abuses to peaceful water protectors,” Evans said.
Pig head authorities report anti DAPL activists carried into Bismarck on Thanksgiving Day – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
In October, the McKenzie County Commissioners asked the governor to remove the sheriff from office, citing an alleged workplace culture of bullying and retaliation, according to press reports. Schwartzenberger will be allowed a hearing before the governor makes a decision to make the suspension permanent.
In 2015, two other deputies from McKenzie County Sheriff’s Department were allegedly involved in criminal activities, according to the Bismarck Tribune. Corporal Travis Batemen faces a felony charge of reckless endangerment, and Detective Michael Schmitz was charged with two counts of giving false information to law enforcement.
The day after Thanksgiving, 33 more arrests were made by Bismarck police at Bismarck’s Kirkwood Mall outside the Target entrance, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department. The total number of activists arrested since early August is 561.
The McKenzie County Sheriff’s Department is one of the agencies involved against activists at Standing Rock. Nearly 1,300 people have assisted from 25 North Dakota counties, 20 cities, and nine states, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
City leaders, law enforcement, state residents have had enough; Standing Rock and supporters say they’re already home
By C.S. Hagen
BISMARCK – The day before President Obama pardoned the Thanksgiving Turkey, Peace Garden State leaders told Standing Rock and the tribe’s supporters that North Dakota has had enough.
“It’s time for them to go home,” Bismarck Mayor Mike Seminary said to the activists camped outside of Standing Rock. “I thank the visitors for coming, making their message known. It’s loud and clear… It has been profound, and we understand. No more productive messaging can really be done, you’ve said everything that needs to be said…
“It’s now time for them to go home.”
Seminary added that law enforcement involved in the DAPL controversy was doing an “incredible job,” and thanked those that make the city of Bismarck run.
“I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday,” Seminary said. “God bless you.”
Those camped out at Oceti Sakowin are frightened. Many come from across the nation to protect the Missouri River against the USD 3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline. Arrests are mounting, totaling 528 by Wednesday afternoon. Local anger against Standing Rock and its stance against the pipeline is spilling into metropolitan streets as pro-DAPL protesters gather wherever activists go. The capitol building has been repeatedly shut down. Roads have been closed. Alerts follow activists’ movements on resident cell phones.
Activists say they’re being harassed. Law enforcement say they’re experiencing “doxing,” a practice of identifying and releasing police identities to the public.
Law enforcement reported they felt threatened Sunday night, standing behind cement blocks and multiple rolls of razor wire, and were forced to use water cannons and hoses on activists. Supporters of Standing Rock said they were gathered in prayer, that they started no fires except for those made to keep warm.
Anger is rising across the area, fierce and cold as the north winter wind. Despite tribal elders call for peaceful demonstration and civil disobedience, violence is escalating.
Kicked out
Monday night, Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney and Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler called activists Liz George, 26, and Kana Newell, 23, over to their table while they were eating at the Chinese restaurant Rice Bowl, according to George.
After a brief conversation, both Laney and Ziegler ordered the two women out of the restaurant, and threatened to arrest them both for disorderly conduct, according to video footage.
Liz George
George wasn’t worried when she approached the two police chiefs, she said. “We thought we’d say hi, show them that we are peaceful and not the image they have and then leave,” George said. “But they also called out to us on our way out so it would have been rude for me to just ignore and walk out.”
George’s ancestry is from India, and she is from Michigan, and Newell is from Japan. They’re proud women of color, and have become friends at Oceti Sakowin, frequently going on actions together. They both were on the front lines Sunday night when law enforcement turned water cannons on the activists in sub-freezing temperatures.
Newell was hit by the water, and by a percussion grenade, which exploded in the air above her, knocking her to the ground. Both breathed in CS gas, and Newell is still coughing.
“I didn’t think so much about the water, all I thought about was holding up this line,” Newell said. “We had to hold that line to protect the people behind us.” Eventually, the cold numbed her fingers and toes; her hair froze. Friends had to help her change out of her clothes.
Kana Newell
And then she returned to the front line.
The next night, Newell and George traveled into Mandan to eat Chinese food.
“We didn’t go into that restaurant to pick a fight,” Newell said. “We went in to have a meal, and heal and laugh a little bit.”
Laney called out to them as they were leaving, George said, and he was friendly, at first. His tone changed quickly. Two gentlemen at a nearby table were called over to join the conversation, but the two women could not talk above Laney’s voice, George said.
“He was trying to make an example out of us,” George said. “I think the reason we were mistreated was because, yes, we are women of color, but also because of the Water is Life badge. And that made me think, yes, I can take that badge off, but native men and black men cannot ever take theirs off.”
“If we had not worn that badge we probably would not have been targeted,” Newell said. “It’s a lot to process.”
Neither woman had experienced police intimidation before coming to Standing Rock, they said. Now, it’s difficult to sleep. George jumps whenever she hears a loud noise. She pulls out her cell phone as protocol when police approach.
“It’s an unjust use of power, and the law sort of allows it,” Newell said. “What does disorderly conduct really mean? The police get to decide, and that leaves us powerless.”
Both women are frightened, and they’re not going to wear their Water is Life badges when going into town in the future. On Wednesday, during an action in Bismarck, different police confronted the two women when the vehicle they were riding in failed to properly signal a right turn.
George was sitting in the back seat and took her seat belt off after the car was put in park, she said. Officers then threatened to arrest her for failure to wear a seatbelt, she said.
“They’re basically intimidating us, they’re forcing me to give them my ID, which I didn’t want to give to him,” George said. “I asked them to bring a couple more officers over. We’re surrounded by cops, and they are indiscriminately pulling people over for nothing, and basically fabricating charges.”
North Dakota’s seat belt laws say that all front seat occupants must be buckled up; anyone younger than 18 must be properly restrained no matter where they sit, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, but the law states no requirement for those older than 18 in the backseat.
“They’re using pure intimidation tactics on us,” Newell said. She sat in the backseat of the car with George.
“It’s only against us,” George said. “There are a lot of pro DAPL protesters out here, and none of them are affected by anything. This is the second day in a row that we’ve been harassed and intimidated by police in Bismarck and Mandan. I’m just kind of shaken up; it’s the second time this has happened to us. It’s ridiculous, but it’s almost funny what they’re doing out here. The charges they’re putting against us are humorous because of how false there are.”
“We know our rights,” Newell said.
An officer returned and issued three citations: failure to use proper turn signal, failure to use seatbelts, and failure to have a clean license plate. Fines for the citations totaled USD 60.
Case County Sheriff Paul Laney
Laney is a Cass County hero, according to his police biography. Originally from rural Cass County, near Horace, he served four years in the Marine Corps before becoming a Fargo police officer. He served as a lieutenant and commander of the Red River Valley SWAT Team, and was sworn in as Cass County Sheriff in 2007. He is president of the North Dakota Sheriff’s and Deputies Association, serves on the board of directors for the North Dakota Association of Counties. Laney is decorated, heavily, including the 2011 winner of the “Government Leader of the Year” award and in 2012 the “National Sheriff of the Year” award.
He has also been serving as Morton County Sheriff’s Department operations chief since mid August.
Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler
Ziegler is not from North Dakota, but is also a former Marine who served during the Gulf War. While in the Marine Corps he earned the rank of a corporal, and later became a lieutenant in the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office in Florida He was named Mandan’s police chief in 2015.
Both Laney and Ziegler, their offices, the departments’ public information officers were contacted for comment.
“This is the absolute first I’ve ever heard of this,” Cass County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kim Briggeman said.
“There’s another underlying story here and it goes further than the racism,” Tom Asbridge, a Morton County resident said. “If the two ladies at the Rice Bowl in Mandan were doing something out of line, then that’s a whole different thing, but there is no evidence of that. There is evidence that those two cops were abusive. Don’t you think it would have been much more prudent and wise to make friends of them and try to smile and say ‘hey, what can we do?’ Then it puts the onus on the two ladies. We don’t need to have people on police force acting like jerks.”
Asbridge ran for representative of District 30 this year, but lost, as he feels his viewpoints on issues including DAPL are in the minority in the Peace Garden State. He grew up near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, knows the area well, including Backwater Bridge, which authorities have deemed unsafe.
“Its subhuman, and there’s some profit motive going on, because there’s some other corruption beneath this, and nobody will touch it. It seems to me that if someone would lance this boil… I think there would be an element of goodness here in North Dakota that would just say ‘No, we don’t believe in this, we won’t put up with this kind of treatment by the people who are working for us.’
“But if there’s no story, if there’s no journalism here to report this, it will remain secret.”
Asbridge has been an “advocate for justice” for many years, he said, and he fears for Standing Rock.
“I think there is way more baiting by Morton County to induce bad stuff than one can imagine. Things don’t quite add up.”
Police spraying mace – photo by Liz George
Punishing Standing Rock
Asbridge says he calls Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier’s bluff that Backwater Bridge, the epicenter of much of the recent violence, is unsafe.
Tom Asbridge
“That’s a really great concrete bridge and it’s not very old. You’re not going to hurt that bridge by burning a few tires, some trash and logs on the bridge. They made that up. If it is unsafe why hasn’t the Department of Transportation been there with some people observing them? I would want to cover my proverbial butt; the bridge is not unsafe… I think it contains the natives where they are.”
Kirchmeier disagrees.
“North Dakota Department of Transportation has closed the Backwater Bridge due to damage caused after protesters set numerous fires on the bridge October 27,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. Department of Transportation cannot inspect the bridge until law enforcement knows the area is safe, Kirchmeier said in a press conference.
Additionally, the best way to “punish Standing Rock is to shut down their economy,” Asbridge said. Shutting down Highway 1806 is putting the financial clamp on the tribe’s casino, Prairie Knights. “That’s their big source of revenue, and they’ve accomplished that.”
Once again, Morton County officials disagree. Shutting down Highway 1806, effectively turning Backwater Bridge into a war zone, was to protect against confrontations between activists and DAPL workers, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
“This is some sophisticated people that are maneuvering, and manipulating, there are strings coming from higher up, and I think the governor is being manipulated by those same strings,” Asbridge said.
If someone challenged Governor Jack Dalrymple’s emergency declaration in court, Asbridge believes they would win. “There is no emergency. The linchpin was the use of the emergency, the use of the National Guard, the excessive use of the police, the law enforcement from all over the country. This is a feeding frenzy. This isn’t healthy to have a militarized police force doing this.”
Asbridge calls for federal intervention, because the state is biased.
“Take it out of the hands of the local people who are obviously biased and settle this dispute.”
In the meantime, Standing Rock and supporters have the right to be upset, Asbridge said. When the pipeline’s route was moved north of Bismarck to its current location less than a mile away from Standing Rock Sioux reservation, it was the spark that lit the native fire that has gathered thousands of supporters and more than 400 tribes from around the world.
“This is the eruption of 500 years of abuse, and they’ve finally taken a stand and said this is it. Whether they’re right in everything or not, I’m not sure it is as important. If you check, not one treaty with Standing Rock has ever been kept. Not one. And as a white American, that’s shameful.
“I don’t anticipate that this is not going to come to a very good end. The natives have lost the public sentiment. The media and the police have done such a good job of spreading disinformation, they’re very organized, and they’re good at it. And that’s too bad.”
Activist on the front lines – photo by Liz George
The pipeline
Asbridge stood with attorney Chase Iron Eyes and others in Bismarck in September before elections to make a plea to move the pipeline, and create an oil refinery west of Mandan. Bakken oil, utilizing a public utility – which is what the Dakota Access Pipeline is supposed to be – must benefit the American people, and not line the deep pockets of an out-of-state company and executives.
“We should discuss whether one drop of that oil will be burned in the United States,” Asbridge said. “It’s all for export. If this was about American energy independence, I would be on the side of the pipeline. But it’s not. It actually makes us more dependent on Saudi oil, and causes more bloodshed by Americans to protect Saudi oil. Our sons and daughters are going to war over there, and we’re going to ship that oil to China. That’s bad policy.”
The necessity of the pipeline is a moot point; local railroad companies can ship all the oil coming out of the Bakken, Asbridge said.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is 1,172 miles long, and is supposed to finish before the end of 2016, according to Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren. The drill pad to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe is ready; horizontal drilling equipment has been brought in, but the company lacks the easement it needs from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Dakota Access LLC is the subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, which combined with Sunoco Logistics Partners on Monday. Energy Transfer Equity controls both companies, according to media outlet Fortune.
On Wednesday, the North Dakota Industrial Commission called for better monitoring and higher standards of pipelines that cross major bodies of waters after nearly 3 million gallons of brine spilled north of Williston. A newly-introduced Senate bill also states that the legislative management must consider studying technology that may be used on pipelines to detect or prevent leaks.
While the state legislature decides on a bill that may prove too little too late, George and Newell worry that law enforcement may sometime soon use live ammunition against activists.
“We’re scared for our people,” Newell said. She recently obtained a bachelors degree in zoology and marine science. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, this is just us processing all this.”
“I can’t even imagine what it is like to be an indigenous person in this community, regardless to what happens with the pipeline,” George said. “All we’ve heard in camp is the message of peace, and non-violence. It feels like home.”
Actively defending the Dakota Access Pipeline, police force two activists from restaurant after asking them to come to their table
By C.S. Hagen MANDAN – Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney and Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler called Liz George and Kana Newell over to their table while they were eating at the Chinese restaurant Rice Bowl.
And then, in true “North Dakota nice” spirit, they kicked them from the premises. Before kicking the two women out, they threatened arrest. George was wearing her “Water is Life” badge on the back of her clothing.
“We were eating dinner and on our way out of Mandan when two police officers, the sheriff and one other called us over to talk,” George reported. According to George’s Facebook page, she is from Michigan.
Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney – still shot of video feed
“His [Laney] first question was, ‘How long are you going to be here for?’ To which we replied, ‘As long as the pipeline is proceeding,’” Newell reported. Newell’s Facebook page reports she is from Australia. “He immediately replied with ‘Well, that’s just not going to happen.’
“We asked why he thought that, and we were genuinely curious to the police perspective and want to bridge the gap between the two sides,” Newell said.
“We tried to have a polite conversation with them listening to their side and when they didn’t like what we were saying they ordered us to leave the restaurant saying that we had two minutes to leave before we would be arrested,” George said.
Recent events were brought up during the discussion, including Sunday night’s conflict when law enforcement used rubber bullets, concussion grenades, tear gas, pepper spray and a high-powered water cannon against activists.
“Things got heated and we asked them to hold space for us to speak, as the conversation was basically his voice speaking over ours,” Newell said. “We tried to tell him our perspective, but he wasn’t open to listen and ordered us to leave as soon as the conversation wasn’t going his way.”
And then, Laney threatened arrest, Newell said.
“What are you going to arrest us for?” George said on the video.
“Disorderly conduct,” Ziegler said.
“We asked you to leave so that these gentlemen can enjoy their meals and we can enjoy our meals,” Ziegler said. “This is a private restaurant.”
“We tried to have a conversation and it’s not going anywhere,” Laney said.
Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler confronting women at dining restaurant – still shot of video feed
“Okay, can I just say that you guys called us over to talk to us?” George said. “So you have authority…?”
She was interrupted when Ziegler stood and confronted her, forcing her back.
“I’m going to tell you one more time to leave this restaurant. Go ahead, video tape me,” Ziegler said.
“Now you got about two seconds to go, okay guys,” Laney said. “Let us eat our dinner in peace. Have a good night.”
An elderly woman watching nearby told the two women to go home.
“We are home.”
The women are known as water protectors by the Standing Rock Sioux, and as protesters by law enforcement. They’re part of the months-long controversy surrounding the USD 3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, which is slated to run less than a mile away from the Standing Rock’s reservation. Dakota Access LLC is the subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, which combined with Sunoco Logistics Partners on Monday. Energy Transfer Equity controls both companies, according to media outlet Fortune.
Both Laney and Ziegler were contacted for comment late Tuesday evening in this developing story. The Rice Bowl was also contacted for comment, but the restaurant had already closed for the evening.
Family speaks out: “I died a thousand deaths” victim’s father says
By C.S. Hagen
OCETI SAKOWIN – The woman who nearly had her arm blown off Sunday night at the Backwater Bridge standoff is in stable condition, according to the Standing Rock Medic Healer Council.
Sohpia Wilansky, 21, from New York, was hauling drinking water to activists near the front line when a concussion grenade thrown by law enforcement hit her left arm and exploded, according to medic reports.
(Graphic) Sophia Wilansky with arm nearly blown off. Father, Wayne Wilansky, said during interview that she had been at Oceti Sakowin for three weeks, and planned to stay no matter how cold the winter weather becomes. Wilansky has undergone surgery, but more surgeries are required. “It’s now my fight too,” Wayne Wilansky said. – photo provided by Keven Gilbertt
Law enforcement denies the accusation, claiming a Coleman propane explosion wounded Wilansky. “There was an explosion behind in the protester area, we don’t know where it came from but it wasn’t law enforcement,” Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said.
“These statements are refuted by Sophia’s testimony, by several eyewitnesses who watched police intentionally throw concussion grenades at unarmed people, by the lack of charring of flesh at the wound site and by the grenade pieces that have been removed from her arm in surgery and will be saved for legal proceedings,” the Standing Rock Medic Healer Council press release stated.
Activist standing under a shower in sub-freezing temperatures – photo by Rob Wilson Photography
The explosion destroyed Wilansky’s radial and ulnar arteries, and shattered her radius, according to medic reports. “All her muscle and soft tissue between her elbow and wrist were blown away. The police did not do this by accident – it was an intentional act of throwing it directly at her,” Wilansky’s father, Wayne Wilansky, said.
Medics also claimed police were shooting people in the face and groin areas intending to cause as much damage as possible.
“She will need multiple surgeries to try to gain some functional use of the arm and hand. She will be, every day for the foreseeable future, fearful of losing her arm and hand,” Wayne Wilansky said. “There are no words to describe the pain of watching my daughter cry and say she was sorry for the pain she caused me and my wife. I died a thousand deaths today, and will continue to do so for quite some time.”
Injury reports stemming from Sunday night and early Monday morning’s standoff at Backwater Bridge climbed to 300, according to medic reports. “These 300 injuries were the direct result of excessive force by police over the course of 10 hours. At least 26 people injured had to be evacuated by ambulance to three area hospitals.”
Riot police spray activists at Backwater Bridge – photo by Rob Wilson Photography
Some of the additional injuries included an elderly man who lost consciousness, but was revived, a young man who suffered a grand mal seizure, a woman who was shot in the face by a rubber bullet, a young man shot in the abdomen by a rubber bullet who was vomiting blood, a young man shot in the back near the spine by a rubber bullet, and multiple fractures, according to medic reports.
Law enforcement said late Monday night they received no reports of any activists injured.
The front line separated with coils of razor wire – photo provided by Rob Wilson Photography
During a press conference, Kirchmeier added that Backwater Bridge is deemed unsafe, that the trucks were purposefully left blocking the Highway 1806, and investigators will not inspect the bridge until activities have calmed down.
“We can use whatever force necessary to maintain peace,” Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler said. He stated the use of water on activists in sub-freezing temperatures was necessary, and that law enforcement would use the same tactics again.
“It was effective, wasn’t it?” Ziegler said.
A total of 528 individuals have been arrested on charges stemming from the DAPL controversy since early August, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Frozen water at Backwater Bridge – photo by Rob Wilson Photography
One woman’s arm nearly blown off, activists report, authorities receive no verified reports of injuries
By C.S. Hagen BACKWATER BRIDGE – An all-night battle at Backwater Bridge between police and Standing Rock activists left hundreds injured, according to camp medics.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department has reported it planned to remove a blockade on Highway 1806, but has done nothing for three weeks, Tara Houska, national campaigns director for Honor the Earth, said. Instead, when activists attempted to move the blockade, they were met with potentially deadly force.
“They did say they were going to remove the blockade because it’s a huge public health concern that blocks the major highway going to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, but still have not moved it,” Houska said. “So the camp went up to move it, and this was their response.”
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said the blockade is unnecessary, and condemned Morton County’s responses. “What water protecters wanted to do was open up that access, they started to move a vehicle that was burned off that bridge and law enforcement came with some aggression that we haven’t seen before,” Archambault said.
“They need to be held accountable, that’s not happening in this case because it feels like law enforcement is taking orders from Dakota Access Pipeline and Energy Transfer Partners.”
Law enforcement used high-powered water cannons in sub-freezing weather, teargas, pepper spray, concussion grenades, and shot rubber bullets, according to live video feeds made available by Kevin Gilbertt. A new line of razor wire and angled hedgehogs, iron traps to impede movement, were stretched along the front line. Activists used prayer and traditional ceremonies to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to activists, but police reports say activists hurled stones and burning logs.
“These are lethal weapons now,” Archambault said. “We have wounds where people got shot in the face with projectiles or whatever they’re using. That is a lethal act. They’re putting people’s lives at risk now.”
Law enforcement in padded riot gear faced the stones, burning logs, and rocks fired by slingshots, and one officer was reportedly injured after being hit in the head with a rock, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department. Approximately a dozen fires were set near Backwater Bridge and Turtle Hill, according to press releases.
Activists made fires for warmth after being hosed down with cold water, and not acts of civil disobedience, according to activists. According to Gilbertt’s video feed – watched by more than 2 million people – activists extinguished grass fires caused by exploding tear gas canisters and concussion grenades. A total of 20 people were taken to hospital emergency rooms, two elders were treated for injuries, more than 160 people were treated for blunt force trauma, hypothermia, and the effects of tear gas, according to Houska. One person lost consciousness and CPR was used to resuscitate the injured person.
“We found an incredibly brutalized response by police to try and clear a public road,” Tara Houska said. “There are photos coming out right now of a woman who had her arm nearly blown off her body. It looks like live ammunition.”
(Graphic) Injured woman with arm nearly blown off (face blurred to protect identity of victim) – photo provided by Keven Gilbertt
Morton County Sheriff’s Department said Monday morning that no reports “can be verified of protesters that were injured.”
Some activists sang “Love Will Find A Way” and danced while being hosed in sub-freezing temperatures. Others ran for the gas canisters, belching smoke, and threw them to the sides. Teargas fired over the activists’ line and water sprayed directly into the crowd’s front trapped hundreds on Backwater Bridge. Some involved passed out, others vomited; reports were also made public about people urinating in their clothing because of the effects from pepper spray and tear gas, according to activist reports.
“I watched them use high pressure hoses to soak the crowd in 27 degree weather,” activist Evan Ulibarri from California said. “I also witnessed a beautiful human I had met the day before get shot in the face with a rubber bullet. Blood oozing from the gash in her face, all while she cared about helping me deal with the effect of tear gas burning my lungs and face. I saw women and children, innocent, peaceful, trapped, attacked, and hurt.”
Front lines at Standing Rock – video footage
Teargas irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs. The burning effects begin about 30 seconds after inhalation, can cause difficulty breathing, chest pain, excessive saliva, and skin irritation. Many activists who were hit described the sensation as an uncontrollable release of fluids from the eyes, nose, and mouth, making one blind.
“Law enforcement is currently involved in ongoing riots on Backwater Bridge, north of the protest camp in Morton County,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. “Protesters in mass amounts, estimated to be around 400, are on the bridge and attempting to breach the bridge to go north on Highway 1806.”
Pictures of injuries stemming from Sunday nights activities – photo provided by Steve Gross
Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported the action was “very aggressive,” and that activists engaged in organized tactical movement attempting to flank and attack law enforcement’s western line. By 8:30 p.m., one person was arrested, which raises the total number of activists arrested to 489. “In order to keep protesters from crossing the bridge, law enforcement have utilized less-than-lethal means, including launching CS gas.”
The fight began at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday when activists hauled the wreckage of a truck off Backwater Bridge. One burned-out vehicle, which was placed by law enforcement on Backwater Bridge on October 27, remains, according to activists.
“It’s starting to cause a grave concern for everybody,” Archambault said. “They’re starting to use water cannons in temperatures that are below freezing. These water cannons were used, Morton County Sheriff’s said, to put out fires. We have reports as well as video where the water cannons were used directly on human beings, and this is with temperatures below freezing.”
By mid morning Monday, the fight was ongoing. Neither side gained any ground. “There aren’t any violent interactions going on right now, but the police are all there,” Houska said.
Officials deem Backwater Bridge unsafe for travel. The Indigenous Environmental Network has condemned Morton County’s inaction for not clearing Highway 1806, adding 30 minutes to travel time to and from the camps to the nearest hospital.
“North Dakota Department of Transportation has closed the Backwater Bridge due to damage caused after protesters set numerous fires on the bridge October 27,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. “In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has requested Morton County to prevent protesters from trespassing on USACE land north of the camp.”
Archambault said reports Backwater Bridge is damaged are not true, and an excuse for law enforcement to block Highway 1806.
Since October 27 when law enforcement evacuated the northern Treaty Camp, repeated attempts have been made by activists to reach Dakota Access Pipeline’s drill pad, surrounded by ditches and a 15-foot tall HESCO bastion topped with razor wire, less than a mile north of Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp. The drill pad sits less than a quarter of a mile from the Missouri River. Horizontal drilling equipment has arrived, according to drone footage released by media outlet Digital Smoke Signals. A promise the company made two weeks ago that workers would begin drilling under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe has reached its deadline.
Woman hit in head by “less-than-lethal” ammunition – photo provided by Steve Gross
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has still not issued the easement needed for Dakota Access Pipeline to dig under the river. North Dakota Highway Patrol has stated that if Dakota Access Pipeline begins drilling without the proper permits, workers will be arrested, and construction will be shut down.
“I don’t know if they’re actually boring, but it wouldn’t surprise me,” Archambault said. “I do know they told the Army Corps of Engineers that they’re going to start drilling whether or not they have the easement. It’s very possible they are drilling right now.”
The Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council called upon Morton County Sheriff’s Department to “immediately stop the potentially lethal use” of force late Sunday night.
“The physicians and tribal healers with the Standing Rock Medical & Healer Council call for the immediate cessation of use of water cannons on people who are outdoors in 28F ambient weather with no means of active rewarming in these conditions. As medical professionals, we are concerned for the real risk of loss of life due to severe hypothermia under these conditions.”
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition organizer Berry Nelson said he is appalled at Sunday night’s violence.
“I think from the very beginning this has been over militarized, in my opinion,” Nelson said. “I just feel that the level of response for all practical purposes appeared to be peaceful protest, some civil disobedience, there’s no question about that, but the level of response, the escalation has occurred up to this point almost exclusively on the authority’s side.”
Police are not the ones who should be held responsible for the escalation in militarization and violence at Standing Rock.
“I keep saying I don’t think it’s the people on the ground responsible, it’s the people making decisions at the top that should be held responsible for this escalation. They also have it within their means to do something, to go down and talk this through and deescalate the situation, and they consistently refuse to do that. And that shows a lack of leadership, and it’s unconscionable.”
One-sided discrepancies exist, Nelson said, in media reports, in police reports, and with state leaders.
Concerning police reports, Nelson said it wasn’t only activists starting fires. “The discrepancy that I’ve seen in the reporting is that police were saying protesters were starting fires, and I see in the other reports that police launched flares that started the fires.”
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is in contact with Amnesty International asking for more on-the-ground observers. Additionally, Nelson believes state legislature and leadership are ignoring native input.
Another example pertains to the next “Eggs & Issues” meeting set for early December and organized by the Fargo, West Fargo, and Moorhead Chamber of Commerce, when Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley, Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, and Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney plan to discuss the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“They have no native representation on that panel,” Nelson said. “We’ve called on them to reconsider how they’re presenting this issue to business leaders here in the community. We’ve heard nothing in response to that. They’re having Drew Wrigley, Julie Fedorchak, and Paul Laney to present the whole story.
“I think it’s indicative 500 years of history, there isn’t more – well, there is growing national outrage, but it really hasn’t gotten legs until recently as well – it’s just really indicative of how we’ve treated indigenous people since their beginning.”
Chamber President and CEO Craig Whitney said the Chamber meeting is for informational purposes only, and that the Chamber long ago publicized its position for supporting pipelines.
“We’re still working on this, I think this has kind of taken a bizarre turn or twist, because this was never an event for a discussion on talking about whether or not we should have a pipeline or should not have a pipeline,” Whitney said. “It’s a discussion to let people know, from the lieutenant governor and the state’s point what really is going on out there.
“People have kind of twisted this to say that somebody should have a native present to debate if we should have a pipeline or not.” The meeting is not to arrange policy, but to inform the public about “what is really going on” at Standing Rock.
The monthly event is set for Tuesday, December 6 at 7:30 a.m., and is sponsored by companies such as Wells Fargo, Sanford Health, Xcel Energy, Cornerstone Bank, Bremer Bank, and costs USD 30 in advance, and USD 45 at the door.
A ride along with law enforcement clarifies the state’s legal stance, tensions along DAPL’s front lines show no signs of abating
By C.S. Hagen BISMARCK – North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson’s police radio crackled to life; Standing Rock activists were caravanning toward Bismarck.
Troopers patrolling alongside the convoy stayed in constant contact over the radio, watching to see if the activists split up.
“We’ve lost the front part of the convoy,” a voice on the police radio said.
A bulletproof vest and a black cudgel were stowed in the cruiser’s back seat. Iverson’s government-issued Glock handgun sat holstered at his waist. During his 13 years with the Highway Patrol, he has drawn the weapon, but has never fired his sidearm in the line of duty.
North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson – photo by C.S. Hagen
“We had all sorts of commotion yesterday,” Iverson said. In North Dakota, the No DAPL National Day of Action disrupted commerce on the BNSF railroad for more than three hours. Pro DAPL supporters lined up against anti DAPL activists at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers center; law enforcement prepared for confrontation. Pro DAPL activists named the oil pipeline “Mary.”
“I’m always careful of the word peaceful,” Iverson said, “because a peaceful protest would require the sense of calm. There has been no calm in any of this.”
“They’re trying to slow down, it looks like they’re going down Memorial Highway, they’re eastbound,” the police radio said.
“10-4.”
“Right now the plan is to drive around a little bit, monitor things,” Iverson said. He shifted the cruiser into drive; a couple just chose Bismarck’s Capitol grounds as a good place for a domestic quarrel.
“Obviously, I am biased, but there is overwhelming support for law enforcement,” Iverson said. “That being said, you can support law enforcement and be anti pipeline. I see no problem with that, or why anyone would have a problem with that.”
One male was arrested at the scene of the domestic quarrel, and Iverson turned his attention toward more than 175 activists who were gathering at the Bank of North Dakota, and at North Dakota National Guard Fraine Barracks.
“I could care less about the pipeline,” Iverson said. He’s careful not to lump the activists together, after all, Standing Rock is a neighbor; many in Bismarck have friends and family there. After the controversy dies down, they will all need time to heal and work together again. He also understands the majority of activists at Standing Rock are peaceful, but adds there is a violent group bent on doing whatever it takes to stop the pipeline. His job is to protect everyone: the peaceful, the potentially violent, the civil disobedient, DAPL workers, the area’s citizens, and fellow officers. He prefers helping the asphalt’s stranded change flat tires to the recent front lines in Morton County.
“I truly enjoy working with people and helping people,” Iverson said. “I know that sounds cliché, but I get more of a kick out of driving up on somebody and helping them change their tires. Seeing the smile on their face that I’ve helped them out for the day. That’s something that people overlook at times: we are public servants. That being said, the laws of North Dakota were made by the people. We are charged with enforcing those laws, so it is a representation of the people as a whole.
“We don’t want to make arrests. Quite frankly, it is a pain in the butt and takes a lot of time.”
Although DAPL is nearly finished, Iverson’s instincts tell him the controversy may get worse before it gets better. There is no solid intelligence that predicts the violence will increase more than it has, “but it’s always a possibility. Personally I would say when the time gets closer to boring under the river, the final piece, it would only make sense that those who are committed to civil disobedience and violence will go to more desperate measures.
“Some will do whatever it takes.”
And the North Dakota Highway Patrol, along with other agencies involved, will do whatever they have to do in response, and for as long as it takes, he said. Departments involved are emotionally exhausted. Lines are strained. “This is very taxing on our officers, and from a budget standpoint, it’s costing taxpayers a large amount of money, but it is needed, and it is justified. But we will do whatever it takes to make sure that we are keeping up and providing adequate resources to do what the citizens of North Dakota expect us to do.
“Will it be stressful and taxing? Definitely.”
So far, Morton County Sheriff’s Department has spent more than USD 10 million taxpayer dollars since August. The state is paying for all assisting personnel, according to State Representative Mary Schneider D-N.D.
“But it’s time to figure out something else,” Schneider said. “I don’t know what that is, but the federal government should step in and find a solution to put this back together. It’s not fair to the local tribe and the local ranchers, farmers and taxpayers.”
Iverson has received many emails and telephone calls from people who feel law enforcement response has been brutal and unnecessary. Less than five emails, he said, were from North Dakota residents.
Frustrated
Today, DAPL’s drill pad, surrounded by deep ditches, a 15-foot tall HESCO bastion topped with razor wire, is poised like an army in ambush, less than a quarter mile from the Missouri River. Video footage from media outlet Digital Smoke Signals shows drill equipment has already arrived. Recently, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers temporarily denied Dakota Access Pipeline workers the easement needed to burrow under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, a declaration called hypocritical by the Morton County Commission Chairman Cody Schulz.
North Dakota Capitol Building – photo by C.S. Hagen
“The scope of the federal government’s inaction is breathtaking,” Schulz said. “They have not only furthered the uncertainty of the situation and prolonged the outcome, but have at the same time refused law enforcement resources requested by the county and state to deal with a situation that is to a very large degree a federal issue. I find it more than a little hypocritical that the USACE and DOJ can stand up in a federal court and argue that all laws, regulations, rules, and policies were followed in their permitting of the project, and after a federal court agrees with them they backtrack and delay the final easement for more study.”
“We believe this is unnecessary and problematic delay that does nothing but continue to prolong the difficulty that we have as a state and as counties dealing with this great challenge,” North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said. “Increases our costs and increases the risks of something happening that everybody will regret, and it is a mistake on behalf of the Corps.
“But as long as the federal government continues to allow protesters to camp on federal land near Cannonball without a permit, in other words to be there without permission, and as long as they fail to make a decision on the easement we believe this situation will continue. We have no choice…”
During a press conference, Dalrymple evaded a direct question if his office has contacted the U.S. Federal Marshal’s Office for assistance, but added that under normal circumstances the task of cleaning out the camps outside of Standing Rock would be a job for the U.S. Federal Marshals to lead. He said he has asked for federal assistance, but none has been forthcoming.
Dalrymple is frustrated “on every level,” he said. “The primary level where the frustration comes is simply the inaction on the part of the government, first the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We have come to believe that it is not really just the Corps itself, but the Department of Interior, Department of Justice, they have co signed letters to us that this should be delayed.”
Nearly two weeks ago, Dakota Access Pipeline’s parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, said through its CEO Kelcy Warren it will begin digging under the river within 14 days.
If DAPL begins horizontal drilling, Iverson will make sure the work is shut down immediately and violators arrested, he said.
“We are not in DAPL’s corner,” Iverson said. “We absolutely would not allow something unlawful to continue. If that can provide a peace of mind to protesters out there, I am on record right now saying that will not be happening, so without the proper permits and easements, we would not allow that to happen.”
“We’ll keep an eye on them… found one of the security guys here and he’s broadcasting the message over his walkie-talkie…” the police radio interrupted. “They seem to be willing, at least open to assemble where we’re directing them to. I do see a bunch of guys with large knives on their belts, other than that just a lot of flags again.”
Despite Iverson’s instincts citing possible escalation of violence in the near future, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office began returning home on Thursday, November 17, in time for the upcoming winter storm, Cass County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kim Briggeman said. Morton County officials said Cass County Sheriff’s troopers were home on Friday, but Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney did not return telephone calls for comment.
“All these DAPL days are running together,” Briggeman said. “But there was a time of need and our agency stood up just as many agencies did in North Dakota.” Briggeman would not comment on activities in Morton County, but did say Cass County Highway Patrol troopers responded again on August 15, and the department’s sheriff, who has been serving as Morton County’s operations chief since August was expected to return before the weekend. Additional troopers responded to a “code red” call from Morton County on the No DAPL National Day of Action, Briggeman said.
On the front lines
Iverson flipped through notes taken on the No DAPL National Day of Action. License plate numbers and states were penned neatly on a legal pad. Only one vehicle was from North Dakota, the rest came from California, Utah, and elsewhere.
“It shows you the out-of-state influence that is coming into the state of North Dakota,” Iverson said. “If there was that much support from citizens of North Dakota, I think we would be seeing a lot more vehicles from North Dakota out there.”
Activists on front lines facing off with law enforcement from four states – photo by C.S. Hagen
He’s been on the front lines. Recalled the day law enforcement evacuated the northern “Treaty Camp” on lands taken over by indigenous eminent domain declarations.
“As much as I would love to be the tough guy, it’s a fearful situation,” Iverson said. “It’s a surreal moment, where we are on the front line and are face to face with people who are trying everything they can to escalate the situation, such as lighting cars on fire, throwing logs, rocks, and sticks, and feces at officers. It’s a very surreal moment and we need to keep our composure.”
North Dakota has never seen nor handled such mass violence before, he said. The DAPL controversy is a historical event, and the eyes of the world are upon the Peace Garden State. The United Nations, President Obama, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have petitioned Energy Transfer Partners to voluntarily halt pipeline construction, but the company plows ahead, destroying burial grounds and sacred sites, according to a September 2016 lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and filed by former Standing Rock historic preservation officer Tim Mentz Sr.
Not once have law enforcement outnumbered the activists, Iverson said. Their nametags are now hidden because officers were targeted. Some received death threats; others were followed home.
“Early when this was going on, we had numerous officers being followed home, they had death threats because they were able to follow the officers home and gather information from the officers because they knew their names. This is something that is very concerning and we have zero time for that. Our families are all involved in this.” The practice of releasing police officers’ names is known as “doxing,” and is used by groups such as Anonymous, according to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Now, Iverson always doubles back at night, watching for following cars. He rarely takes the same route twice.
“Could somebody say I’m fear mongering? Maybe. But where there are active threats out there, and the fact that some have been followed home…?” Iverson stopped to answer a call on the police radio.
“It’s an intimidation factor. My family and law enforcement families should not have to deal with that.”
Although those at Oceti Sakowin say they are unarmed, Iverson said they’ve found guns and ballistic armor.
“They’ve said all along they have no weapons. I would say to the person who says that to me: ‘can you vouch for everyone out here?’ It’s a bold faced lie.”
Iverson has also investigated social media, looking for additional threats. He’s found pictures of people posing with weapons threatening to come to Cannonball to “kill a pig,” he said.
“How do we not take that seriously? That’s the other part on being on the front line, knowing there could be a lone wolf in the group that may have a weapon, such as a gun, and would want to do harm to law enforcement. There are people who would love nothing more than to kill a law enforcement officer.
“In fact, it happened on Thursday, October 27, when a lady tried to fire on law enforcement. Knowing this is out there and we’re walking into that, that’s a stressful situation to be in.”
Red Fawn Fallis, 37, was charged with attempted murder after allegedly firing three shots at law enforcement officers during the clearing of the northern Treaty Camp, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
“Some would argue those are empty threats,” Iverson said. “I would argue, that those people are angry at the situation, and we all know that law enforcement has been killed, and nobody wants that happen.”
Red Fawn Fallis mug shot – Morton County Sheriff’s Department
With the recent rise in fake news posted often on Facebook, Iverson said that the rumors law enforcement sent aircraft to demoralize the activists, that officers have urinated on native belongings, that the departments involved are racists, are untrue.
“I understand I may not be able to convince everyone, but nothing could be farther from the truth. We probably have law enforcement who do not agree with the pipeline, but we, as law enforcement take an oath of office, and we take that seriously.”
Has law enforcement response been perfect?
“Nobody is coming out of this smelling like roses,” Iverson said. The relationship between Highway Patrol and Standing Rock historically has been good, he said, and after this controversy passes, he hopes it will improve.
The militarization of law enforcement is partly to intimidate, in the hopes that people will back down quickly from any situation. The use of Bearcats however, is for their own safety. He recalled the night at Backwater Bridge when Molotov Cocktails were thrown at the police line. His cruiser would have taken heavy damage, and put his life in jeopardy, he said.
“Do we need to be conscious of the aggressiveness of our look? Yes. But at the same time we need to have the resources available to us to keep us safe.”
At every event, law enforcement has repeatedly petitioned the activists to disperse before resorting to less-than-lethal weapons, Iverson said. Tear gas, Tasers, pepper spray, and rubber bullets are used at an officer’s discretion for crowd dispersal, and only after all attempts have been made to clear an area.
“But we get beat up on both sides,” Iverson said. Law enforcement is a primarily a reacting force during standoffs. “We’re always behind the eight ball.” Some people have condemned law enforcement actions for not arresting sooner, he said.
Activists and friends of Red Fawn Fallis say she is innocent – photo by C.S. Hagen
Bismarck Police Chief Dan Donlin agreed. “Bismarck, Mandan, we’re not used to this. There’s the ‘arrest them all’ advice that we get, and then there’s you’re being way too oppressive and too heavy handed because these people are being prayerful and peaceful. But we also know masked in that area… is violence and potential for violence. Law enforcement is caught in the middle.”
“They want you to draw blood,” Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo said during a Standing Rock meeting on Friday. “They want to be able to crush you with their weaponry with their tanks with their armor with their might with their force, you’ve seen it, I’ve seen it. They want you to draw first blood so they can crush you. They lose when you remain peaceful.”
Police have seen peaceful rallies and violent rallies, but most rallies contain a mix of both peaceful and violent agitators, Donlin said. He also warned those supporting police, and those who are pro DAPL, to abide by the laws.
Throughout the Peace Garden State, there is large support for law enforcement, and Iverson feels that the citizens in the area are “sick and tired of violent acts and unlawfulness.” If the activists were all white, Iverson said there would be no difference in law enforcement reaction.
“It wouldn’t be any different,” he said. “To think we would do anything to demoralize my friends, neighbors, and family, is incorrect. Law enforcement is made up of the people, from all walks of life.”
Anthony Rogers-Wright, the police and organizing director for Environmental Action, stated racism is at North Dakota’s core and the DAPL controversy combined with Trump’s recent election, is bringing the hatred “out of the woodwork.
“This is not just about an environmental issue, this at its core is racism,” Rogers-Wright said. “This pipeline was slated to go through a majority white community, they rejected it and said basically said send it to the Native American area, let that be the sacrifice.”
Local negative reaction is worsening now that native peoples are standing up for themselves, he said. Hatred has been given a license. Incidents such as the one involving a local DAPL worker who nearly ran over activists and fired a sidearm six times in the air last week, will increase. “It’s emboldening them to basically point guns at native people at native women, and yell things out of their cars.
“This is an environmental issue, but starts on a platform of racism.”
Police sprayed mace and pepper spray intermittently at activists in Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
The fine line
Standing Rock and the tribe’s supporters have the Constitutional right to protest, but Iverson recommends everyone to stay at Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp to make their voices heard.
To protest peacefully is legal; civil disobedience carries consequences, Iverson said.
“Once that line is crossed, you are doing more harm than good,” he said.
In August when Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II pushed his way through a police crowd and when horses charged the police line, forcing retreat, and in late October when buffalo were herded towards police flanks, the protest is no longer deemed peaceful, Iverson said.
Activists argue that Archambault’s actions were heroic, that the sudden appearances of wild horses, gold eagles, and buffalos, even winter’s slow arrival, are nature’s responses to an invasion of greed. A curse lies on those who dig up sacred grounds, Mentz said during a hearing at Standing Rock, and it is a curse coming from the earth, from disturbed spirits who will rise with vengeance to drive DAPL workers mad.
Civil disobedience is typically a conscious decision made by an activist, protester, or water protector to affect change. While law enforcement arrests those who break the laws, the civil disobedient are defying what they consider laws already broken by Energy Transfer Partners.
Author and long-time environmental attorney, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., visited Standing Rock this week and condemned Energy Transfer Partners saying their actions were illegal.
“The arrogance to break the law and then the ability to get away with it,” Kennedy said to a group of people outside of Oceti Sakowin. “Not only that but when people stand up peacefully to ask the law be enforced, instead of aligning itself with the law abiding citizens of our country, the power of this state, and other states are aligning themselves with the law-breaking entity.
“I know that what they’re [Energy Transfer Partners] doing is illegal. They’re trying to build this pipeline fast, so they don’t have their day in court.” A reporter asked Kennedy what was the point of protesting any longer now that the pipeline is almost finished.
“I told the reporter if you have people robbing a bank and they came in the bank with their guns blazing, and they tied up people and they started emptying the cash register, and the police then came, do you think the police would say, ‘well, they’ve gotten this far we ought to just let them take the money.’
“What’s the difference? What they’re doing is a crime, an environmental crime, and there are real victims.”
The fast tracked pipeline is an old trick approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a loophole in environmental assessment laws. “This company took this little loophole and tried to draw it around a 1,200-mile pipeline. It’s called segmentation, it’s an old strategy, a device of chicanery.” By segmenting the pipeline route into small sections for approvals nullifies the need for a full environmental impact assessment along the entire route. A full assessment would certainly be denied, Kennedy said.
The pipeline will produce the same amount of carbon as 29 coal burning factories, he said.
“They use a flim-flam to break the law, and now when peaceful protesters say they want to see a cost benefit analysis, the company says no we’re not going to do that. This pipeline is not going to benefit the American people, it will benefit a few billionaires like Donald Trump, and it’s going to make them richer by impoverishing the rest.”
Another argument made by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is that the pipeline is on lands that belonged to them under the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Their eminent domain declaration at the northern Treaty Camp was on lands that belonged to the tribe until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took the land away after devastating floods incurred by the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program from 1944. More than 200,000 acres of Indian land was flooded because of the project, effectively impoverishing many within Standing Rock tribe whose old homes are at the bottom of Lake Oahe, where the Dakota Access Pipeline plans to run.
Iverson understands the validity of Standing Rock’s claims to their homeland, but such issues are for the courts, not for the police, he said. Trespassing will always be trespassing, he said.
Criteria for conducting a legal protest include obtaining a legal license. If a protest becomes disorderly, marches on private property, or disrupts a city’s function, the protest then becomes unlawful. No protests on private property are legal, Iverson said, unless, of course, permission is granted by the owner.
Staying at the main camp Oceti Sakowin is not good enough for many of the activists involved with Standing Rock. Every day DAPL construction is halted is considered a victory, and every time activists are able to reach DAPL equipment, construction workers must stop, Iverson said.
“I understand that at times they are able to halt or stop construction,” Iverson said. “So in a sense, they have been successful. But, just because you believe in something so strongly, that doesn’t give you the right to engage in illegal activities. We as a society cannot accept that.
“My recommendation is to remain peaceful and prayerful and to conduct those activities within the areas they have been allowed to camp in. They’ll claim they won’t be able to have their voice heard from there, but that’s not true. There are many, many media who go down there on a daily basis.”
The Dakota Access Pipeline controversy remains in limbo; both sides say there is a front line, and both sides believe their fight is right. Activism against the pipeline will continue; law enforcement will keep making arrests. All sides involved are not willing to capitulate, even on the eve of another Dakota winter as the “black snake” slithers toward the Missouri River.
Oceti Sakowin or the Seven Council Fires camp – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
Recent Events
Thursday: An additional eight people were arrested after 130 activists marched on Bismarck’s Wells Fargo main office. Six activists made their way into the William Guy Federal Building as well, locked arms, and refused to leave, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Thursday: Activists released the name of a Bismarck police officer, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department, and the North Dakota Legislative Management voted 10 – 3 to forego formal events, including a State of the Tribes address, due to security reasons surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to North Dakota Legislative Management.
Thursday: Internationally, on November 17, Norway’s largest bank, DNB, sold its assets in the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to Greenpeace Norway. Its decision came after the bank received 120,000 signatures urging the bank and other financial institutions to pull finances from the project.
Friday: More than 130 felony charges against activists dismissed by Morton County courts.
Friday: Morton County Sheriff’s Department condemned Oceti Sakowin, saying that activists’ attempts at winterizing break federal guidelines. “Inhabitants are fortifying their encampment by constructing temporary and permanent structures without a permit,” Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said. The North Dakota Department of Health activated a low power radio transmitter that operates at 1620 AM, which will be transmitting public health, safety, and other information near to Oceti Sakowin.
A total of 486 people have been arrested in connection with the DAPL controversy since early August, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department. A total of 1,287 officers from 25 counties in North Dakota, 20 cities, and nine states, which include Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, have assisted Morton County during the DAPL controversy, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Hundreds defy DAPL in Fargo, activists march on man camps in Mandan
By C.S. Hagen FARGO – From San Francisco to Washington D.C., Maine and Massachusetts to Arizona, Mandan to Fargo, tens of thousands of activists marched against the Dakota Access Pipeline on Tuesday in a nationwide call to action initiated by the Standing Rock Sioux.
The No DAPL National Day of Action was issued before a long-awaited victory for the Peace Garden State tribe and supporters when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers temporarily denied Energy Transfer Partners the rights to drill under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe on Monday. Energy Transfer Partners has less than one week to make good on its vow made approximately eight days ago to begin drilling under the river.
The leader behind the pipeline is confident that under President-elect Donald Trump his company will finish the job, according to an interview with Kelcy Warren on CBS This Morning last week. “We will get this easement and we will complete our project,” Warren said on CBS This Morning. Trump holds minor holdings in Energy Transfer Partners, and Warren invested USD 103,000 into Trump’s presidential campaign. Warren also stated in the CBS This Morning interview that it is naïve to think Standing Rock and the tribe’s supporters will stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, and that he is ready to reimburse the state of North Dakota for the millions various agencies have spent during the controversy.
Namarie Dansuri-Keating – “When I heard something was going on in Fargo, I was like I am totally there”- photo by C.S. Hagen
In between Fargo and Moorhead, the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group or MPIRG, organized a rally against the Dakota Access Pipeline over the Red River of the North on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Approximately 200 people from both sides of the river joined the National Day of Action rally. Many waved banners saying “No DAPL” during rush hour traffic. Cars honked in response. Only a few pickup trucks revved their engines loudly while driving by.
Police officers did not order the activists from the bridge. No streets were cordoned off to the public. No tear gas or pepper spray was used. No rubber bullets were fired. During the 90-minute rally one police car drove past.
“One of these days I would like to see us fill the whole bridge,” Willard Yellowbird said. Yellowbird is a liaison for the Native American Commission and has traveled to Standing Rock before. He’s seen the front lines, and hopes one day the tribal flags and flags from across the world will come to the Peace Garden State’s largest city to support Standing Rock.
“Here we are, just a support group in a spiritual way,” Yellowbird said. “They’re the front line people, we’re here to support them through financing, through prayer, through energy.
“We send them all our strength and spirit and energy from here.”
Activists cheering on Veterans Memorial Bridge – photo by C.S. Hagen
Elizabeth Arroyo, from Moorhead, plans on visiting Standing Rock in December to assist a Nicaraguan group with translation work. She took a stand on Veterans Memorial Bridge because she’s worried about the native heritage and their sacred sites becoming rubble, she said.
“It’s the weak who always suffer,” Arroyo said. “America should be an example for the rest of the world to follow.”
Jonathan Taylor (right) and Adam Heckathorn hold up a sign during the National Day of Solidarity with Standing Rock – photo by C.S. Hagen
Most people wanted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to shut DAPL down permanently, but they also realized if that wasn’t an option, a reroute should be considered. Some like musician and sportsman Iron Ike, hopes oil never flows through the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Everyone who gathered Tuesday evening was concerned about how the Native Americans and supporters are being treated.
“I’m just appalled at the level of unnecessary violence,” Adam Heckathorn, from Moorhead, said. “North Dakota really needs to make progress. This is what a third-world country does, and that’s what I see over there.
“If their complexion was a little paler, I doubt they would be shooting rubber bullets.” He helped friends hold up a cardboard sign that read, “Dalrymple spent $10M on DAPL Law Enforcement.”
“Look at us here today,” Heckathorn said. “Nobody is shooting at us.”
Namarie Dansuri-Keating and her friends follow the controversy in the news. Some think the pipeline should be rerouted; other friends want the pipeline gone for good, but all her friends, she said, believe Native Americans are being mistreated.
Activists on Veterans Memorial Bridge – photo by C.S. Hagen
Two hundred miles away in Mandan a very different scene unfolded along the BNSF railroad track near an oil workers’ man camp. A group calling themselves the “Black Snake Killers” and other supporters carried a message to the camp: “No more stolen sisters.”
Activists spoke from megaphones, describing how the rise of man camps in western North Dakota have coincided with a parallel increase in meth addicts, crime, murder, and human trafficking on indigenous reservations.
Men took the front lines; women formed circles to sing and pray.
“We can’t have any more of our sacred women disappearing into these perverted man camps, all they care about is making money, satisfying themselves,” said Julie Richards, founder of Mothers Against Meth Alliance, or M.A.M.A. at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Her war pony, or car, has been smashed. Guns have been held to her head, she said, because of her work with M.A.M.A. Before an audience of hundreds, she spoke of days when the US Army sent smallpox into native tribes, and then quickly followed with trading liquor. She called it liquid genocide. Today, Native Americans are still threatened, but this time against methamphetamines. “Our reservations are a cash crop for these cartels,” she said. “Meth is poison. Chemical genocide. We will not put up with them anymore.”
Activist holding NODAPL umbrella – photo by C.S. Hagen
Richards’ daughter became hooked on crystal meth three years ago, she said, and Richards has been fighting the cartels and drug distributors ever since. She started M.A.M.A. to help raise awareness, and as a support group for families suffering from similar circumstances.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department’s description of the scene differed from the activists’ message. Nearly 400 activists shut down the BNSF railroad by moving a pickup truck onto the tracks, then slashing its tires and placing brush under the vehicle.
“A rope attached to the vehicle was soaked in kerosene and protesters attempted to ignite the vehicle,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. “State troopers used an extinguisher on the rope to stop the fire.”
Activists hindered law enforcement from making arrests, Morton County Sheriff’s Department stated, which resulted in officers using less-than-lethal force.
Activists were shot with pepper spray, sponges, and beanbags, and one activist was shot with a Taser, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. Law enforcement made 29 arrests in conjunction with the No DAPL National Day of Action. The total number of activists arrested is now 478, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Iron Ike holding sign as sun sets – photo by C.S. Hagen
Other marches in North Dakota included a rally at the Morton County Law Enforcement Center. Additionally, 50 people marched on the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office, and another 100 people on the United Tribes Technical College, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
One of the arrests occurred at Turtle Hill, a short distance north from Cannonball after an activist allegedly trespassed onto U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ land, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
In Washington D.C., at the front doors of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters building, Standing Rock resident Ladonna Brave Bull Allard said her homeland is now a war zone. She talked of the injustices her family and others experience on a daily basis.
“The police officers who have pulled out of this engagement with Standing Rock, I honor them,” Allard said. She is the daughter of a police officer, and said the events she has witnessed at Standing Rock are not honorable. “Stereotypes are still predominant in America today. Why is that? We are all just human beings. We’re asking for a basic human right to protect the water… and we have a right to live. And so today, we ask the Army Corps to stand by that, who is supposed to be protecting the water, the people, the environment, we ask them to stand against Dakota Access Pipeline.”
Activists along Veterans Memorial Bridge cheer as cars honk horns – photo by C.S. Hagen
Hundreds march on Peace Garden State’s Capitol, no arrests, Army Corps says DAPL construction “cannot occur”
By C.S. Hagen BISMARCK – The Peace Garden State’s capital city was partially locked down Monday as Standing Rock and approximately 500 supporters hit the city’s streets in defiance of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Some schools closed. Roads closed. The North Dakota State Capitol Building partly closed. At least one school’s students were put into shelters, Bismarck resident Shane Balkowitsch reported, because activists marched down an adjacent street.
Balkowitsch, a wet plate photographer, watched his son’s choir concert later Monday evening sing “This Land is Your Land,” and could only feel sadness during the performance.
Activists at Capitol – photo provided by Rob Wilson Photography
“You see, just four hours before at this same school there was a mandatory ‘shelter lockdown,’” Balkowitsch said. He received warning text messages on his cell phone about the action. “It turned out a peaceful group of DAPL protesters were walking down the street executing their First Amendment rights. The school felt this action was warranted to ‘protect the safety of the students.’”
Instead of sheltering the students, Balkowitsch said the school his child attends should have taken the opportunity for discussion.
“I was told that this ‘was not a political statement’ and I told them that is exactly what it was, and that fear-mongering should not be tolerated,” Balkowitsch said. The school had an opportunity to teach the children about the First Amendment and what it means, and that maybe someday they will want to exercise this God-given right.”
The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
“Doing a lockdown tells the children that there is something to fear and worry about, that what is happening is bad. It is not.”
No DAPL activists in Bismarck – photo provided by Rob Wilson Photography
“It was put in place to keep the large group from demonstrating in the capital,” North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson said. “The North Dakota State Capitol building was placed on ‘soft lockdown’ this morning after pipeline protesters converged on the Capitol from all directions. Approximately 500 protesters carrying signs, placards and chanting converged on the Capitol with several attempting to enter the Capitol building.”
The North Dakota State Capitol building was placed on “soft lockdown” around 11:30 a.m. Monday, with all exterior doors to the building locked and monitored by North Dakota Highway Patrol officers, Iverson said.
Activists gathered at the north and west entrances, and the south mall area of the Capitol, Iverson said. After 1 p.m. activists marched down Third Street toward the William Guy Federal Building.
“Law enforcement blocked off the roadway from traffic and lined up along the grass area next to the Federal Building. Protesters were notified that their actions of blocking the roadway were unlawful and they needed to return to their vehicles. The protesters slowly made their way back to the Capitol after approximately two hours.”
No arrests were made on Monday at the Capitol or closer to St. Anthony where approximately 50 activists marched on a Dakota Access Pipeline construction site, Iverson said.
“They proceeded onto the DAPL easement locked arm in arm, but were confronted by DAPL security personnel who gave them orders to vacate the private property.”
DAPL pipeline and drillpad at Missouri River at Lake Oahe – photo provided by Myron Dewey
In what activists describe as good and welcome news, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported Monday that it informed the Standing Rock Sioux, Energy Transfer Partners, and Dakota Access LLC that it completed its review launched on September 9.
“The Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation’s dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property,” the statement reported.
Furthermore, the Corps invited the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to engage in discussions regarding potential conditions on a new easement for pipeline crossing that would reduce the risk of a spill or rupture, or “hasten detection and response to any possible spill, or otherwise enhance the protection of Lake Oahe and the tribe’s water supplies.
“While these discussions are ongoing, construction on or under Corps land bordering Lake Oahe cannot occur because the Army has not made a final decision on whether to grant an easement.”
Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of Dakota Access Pipeline, said one week ago that within 14 days it would be drilling under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. Energy Transfer Partners personnel could not be reached for comment; neither media personnel or the company’s CEO, Kelcy Warren, have returned emails or telephone calls since early August.
Buffalo behind fences – Indigenous Rising Media
Last week, video footage taken by Indigenous Rising Media near the Dakota Access Pipeline drill pad route revealed hundreds of buffalo trapped behind fencing, and apparently without access to proper grazing areas or water, which prompted the Animal Legal Defense Fund to investigate.
“There have been threats of killing the buffalo by the construction company. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is confirming reports, collecting information, and investigating the legality of the treatment of these buffalo,” Animal Legal Defense Fund reported.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that buffalo were fenced in near the DAPL pathway. “The owner wanted them moved to a different pasture,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. “They were corralled to transport.”
Additionally, Morton County Sheriff’s Department has begun an investigation into the case of a DAPL worker who allegedly brandished a handgun and drove a Four Square Concrete truck and excavation equipment into a crowd of activists. At least one woman was injured during the incident, activists and law enforcement reported. As he drove away, the driver allegedly fired his pistol multiple times into the air, according to video footage.
“The case construction worker is under investigation. The woman was offered medical assistance bur refused treatment.”
DAPL employee brandishes handgun before driving truck through crowd – online sources
Four Square Concrete LLC is a Mandan company registered in June 2013, according to the North Dakota Secretary of State, and is a “family owned and operated business,” according to the Four Square Concrete LLC website. The North Dakota Secretary of State lists Leonard Leingang as the registered agent.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department would not release the name of the DAPL worker involved, but a Facebook page entitled “Leonard Leingang is a Hero” has attracted national attention.
Facebook posts on the Leingang page denounce the man allegedly involved is a hero, among other various insults. Attempts to reach Leingang at the telephone number provided on the company’s website were unsuccessful.
DAPL drill pad less than a mile from Standing Rock Sioux reservation, and nearly on Missouri River’s banks – photo provided by Myron Dewey
Standing Rock activists march on Veterans Day, halt DAPL construction, 33 arrested, total arrested nears 450
By C.S. Hagen
CANNONBALL – Standing Rock activists marched on three locations early Friday morning Veterans Day, shutting down highways and rural roads, law enforcement report. A fourth march shut down Highway 6 north of St. Anthony Friday afternoon.
Approximately 30 activists were arrested, North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson said. Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported a total of 33 arrested. Work along the Dakota Access Pipeline was halted.
Law enforcement responded to reports at Backwater Bridge, where two burned-out DAPL trucks remain blocking Highway 1806, to a second location where the pipeline crosses Highway 6 south of Mandan, and to a barricade at the intersection of county roads 135 and 81, Iverson said.
“There’s a lot of things going on today,” Iverson said. “To be honest, I don’t know why they chose today, other than the fact that they do these things quite often. I do think it is quite embarrassing for them to do such things on Veterans Day, and quite frankly, they are criminal acts today, a slap in the face to all veterans. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Iverson reported six law enforcement vehicle tires were slashed, Dakota Access Pipeline equipment was vandalized – windows were smashed, engine lines cut, graffiti was spray-painted.
DAPL equipment spray-painted – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
“Protesters also attempted to attack an officer with a stake, slashed tires on law enforcement vehicles, and caused damage to construction equipment,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. Highway 6 was closed, 12 vehicles belonging to activists and law enforcement were towed.
“One man, wearing goggles, approached officers in a threatening manner,” Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said in a press release. “The individual had a stake and started to swing it at an officer. The officer responded using pepper spray to keep the individual from the police line. That individual was arrested.”
A November 1, 2016 report made public by the United Nations Chief Edward John, an expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, says the situation is quickly resembling a war zone.
“The United States, as a demonstration of its recent commitments to protect against human rights violations, must live up to its international human rights commitments with respect to indigenous peoples and swiftly reverse its current approach of criminalizing indigenous human rights defenders – those standing up for their solemn treaty rights to lands, territories and resources and their inalienable human rights,” the report stated.
“The US must fulfill its trust responsibility and fiduciary obligations. The United States has a legal obligation and “has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust’ toward Indian tribes in the United States, including the Standing Rock Sioux… especially when their lives and their cultural integrity is at stake.
“Clearly, US laws and international instruments recognize and must assure their survival as indigenous peoples and their dignity and well-being. No one should ignore, be indifferent nor run roughshod over these.”
Cut wires on DAPL equipment – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
Most of the arrests stemmed from a blockade created at the intersection of county roads 135 and 81, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. “Officers believe this roadblock was set up to prevent law enforcement’s response to Highway 6. Officers ordered the individuals to remove the barricade, they refused, and approximately 30 people were arrested.”
“Some people need to look up the word peaceful in the dictionary,” Iverson said. “You can’t break the law and engage in criminal acts and claim it’s peaceful.”
DAPL workers were spotted covering up pipeline already laid east of Highway 6 early Friday morning, according to the Indigenous Environmental Network. Approximately 100 activists hurried to the scene and stopped two backhoes before the rest of the workers retreated east, toward Highway 1806, along the pipeline route.
Sheriff’s vehicles slashed tires – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
“It’s just stopping them, stalling them, when they’ve already been asked by the Obama Administration, by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and they’re just disregarding everything,” the Indigenous Environmental Network reported.
One DAPL backhoe spun circles as activists approached from Highway 6, video footage revealed. A radio tuned into the DAPL workers frequency caught snippets of conversation between the pipeline employees.
“They ain’t shuttin’ me down, somebody is fixing to get hurt,” a DAPL worker said.
“We need to go up there and slash every one of them damn tires up there,” another DAPL employee said.
“We’re just trying to put Mother Earth back.”
“They don’t care about that.”
“Those dumb sh*ts are trying to jump on a moving tractor.”
“Let ‘em do it, let ‘em do it.”
Backwater Bridge and two burned out DAPL trucks – photo by C.S. Hagen
The marches came days after Energy Transfer Partners was requested by President Obama’s Administration, and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cease construction. The Dakota Access Pipeline, nearly finished, lacks an easement to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
Recently, Energy Transfer Partners, Dakota Access LLC’s parent company, and North Dakota’s politicians whose campaigns have been supported by Bakken oil interested parties, Senator John Hoeven R-N.D., and Congressman Kevin Cramer R-N.D., have been applying pressure to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize the easement needed to dig under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
Earlier this week, Energy Transfer Partners issued a statement saying in two weeks time, now approximately 10 days, the company will be drilling under the Missouri River. Already, horizontal drilling equipment is being hauled to the drill pad north of Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires camp, less than a quarter mile from the river. Energy Transfer Partners also reprimanded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers demanding it rescind a statement that Dakota Access Pipeline had agreed to halt construction.
On Thursday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers struck back, saying a winter camp for Standing Rock and its supporters will be provided. The Corps asked DAPL a second time to voluntarily cease operations, but the company did not listen, the report stated.
As the numbers of arrested activists defending Standing Rock, its lands, and its waters, nears 450 in total, politicians, the military, and tribal leaders are attempting to find a solution. Last week, President Obama said a reroute of the pipeline should be on the table for discussion.
Most of Friday’s arrested were charged with obstruction of a government function, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department. The situation on Highway 6 was reported as ongoing late Friday afternoon.
Activists at Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
Curse lies on DAPL workers, Standing Rock speaks of Trump’s victory, the Dakota “Excess” Pipeline, and a return to native roots
By C.S. Hagen CANNONBALL – Winds are changing, blowing from the south. Ants are returning early to their hives. The seasons are beginning to shift counter-clockwise, former Standing Rock historic preservation officer Tim Mentz Sr. said.
“Today with the elements, they’re changing,” Mentz said. He spoke during a Standing Rock testimonial hearing at Prairie Knights Casino on Wednesday. “Natural law is changing, and the change is coming now.
“If it goes south, devastation is going to come to us in a form we can never imagine.” There will be punishment for those who have committed crimes against the earth, he said during his speech.
“If you don’t get violent, these things will be taken care of,” Mentz said. Spirits within the earth, and the ground itself, will not tolerate the desecration. “The ones that tore up all that ground, they’re going to go nuts, they’re going to go crazy, because that’s what they’ve opened up. That’s what this spirit can do.”
Tim Mentz Sr. speaks at Standing Rock hearing – photo by C.S. Hagen
During the four-hour hearing, Mentz called upon the Seventh Generation or the youth at Standing Rock to return to native roots, to sit like stones and listen to repetition – the oral teachings of the Sioux tribe handed down for generations. A native of Standing Rock, Mentz was born in a two-room log house on the Missouri River’s banks, he grew up listening to the same lessons from his grandmother.
He slept on dirt. Ate dirt. Walked barefoot on the earth.
“When your feet touch the ground, you show honor to Mother Earth.”
The generation gap, Mentz said, is due to lack of proper teachings. He described how the Lakota, Nakota, and the Dakota pray, facing east to west, and how everything in nature has a heart that beats. Years ago two prophecies were made about black snakes. The first pertained to public highways, how the system would break up community, and destroy people’s relationship with nature. The second prophecy was reiterated in 2013, and refers to the Dakota Access Pipeline’s “black snake” Standing Rock and its supporters fight today.
In the past, he said, “spirit callers” could call the buffalo with their breath, from 200 miles away. Those days need to come back, he said. Many of the elders have left Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp, because some of the younger generation won’t listen.
“Those are some of the things we don’t talk about, but yet today at that camp, we should be talking about,” Mentz said. “But guess what, the young individuals there say ‘nah, that is not important.’ They don’t want to talk about the environment there, they want to get up front and confront those people standing there with those guns. They want to confront authority, not the hazard that we are in.”
Oil, Mentz said, is the earth’s blood, and frakking is sucking this life force from the ground.
“How do we preserve what we have left?” Mentz said. “If you can’t bring the older people back into this, you will lose a lot. The power of prayer that was there, that is still there, we have to bring it back.”
Signs outside of Oceti Sakowin – photo by C.S. Hagen
The pressure to defend land and water is a real, everyday concern for all gathered at Oceti Sakowin, Dallas Goldtooth, campaign organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network said. And now with Donald J. Trump as the president elect of the United States and an investor in the Dakota Access Pipeline, the battle mat only become more difficult.
“We always knew the cards were stacked against us, no matter who is in the White House,” Goldtooth said. “Look at what we were fighting against so far and this is with Obama. At least now we know where we stand. We know where he stands, and what his priorities are. At least we have that going for us.”
Some activists at Oceti Sakowin are nervous; others are becoming more active. At approximately 2 a.m. in Boone County, three activists climbed into pipes to be used on the DAPL route, according to Red Warrior Camp. “They are still in the pipes and will be occupying indefinitely, risking their lives to protect water for us all,” the Red Warrior Camp’s statement reported.
“I’m shocked,” Jordan Roberts from Denver said. Cell phone reception at the camps is difficult, at best, and he didn’t know Trump had won the election until late Wednesday morning. “It will definitely hurt the efforts here.”
James Hanika, of Mt. Vernon, Washington, wasn’t worried. “We’re in the best place in America today,” Hanika said of Oceti Sakowin.
“It appears to be just a way to calm investors’ concerns about this pipeline being stopped on the eve of the presidential election,” Goldtooth said. “They still don’t have the easement.”
“We have so much work to do,” Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said. “In this time of uncertainty, President Obama still has the power to give our children hope. We believe halting the Dakota Access Pipeline presents a unique opportunity for President Obama to set a lasting and true legacy and respect the sovereignty and treaty rights of Standing Rock and tribal nations across America.”
Energy Transfer Partners, Dakota Access LLC’s parent company, and North Dakota’s politicians including Senator John Hoeven R-N.D., and Congressman Kevin Cramer R-N.D., have been applying pressure to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize the easement needed to dig under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
Earlier this week, Energy Transfer Partners issued a statement saying in two weeks time the company will be drilling under the Missouri River. Already, horizontal drilling equipment is being hauled to the drill pad north of Oceti Sakowin, and less than a quarter mile from the river. Energy Transfer Partners also reprimanded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers demanding it rescind its statement that Dakota Access Pipeline had agreed to halt construction.
On Thursday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers struck back, saying a winter camp for Standing Rock and its supporters will be provided. The Corps asked DAPL to voluntarily cease operations on November 4, but the company did not listen, the report stated.
“Our assessment is, after having visited these areas in North Dakota on multiple occasions, there are a lot of individuals who have been brought together and now find themselves under difficult conditions,” Colonel John W. Henderson said in the statement. “We again ask DAPL to voluntarily cease operations in this area as their absence will help reduce these tensions.”
Mentz wants the pipeline stopped, and said he is becoming involved again in the movement against DAPL, but he is also looking further down the road, stressing what the environmental impacts of DAPL will bring. Despite the desecration of sacred lands, and poisoning of the waters, the pipeline heralds a possible change that mankind may not come back from.
“When the animals turn white, that’s when major change to the environment is going to happen, and we are in that right now,” Mentz said. If the change is not rectified, finding their Sioux ancestors’ graves will become as difficult as chasing dirt in the wind.
Mentz was invited by nearby rancher Dave Meyer, who recently sold 20 parcels of Cannonball Ranch to Dakota Access Pipeline, to inspect lands in the pipeline’s path, he said in a September 2, 2016 lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He conducted a Class III survey along DAPL’s south side a length of two miles in early September and discovered 82 stone features and archaeological sites, with at least 27 of the sites burial grounds.
A survey conducted by the North Dakota archaeologists “yielded no evidence of human remains or significant sites,” according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department and the North Dakota State Historical Society.
“Based on my extensive experience evaluating sites on the National Register of Historic Places, it is my opinion that each of these sites unquestionably meets the criteria for inclusion in the National Register,” Mentz said in the lawsuit. One of the stone features he said is the Iyokaptan Tanka, or Big Dipper, which is rare in the Great Plains and a place where only an important chief can be buried.
Another stone effigy Mentz found was the Mato Wapiya, or Bear Medicine Healer, a sacred site where a medicine healer received his gifts, is only a few feet away from the DAPL corridor. Another site known as the Itancha, or Chiefs Dreaming Pair with Staffs, is less than one foot from the DAPL route and was a site marked for its significance of when a chief united his tribe.
Prayer circle at Oceti Sakowin – photo by C.S. Hagen
Dakota Excess Pipeline
Winona Laduke, an economist, environmentalist, and two-time vice presidential candidate for Ralph Nader’s Green Party, said the Dakota Access Pipeline from an economic standpoint was a poor investment.
Winona Laduke, executive director of Honor the Earth, speaks at Standing Rock hearing – photo by C.S. Hagen
“The Dakota Excess Pipeline – not the Dakota Access Pipeline – we refer to it as the Dakota Excess Pipeline because present production in the Bakken is at 930,931 barrels per day of oil, that is presently being served by both pipelines and oil trains. Production is now at the bottom, this is called a bust, in economic cycles.”
Production in 2019 will not get any better, Laduke said, so she questioned the need for investment in such a pipeline funneling 570,000 barrels per day. Additionally, oil trains travel to destinations the pipeline does not plan to go, eventually to Nederland, Texas for refinement, which directly negates what DAPL has been saying all along that the pipeline will decrease the amount of current road and rail traffic hauling oil in North Dakota.
“There must be a full assessment of the environmental impact, that is known as a wells-to-wheels assessment,” Laduke said. “In other words, where did the oil come from? What is the environmental impact, carbon impact, the health impact, the radiation exposure impact, the oil discharge impact, the social impact of the Bakken oil itself? This has not been discussed at any point, either by Dakota Excess Pipeline Corporation, nor the state of North Dakota.”
Many in the Peace Garden State have been enriched by the Bakken oil boom, but not the Standing Rock Sioux, Laduke said. Instead, drugs, crime, sex trafficking have found ways to infiltrate native communities.
“It is a trauma that this tribe, which has never been a beneficiary of Bakken oil, has felt, as heroin moves toward this community, as meth moves toward this community in epidemic levels not seen prior to the progressive behavior in the Bakken oil fields.”
Mexican cartels are working in the Bakken, the Bismarck Tribune reported in 2015, and that crime rates jumped nearly 8 percent from 2011 to 2012. Crime rates have tripled since the Peace Garden State’s oil boom, especially in native lands, and due primarily to the sudden influx of highly-paid oil workers living in man camps, according to the Washington Post.
And the boom now begins to take its pound of flesh, Laduke said.
In the past five years, 5.9 million gallons of oil have been spilled in the Bakken, Laduke said. Since January 2016 alone, more than 100,900 gallons of crude oil, waste oil, biosolids, natural gas, and brine have been spilled in the Bakken and surrounding areas, according to North Dakota Department of Health records. Also, 11.8 million gallons of brine, an inorganic waste product the earth cannot absorb, have been spilled in the Bakken, Laduke said.
The carbon impact and catastrophic spills are not only confined to pumping stations, as DAPL suggests, but is also evident along all transportation routes, Laduke said. She pointed to the zip code 48217 in Michigan, a predominantly black community where Marathon Petroleum Corporation refines Bakken oil. The area is the single most polluted zip code in the USA, Laduke said. “The Marathon refinery is allowed to use the sewage system… in order to dispose of its toxins.” The vast majority of people in this neighborhood have health problems, she said, and no one has ever found redress under the federal system.
“From the front to the get, we have a problem with this pipeline on the community and on health,” Laduke said. “You cannot bring 570,000 through a pipeline with a vast amount of carbon, there is at present no way to remove that carbon from the environment.”
In essence, investment in DAPL is an unhealthy waste of money, Laduke said. “It’s like you spent your money on candy when you should have bought something nutritious.”
Nah-Tes Jackson, from California, who also spoke at Wednesday’s hearing, describes himself as a feeler. He worries about the people involved in recent clashes with law enforcement, and the rifts between the elderly and the youth that are developing in the camps.
“The damage they’re causing upon the lives right now, makes me pray,” Jackson said. “Hurt can fester, and eventually control and consume. We can become so lost in our hurt that we don’t know how to heal anymore,” Jackson said. “We are all tools in this life, and we can be used for good or for bad.”
No matter the differences inside the camps, healing, and prayer is still powerful there, he said.
Jackson broke down in tears when he recalled recent violent confrontations.
“Can you imagine a mother watching her children fight, and kill each other, and then their blood spilled on her?”
Horizontal drilling equipment en route to Missouri River, ND Public Services Commission proposes DAPL fine
By C.S. Hagen
CANNONBALL – In two weeks, Dakota Access Pipeline promises it will begin drilling across the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.
In a statement released on national election day, Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of Dakota Access LLC, said it was “mobilizing horizontal drilling equipment to the drill box site… Dakota Access remains confident that it will receive the easement for these two strips of land adjacent to Lake Oahe in a time frame that will not result in any significant delay.”
It is an announcement many believe is in direct defiance of President Obama’s recommendations to halt construction, and an effectual slap to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ face, which has not, nor has shown any signs of giving the easement Dakota Access Pipeline needs to legally cross the Missouri River.
“Dakota Access expects that its mobilization of equipment will be completed over the next two weeks and that it will commence drilling activities upon completion of mobilization,” the statement said. Dakota Access also reprimanded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and demanded the Corps rescind an earlier statement that it was intending to halt construction.
“To be clear, Dakota Access Pipeline has not voluntarily agreed to halt construction of the pipeline,” the press release stated.
Last week, Senator John Hoeven R-N.D., arranged meetings in his Washington office with the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association to pressure the Obama Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue the easement for Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a press release from Hoeven’s office.
Activist and drone operator, Myron Dewey, said the DAPL drill pad is a quarter of a mile from the Missouri River. The area is completely surrounded by razor wire, and long, deep pits have been dug on both sides of the pipeline.
“The black snake head is there,” Dewey said.
“What we are looking at is a full on, militaristic protection of this pipeline,” Dewey said. “They’re not wasting any money on the expense on trying to protect this pipeline.”
Law enforcement on top of Turtle Hill, guarding south of the pipeline – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
Tom Goldtooth, director for the Indigenous Environmental Network said legal cases are being compiled, strategies are being made. Standing Rock is not planning on sitting down and letting the pipeline through.
“We know the black snake is continuing to strike,” Goldtooth said. “Even though there have been requests from federal agencies and from the Army Corps for them to voluntarily not construct and to hold off, that’s not what the Dakota Access is doing. They’re going full steam ahead.
DAPL route entrance Highway 6 – photo by C.S. Hagen
“We really have to put our minds together, our hearts together,” Goldtooth said. “The power of prayer is what will stop this black snake. We will do what we can to create some headaches for the company, create some headaches for North Dakota, and just calling them to task on what they should do.”
Additionally, the North Dakota Public Service Commission proposed a USD 15,000 fine for Dakota Access LLC on Tuesday for potential permit violations after the company failed to notify the commission about finding cultural artifacts in the pipeline’s route in a timely manner, according to a press release made available by Julie Fedorchak, chairman of the Public Service Commission.
Dakota Access discovered four stone Cairns and other artifacts in the pipeline’s route in Morton County on October 17, and notified the Public Service Commission on October 27, according to Fedorchak.
“The company developed an alternative route around the site to leave it undisturbed,” Fedorchak said. “In the complaint filed today, Commission advocacy staff alleges the company failed to submit the required documentation and obtain the required clearance from the PSC [Public Service Commission] before resuming construction on the adjust pipeline route.”
Dakota Access has 20 days to respond to the complaint. Energy Transfer Partners’ spokesperson, Vicki Granado, did not return repeated emails and telephone calls. Repeated attempts were also unsuccessfully made to contact Colonel John W. Henderson of the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for comment.
“You have guns, we have water.” – photo by C.S. Hagen
One Native American picked from crowd for arrest, four clergy while in prayer handcuffed on Governor’s front lawn
By C.S. Hagen BISMARCK – Nineteen clergy and activists were arrested Thursday evening in the Peace Garden State’s capital; 17 were sent to jail.
Activists said it was “just another day at Standing Rock.”
Fourteen clergy arrested at North Dakota Capitol, four more at Governor’s Mansion – Facebook photograph taken in Toronto TD Bank Building
The arrests occurred in Bismarck, 45 miles away from Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires camp near Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, at the Capitol Building, and at Governor Jack Dalrymple’s mansion.
Earlier in the day, more than 500 clergy from 20 denominations including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jews, gathered at Oceti Sakowin to support Standing Rock’s opposition to the 1,172-mile-lone Dakota Access Pipeline. By afternoon, clergy and activists traveled to the Capitol Building, where 14 members of the clergy locked themselves down after being notified the governor was not present.
“Fourteen protesters were arrested inside the North Dakota State Capitol Building,” North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson said. “A group of protesters gathered inside the judicial wing entrance, formed a circle, and protested inside the building. They were instructed multiple times to leave and after failing to obey, they were arrested for disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.”
Activist praying near Highway 1806 barricade – photo by C.S. Hagen
More than 50 activists and clergy from around the nation then traveled to the governor’s mansion. Four clergy walked across the street, knelt in prayer, and were arrested within minutes, according to videos taken at the scene. One Native American male was pulled from the crowd in a tactical attempt to disperse the crowd.
“A large group of protesters formed near the governor’s residence on the west side of Fourth Street,” Iverson said. “Three protesters walked across the roadway and gathered on the governor’s residence and failed to leave after multiple warnings.”
Four people walked on to the governor’s yard, Iverson later said, and one individual did return to the opposite side of the street.
“It was obvious they were there to be arrested,” Iverson said during a press conference. He went on to say that some of those who exercised passive resistance were childish, and acting with “extreme disgrace.”
Dalrymple made an appearance, activists reported in videos. Riot police and law enforcement surrounded those gathered, first telling them to stay on the sidewalk, then rescinding the order telling them to walk two blocks away.
A Catholic clergy asked the officer on video why out of a mostly Caucasian group standing opposite Dalrymple’s house, one Native American was singled out for arrest. The crowd began pleading with the officer to release the Native American arrested, and agreed to disperse if the individual was released.
“You guys assembled here,” said a law enforcement officer who did not give his badge number and was not wearing a visible nametag. “I want to protect your freedom of First Amendment, but I also got to protect everyone else’s freedom, but when people walked across the roadway and traffic had to be stopped, we have to do something about that.
“So I came over and I told you loudly, this is an unlawful assembly, and you have to disperse,” he said.
The officer in charge of the situation told clergy that he has been involved in protest actions for approximately 15 years. “I’m willing to compromise with you if you guys are going to compromise with me,” the officer said. “Sometimes to get people to disperse, the first person to get arrested, then the rest disperse, because they don’t want to get arrested…
“I’ll release him.”
At Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
Earlier in the week oil was spilled on the Capitol Building’s front entrance, and a No DAPL sign was also left behind, according to Iverson.
Not including the arrests made Thursday, more than 416 people have been taken into custody since August 10 on resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline charges, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. More than USD 9 million of taxpayers money has been spent, and more than 1,245 law enforcement officials from four states, 24 counties, and 16 cities have assisted Morton County to defend the pipeline’s activities. In August, Dalrymple also called an emergency state, bringing in the North Dakota National Guard still active at checkpoints.
Clergy inside the Capitol Building rescinded the Doctrine of Discovery, and voiced apologies for hundreds of years of atrocities committed on behalf of organized religion, according to Native News Online. The Doctrine of Discovery, a claim to European legitimacy over indigenous lands, was a practice used by explorers and was a major influence in Manifest Destiny, a federal policy of taking land from Native Americans.
A rumor is circulating online that two law enforcement officers have turned in their badges after witnessing how prisoners were treated. This report remains to be verified.
Additionally, on Thursday, approximately 200 people gathered in Texas to demand the removal of Energy Transfer Partners CEO and oil tycoon Kelcy Warren from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission. No arrests were made. Warren was appointed commissioner for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission by Governor Greg Abbott in 2015. Warren recently contributed USD 455,000 to Abbott’s campaign, according to Vote Smart.
Texas demonstrators in Austin, Texas – photo provided by Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club November 3, 2016
Warren has also supported North Dakota politicians, and on Thursday was accused in a Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission meeting of disrespecting Native Americans by putting profits ahead of people, according to the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, an a national environmental advocacy organization.
Warren stated during the meeting that he didn’t believe he was digging up sacred sites along the Dakota Access Pipeline route, and that if he was, it would be “bad,” but he also agreed to meet with representatives of the Society of Native Nations over the issue, according to the Sierra Club.
On Wednesday, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department placed blame on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the day’s events at Cantapeta Creek, when dozens of activists were pepper sprayed while in the frigid creek waters. Native Americans and one journalist were also hit by rubber bullets after law enforcement destroyed a bridge activists erected crossing the creek.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested the Morton County Sheriff’s Department to assist them in removing any trespassers who enter Corps land to the north of the main camp area,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported in a press release.
“As you are aware, this area is the location where the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project has proposed to pace the pipeline under the Missouri River via horizontal directional drilling,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Colonel John Henderson said in a letter to Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier.
“The Corps of Engineers has not provided any permits or permissions for anyone to access that area of the federal property that we manage. It is an area that has not been opened for use by the public for recreational or camping purposes. As such, the Corps of Engineers would consider these individual to be trespassers.”
In the meantime, President Obama has decided his administration will wait and see how the situation at Standing Rock unfolds, but made mention that the pipeline may have to reroute.
Standing Rock and supporters march on Dakota Access, turned back by law enforcement
By C.S. Hagen
CANTAPETA CREEK – Activists defending water fought from inside a near-freezing creek Wednesday in a three-pronged attempt to gain access to Dakota Access Pipeline drill pad.
Early Wednesday morning, activists built a makeshift bridge to span a sixty-foot section of the creek, but law enforcement destroyed it, sparking another standoff.
Long shot at Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
“Protesters are trying to gain access onto private property also known as the Cannon Ball Ranch,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported in a press release. “Law enforcement witnessed a group of protesters building a hand-made, wooden pedestrian bridge across Cantapeta Creek. Officers responded and ordered protesters to remove themselves from the bridge and notified them that if they cross the bridge they would be arrested.
Activist plunging into the creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
Activists chose to swim across, some standing in the chill waters for hours. Canoes paddled people back and forth. They formed a line along the creek’s bank, many with hands in the air, wrapped in space blankets for warmth, as law enforcement sprayed mace and pepper spray. Guns rose when anyone attempted to climb the muddy banks. The creek turned to a milky color from the amount of toxic sprays used to disperse the activists.
Activists at Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires, are trapped; any access to the Dakota Access Pipeline has been blocked. Highway 1806 remains shut down. The police barricade and two DAPL truck skeletons block the highway on the north side of Backwater Bridge. While hundreds of activists attempted to cross Cantapeta Creek, more than 100 others faced off with police along Highway 1806.
The Cantapeta Creek, a tributary to the Missouri River, separates activists from the pipeline route. According to drone video footage, the 1,172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline has already reached the Missouri River banks, the United State’s longest waterway.
Activist at Highway 1806 barricade – photo by C.S. Hagen
Tristan Hartwell, an Arapaho from the Arapaho Red River Indian Reservation, said the water felt frozen. She emerged from the creek shaking. “The creator had an eye on me, and I’m doing this for all the people,” Hartwell said.
“Corporations have no right, we have the right to peacefully protest,” a Kansas schoolteacher named Lynne Hunter said. Sitting in a folding chair, umbrella in hand, she lectured law enforcement from the native side of the creek, “This is America. This is not Russia. You can back down.”
Activists doused bandanas with apple cider vinegar to ward off some of the sting from mace. Medics ushered in bottles of a milk of magnesia mix to help those hurting from the pepper spray and mace. Emergency vehicles responded to the standoff as well.
The air was pregnant with burning sage from smudging; pepper spray at times turned acrid on the tongue, leaving lips dry. Drums beat. Activists sang songs, cheering when someone volunteered to enter the cold creek. Some sat in the mud, hands folded in prayer. A third group attempted to draw law enforcement away by staging another action around the creek’s bend. One police officer fainted halfway through the standoff.
Andy Kader warming up – photo by C.S. Hagen
Andy Kader was given a hero’s ovation when he stumbled from the creek after staying in the water for more than an hour. He helped swimmers back and forth, made sure logs from the activists’ floating bridge didn’t impede progress.
Shaking wildly, wrapped in a space blanket near a roaring fire, medics reported he had a light case of hypothermia.
“I didn’t feel the cold because of the drums and the prayers of the people kept me going,” Kader said. One foot from the water, however, he couldn’t walk. Activists assisted him to a fire. Kader is a Mohawk, from the “People of the Flint” tribe. A large man, tattooed arms, he spoke quietly as he tried to sip water. His hands shook, making the sips difficult.
“Our water is so badly polluted from where I come from,” Kader said. “It’s already beyond repair. If I could do my little part to help my brothers and sisters from having their waters polluted as ours, it is the least I could do.”
As law enforcement began pepper spraying the activists in earnest, Pete Red Bear knelt along the native side and began a song on an elk flute. He didn’t play traditional songs, he played how the spirits led him, he said.
Pete Red Bear on elk flute – photo by C.S. Hagen
“They are very brave,” Red Bear said. “We’re all here to protect the water for all life.”
Adam Karls traveled from Sweden to assist Standing Rock. “For me this is like science fiction. This is another world for me, another planet.
“Here in this country they’re still talking about the history – make America great again, but for us, America was never great. You have to deal with your history. I have many white friends in the US, and they don’t care about this. They’re only talking about the drunk Indian, the lazy Indians, because they don’t know the history.
“They’re part of an organized structure that wants to divide everybody,” Karls said. “This is environmental racism.” Before his trip to the Peace Garden State, his friends said he was about to travel to the “Mississippi of the North,” he said.
Trump’s recall for the American Dream he sees as a joke. Many European nations are dealing with their racist pasts, for instance Germany, he said. “The American Dream works best for white rich people. I am so pissed off at my white American friends because they don’t care about this. They get angry when I talk about the past, the dirty past of the US.”
Kansas native Lynne Hunter lecturing law enforcement – photo by C.S. Hagen
The director general for the National Association for the Advancement of Indigenous People, United Nations Human Right IPO, Tushka Humoc, said he can only sit and wait for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and supporters to “do the right thing.
“We actually came out here to hopefully provide some remedy to this situation in an international venue,” Humoc said. For now, he can only take pictures; conduct interviews, and report back to the United Nations.
“The UN can’t do anything, because they’re US citizens by law,” Humoc said. “The moment they remove themselves from being US citizens by law, then the UN can step in and do something, because the UN has to protect the foreign nationals, whose lands are being occupied by the United States. As long as the United States has these people under BIA, they’re adhesion by Congress, so the federal government controls every aspect of their lives.”
He’s calling out for a deliberate change among indigenous people in the United States.
“They should immediately within 72 hours develop a new trust, submit it to BIA, nothing changes except the power. And now we can move these people [law enforcement] off these lands, it’s really that simple.”
Police sprayed mace and pepper spray intermittently at activists in Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
Former Oklahoma Senator Enoch Kelly Haney, full-blooded Seminole and the only Native American to serve on Oklahoma Legislature, said Standing Rock’s stand against big oil has the potential to become “very dangerous.”
As an artist, he crafted a four-foot-tall bronze statue for the tribe, naming it “Standing His Ground,” and is based off the native Dog Soldier’s custom of “pinning” themselves off with sacred arrows when making a final stand, usually against greater odds.
Medics battle hypothermia and hurry to warm activist – photo by C.S. Hagen
“This is their last stand,” Haney said. “And I do hope this does start some kind of precedent in law.”
President Obama this week announced his administration was watching the Dakota Access Pipeline situation, but wanted it to “play out for several more weeks,” he said, but also stated future plans might include a reroute.
“Given the recent escalation of violence by protesters, letting the situation ‘play out’ is quite literally putting lives in danger,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Some activists, frustrated by being trapped, said that perhaps lives is what it may take to stop the pipeline. An argument erupted among the younger generation activists after elders recalled the activists from the Cantapeta Creek.
Elderly native woman sprayed by mace, at medics – photo by C.S. Hagen
“Our warriors need to buck up,” an activist said.
“Are you scared to die?” another activist asked.
“No, I am not scared to die.”
“If they start killing innocent people you really think that the US is going to let them build that pipeline?”
“What’s your plan?”
“Let’s all go up there, let’s all go back up there.”
A bystander intervened. “If you don’t know what’s going on, go back to camp. We’re keeping them from working when we stand our ground. Let people do what they feel is right in their heart. Don’t have all this warriors fighting each other; that’s what they want. We have to keep the unity strong.”
Activist warming up after coming out of Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
The Red Warrior Camp posted in an official statement said they are putting their bodies and lives on the line.
Activist praying at Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen
“If you live on this land, breathe the air and drink water, this is your fight too,” the Red Warriors Camp reported. The services date for the Dakota Access Pipeline is January 1, they reported.
“We are calling for two months of sustained waves of action targeting the Army Corps of Engineers, investors, pipeline companies, security firms, and elected officials who are behind this project. We need to hold these institutions, corporations, and individuals accountable and put pressure on them to stop this pipeline.
“Additionally, recognizing that we are being charged with illegal activities for simply protecting the water, we are taking back our power and charging the pipeline companies, banks, and individuals behind this project with crimes against humanity and crimes against Mother Earth. The Dakota Access Pipeline is in direct violation of the United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights, most especially in regards to the right to security of person, the right to not be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Oceti Sakowin at night – photo provided by Steve Gross
No county or state charges filed against DAPL mercenary, paper trail leads to private military security companies, prairie fire threatens Standing Rock’s main camp, and inmates locked in dog cages
By C.S. Hagen
BISMARCK – The man who dressed as a “water protector” and reportedly drove his white Chevy toward Standing Rock’s main camp, armed with a semi-automatic Colt AR15, is a mercenary for Dakota Access Pipeline.
Kyle Thompson from Facebook page
Kyle Thompson, of Bismarck, also known as “War Eagle” after a native naming ceremony ten years ago, according to a 2007 story published in the Bismarck Tribune, was arrested by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Thursday, October 27. He was an “armed agitator” who fired shots with his assault rifle, according to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Facebook page.
Thompson worked security for a company called Thompson-Gray LLC, according to paperwork found in his truck. The company’s legal trail, long and twisted, leads to private military contractors named Pathfinder Security Services/Consultant and AMGI Global Ltd. Co.
The Paper Trail
Insurance papers and an employee identification badge found in Thompson’s truck linked him to Dakota Access Pipeline, according to Dallas Goldtooth, campaign organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network. The truck was licensed to Thompson-Gray LLC doing business as Knightsbridge Risk Management, of Springfield, Ohio, according to the insurance papers. The description of operations listed at the bottom of the paperwork is to protect to Dakota Access LLC, its parent and affiliates, its officers, directors, employees, and agents.
Thompson-Gray LLC is an active company established October 27, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio, under Silverton Consulting International according to the Ohio Secretary of State. The company has no paperwork on file with the North Dakota Secretary of State. In Ohio, however, Thompson-Gray LLC’s business scope includes security consulting and management services for “any legal service.” The company is considered by some to be an emerging leader providing solutions to the Department of Defense.
Charles Graham Clifton is listed as the owner of Silverton Consulting International. The company is ten months old, and has an identical business scope as Thompson-Gray LLC, according to the Ohio Secretary of State. One online review of the company was that it is “very shady,” and “does not pay its employees on time.”
Knightsbridge Risk Management is a private security firm also owned by Clifton and headquartered in Dallas that primarily serves the oil and gas industry. Its registration with the Texas Department of Public Safety has expired, but it is listed as a guard, guard dog, investigation, and security consultant company. Knightsbridge Risk Management is also registered in Colorado, where it is in good standing and established by Barbara Colliton of Ohio.
Knightsbridge Risk Management is active in western North Dakota, according to 2015 media reports. Another inactive company Clifton is linked to along with Grady Emmons is Precision Risk Management Group, LLC, according to the Florida Secretary of State, however; Emmons is listed as the registered agent for Precision Risk Management Group out of Saginaw, Michigan established in 2006, according to the Michigan Secretary of State. Knightsbridge Risk Management’s Texas company license expired on June 30, 2016, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, and it lists Clifton and Colliton as owners.
Clifton is also the owner of AMGI Global, Ltd. Co., according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Pathfinder Security Services LLC operates under its name. Pathfinder Security Services was dissolved in 2010 in Wyoming, and its parent company, Pathfinder Tactical Inc., was dissolved for failure to pay taxes in 2011, according to the Wyoming Secretary of State. Clifton is reported as the qualifying agent for both AMGI Global and Pathfinder Security Consulting, a company that specializes in oil and gas security, is a private military contractor reportedly active in the United Arab Emirates.
“For whatever reason, he has always used multiple companies and multiple names,” Emmons said of Clifton. “Whenever he gets a new direction, he forms a new company.”
Clifton also charged to train his employees as owner and manager of Castle Peaks Training Center – license also expired – according to Texas Department of Public Security. Clifton is further listed as the director of the Humanitarian Defense Inc., a non-profit security organization.
Emmons and Clifton have worked together in the past, Emmons said, in fact, they used to be friends. “We had a falling out about this Dakota Access debacle,” Emmons said. Emmons is the owner of Precision Risk Management Group, LLC, a security company that also provides investigative solutions. “He reached out to me when this contract came into his hands.”
They fought over tactics; Clifton’s tactics were far too heavy handed, he said.
“I could just see the writing on the wall, and once I saw the dogs and the way he was handling some things, it was one of the best decisions I made in my life.”
The security companies involved during the day of the attack dogs, and the recent DAPL security procedures on law enforcement’s flanks last week were illegal, Emmons said.
“It was an idiotic move, and way outside of standard practice.”
As private security employees they are allowed to defend themselves, establish a perimeter, ask and then direct people to leave an area. “But when it comes down to a violent encounter, you don’t have the right to get violent with them if you’re not defending yourself. The point of where you’re kidnapping people and things like that, you become the aggressor. That’s the job for the police; it’s their decision. On the security side, you’re becoming the aggressor, and generally speaking that is illegal.”
Emmons said he would have used a different approach to the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy.
“I certainly wouldn’t have used dogs, and wouldn’t have had employees out there with assault rifles and handguns. This isn’t 1955 anymore. Guns and dogs don’t have anything to do with a protest. There’s no place for dogs, and certainly untrained dogs.” He showed videos to friends pertaining to the day of the attack dogs, and noticed the dogs were not trained well.
“I’ve dealt with protests in my career, and trying to handle people like this with more and more levels of force, it’s just going to lead to more situations like this. These people have very strong beliefs, right, wrong, or indifferent,” Emmons said. “You can’t think you can hit them with hammer, or use a scare tactic and then think things will go your way.”
He has heard that G4S is active in western North Dakota. “If it’s true, it’s probably one of their umbrella companies.”
Activists on top of burned out DAPL machinery, fires still burning in gas tank – photo by C.S. Hagen
A long paper trail jumping state to state, a crooked path of registered agents, leads to the security company G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc., registered in Florida with Corporation Service Company listed as its registered agent list. Corporation Service Company is a worldwide leader for business, legal, and financial services, according to its website.
An employee search in the Texas Department of Public Safety shows workers jump from G4S or G4S Secure Solutions formerly known as The Wackenhut Corporation to companies such as Knightsbridge Risk Management frequently. Knightsbridge Risk Management security officers Joshua Paul Franke-Hyland and Robert Alvarado both worked for G4S in 2013 and 2009 respectively.
Standing Rock camp attorney Angela Bibens said she also has heard of G4S involvement in western North Dakota. G4S denied any of their employees are working along the DAPL line, according to the company’s communication director Monica Garcia, and technically, she may not be wrong. However, there are shadows that link the security companies involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline and G4S.
Activists on front lines facing off with law enforcement from four states – photo by C.S. Hagen
G4S, a U.K.-based security company, goes by many nicknames such as the “Chaos Company” in an April 2014 article for Vanity Fair, and as “spy for hire” in Tim Shorrock’s 2009 book Spies for Hire. Historically, G4S is hired by companies and governments to enter dangerous situations such as Nigeria, Israel, Colombia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, in western North Dakota, although in an extremely twisted and complicated route.
G4S has registered companies registered in North Dakota, according to the North Dakota Secretary of State:
G4S Compliance & Investigations, Inc., registered in 1997 in Bismarck
G4S Retail Solutions (USA) Inc. registered in March 2015 and located in Bismarck
G4S Secure Integration LLC, registered for protective and detective services in 2004 in Bismarck
G4S Technology Software Solutions LLC registered in 2010 in Bismarck for security and building management software and services
G4S USA, owned by G4S Secure Solutions (USA) Inc., had its license renewed in Bismarck in August 2015 and is authorized for security guard work and security systems consultation
G4S Youth Services, LLC, established in 2012 in Bismarck and authorized for juvenile facility management.
The G4S press office did not return telephone calls or emails related to whether their companies have security personnel at the Dakota Access Pipeline, or what if any is the relationship between the companies involved today and G4S.
All efforts were made to contact Clifton and the companies he owns; telephone numbers were listed as non-working numbers or had busy signals; Clifton could not be reached for comment.
The “Mercenary”
Thompson’s alleged attack against activists came to a halt on Thursday evening after he was stopped by a SUV when it smashed into the side of his car, activists and videos report. He was chased into a nearby pond waiving his weapon, and was later arrested by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Thompson’s description of events posted Sunday on his Facebook page, and his Facebook profile, raise more eyebrows than answers questions.
Mercenary Kyle Thompson, just before his arrest – photo provided by Steve Gross
“Three days ago on October 27th, I was in a situation in which myself and others were faced with the difficult decision to take another’s life or not,” Thompson said. “A decision in which most people are never faced with and I hope never will, a decision in which changes a person’s outlook on life forever.
“I’m not here to defend myself or the others who stood their ground on the opposite side, (opposite for some reason doesn’t sound like the right word to use, however it paints the picture for those who weren’t there), we both know damn well we did enough of it that day.”
Thompson was asked to take pictures of DAPL equipment on fire, he said. “So I attempted to go and do just that, nothing more nothing less.”
He primarily stayed on Highway 1806 until he was forced off the road. He said he was also attempting to leave the area “as directed by the protestors on 1806.”
“I drew out my rifle after my vehicle was disabled and over 300 protesters were rapidly approaching my location, a few had knives and were dead set on using those knives.”
He then retreated into the pond to escape being surrounded. He denied firing his weapon. “That rifle hasn’t had a single round pass through the barrel in well over three months, the FBI can confirm,” he said.
During the confrontation an activist fired a flare at him, and his truck was set on fire, he said.
“I’m not out there for the money, fame, or personal gain,” Thompson said. “I will never stop, at any cost, defending those who I care for and those who put their trust in me.”
His Facebook profile reports he works for Rock Point, a bar and grill, and he was a former “door kicker” for the U.S. Army. A December 2007 article published by the Bismarck Tribune reported Thompson returned from a 15-month tour in Iraq with the U.S. Army 1-89th, 2nd Brigade to a hero’s welcome. At a Bismarck airport former Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Tex Hall also presented him with an eagle feather headdress, and he was previously given the name War Eagle at a naming ceremony.
“It meant a lot to me because of my heritage,” Thompson said in the article.
On Facebook, Thompson has liked pages such as Unicorn Riot, Native Lives Matter, and Young Americans for Liberty, but also liked Predator Tactics, a company that manufactures night hunting lights for outdoorsmen. He left the Army in 2013, and graduated from State University of New York at Oswego with a major in business administration, according to his Facebook Page.
But, according to documents found inside his vehicle, he also works for the Dakota Access Pipeline as private security. After activists cornered him in the pond, Bureau of Indian Affairs officers arrived and took him into custody. He was jailed in Fort Yates, bonded, and then released, according to Bibens.
Friends of his on Facebook inquired of his well-being. His reply was that he was fine, “Always, you know that.” He also thanked friends for defending him online. “I can only hope that this will open up some minds to what could happen when you push someone so far that you force them into doing something that cannot be undone. Luckily for them it was someone like me on that other end.”
“We are doing our own investigation,” Bibens, said. “It’s a little too soon to say, but there are some key witnesses who can give a truer version of what happened.” Bibens is also the ground coordinator for the Red Owl Legal Collective, and works with the National Lawyers Guild.
Bibens said there are loopholes when it comes to prosecuting such cases. Pending charges against Thompson must come from the federal government.
“White guy on the rez,” Bibens said. “This is a major crime, and reservations don’t have authority over major crimes. This is a felony; this isn’t a simple assault. Someone brandishes a killing machine, that’s a felony.
“But maybe it’s not so much of a thing if law enforcement that does have jurisdiction over this guy doesn’t pick up the case. There are predatory white men who go to the reservation and victimize… and they know they can get away with it because there is a huge loophole in the jurisdiction law. This is the same loophole in the jurisdiction of criminal offenses.”
“I’m not worried about this whole situation because I know that whatever happens will happen for a good reason,” Thompson said. “I will always be fine no matter what happens. If only this lesson reaches the ones who truly need it, then we will be able to call it a success.”
Kyle Loven, chief division counsel and media coordinator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Minneapolis Office, was familiar with the incident, but refused to comment on Thompson’s situation, or any other aspects of the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy.
Morton County State’s Attorney Brian Grosinger did not reply to repeated requests for information on whether the county or any other state agency will be investigating or filing charges on Thompson. The North Dakota Secretary of State also did not return requests for information, and hung up the telephone halfway through a request.
Morton County Sheriff’s Department called Thompson a victim, and reported they were unable to confirm if any shots were fired. “The victim was instructed to get pictures of construction equipment,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department said in a press release. “In order to do so, the victim disguised himself so he would be able to gain access without being singled out as a construction worker.
“The man grabbed a rifle to defend himself, he retreated toward the Cannonball River and was pursued. No charges will be filed against this man as he was using the weapon to protect himself.”
Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Harold Frazier said he will be seeking charges of attempted murder against Thompson.
Prairie fire east of Oceti Sakowin, or Big Camp – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department
Prairie Fire, Numbers, and Dog Kennels
Three days after Thompson’s arrest by the BIA, when law enforcement from four states violently cleared Standing Rock’s northern Treaty Camp, a fire ravaged the grasslands west of Highway 1806.
The fire was reported at 1 a.m., near Backwater Bridge, which is separated from the main camp, Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Fires Council camp, by the highway.
“Mandan Rural Fire responded to the fire,” Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported. “However, due to the terrain, Mandan Rural was unable to access the fire.”
Winds swept the fire east, burning a large swath of prairie land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The land formerly belonged to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe but was taken by the Corps after it was condemned. At 8:45 a.m., North Dakota National Guard units suppressed the fire. Black Hawk helicopters with 600-gallon water buckets assisted, Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported.
“For three hours they let that fire burn,” Bibens said. Her legal team, now fully staffed, is investigating the case as arson. “The hillsides are scorched. Somebody was talking about this was a controlled burn. Who does that at 2 o’clock in the morning?
“It was to cause fear and confusion. There’s video of someone with a flashlight walking along the ridge with fire following them. What does that tell you?”
More people than she can count reported injuries from Thursday’s events, Bibens said. “The numbers are stacking up. We’re taking instant reports. People are knocking on the tent before we open, and we’re there until 6:30 at night. It’s intense. It’s really intense.”
Treatment of the 117 people arrested on Thursday was “deplorable and illegal,” Bibens said. Activists were thrown into dog kennels at Bismarck’s airport; inmates’ forearms were numbered, an action many are comparing to the Nazi’s practice of tattooing Jews and others in concentration camps during World War II.
Activists hugging each other as law enforcement issue final warning to move – photo by C.S. Hagen
“Not only illegal, but dehumanizing to put people in dog kennels,” Bibens said. “They had this all planned out. People were denied their medication; diabetics were denied food in a timely manner, denied insulin. Just the medical neglect alone is illegal.
“We have a lot of people coming out of custody who have some stories to tell.”
Since August 10, 411 people have been arrested on charges related to resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department. Most, if not all of those arrested have been strip searched before incarceration, according to Bibens and activists. One woman was left naked in a cell overnight for the viewing of male guards, according to Bruce Ellison, a long-term criminal defense lawyer and legal team coordinator of the Lawyer’s Guild Mass Defense Committee.
On Monday, the Morton County States Attorney’s office charged 37-year-old Red Fawn Fallis with attempted murder, among other charges, after she allegedly fired three shots at law enforcement on October 27, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Since Governor Jack Dalrymple’s emergency declaration in August, the state has spent approximately USD 9 million of taxpayer’s money, according to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II has asked for an official U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the actions of both law enforcement and Dakota Access Pipeline. His plea has been heard in Fargo and city leaders have echoed the call, asking for DOJ boots on the ground at Cannon Ball. Over the weekend, the United Nations and Amnesty International announced plans to visit the Oceti Sakowin to collect information and record testimonies, according to media outlet Indigenous American Network.
