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 The 24-year-old actress was taken into custody shortly after
noon local time with 27 other people on misdemeanor charges of
criminal trespass and engaging in a riot, said Rob Keller,
spokesman for the Morton County Sheriff's Office.
He said it was unclear if Woodley remained in custody later on
Monday afternoon or had been released on bond. The protests were
taking place at a construction site for the pipeline about 2
miles (3.2 km) south of the town of St. Anthony.
Woodley, who had been broadcasting the event on Facebook Live,
was seen being taken into custody and narrated her own arrest,
saying she had been heading peacefully back to her vehicle when
"they grabbed me by my jacket and said that I wasn't allowed to
continue ... and they have giant guns and batons and zip ties
and they are not letting me go."
As she was led away in handcuffs, Woodley said on the video she
was among hundreds of protesters but was singled out "because
I'm well known, because I have 40,000 people watching."
Keller said that Woodley was among the last arrested and was
taken into custody after she left the private property.
Woodley, who aside from her acting is known for her
environmental activism, has previously joined members of North
Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protest against the
proposed construction of the $3.7 billion project.
Earlier this year she co-starred in the film "Snowden" as
Lindsay Mills, girlfriend of the former National Security Agency
contractor who leaked details about the U.S. government's
massive surveillance programs and was granted asylum in Russia
after fleeing the United States in 2013.
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The 1,100-mile (1770-km) pipeline, being built by a group of
companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP, would be the first to
bring Bakken shale from North Dakota directly to refineries on the
U.S. Gulf Coast.
The group behind the pipeline, called Dakota Access, had planned to
start operations in the fourth quarter of this year, but
construction has been hampered by demonstrations.
On Sunday, a federal court rejected a request by the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe to halt construction of the Dakota Access pipeline but
said that ruling was not the final word as a necessary easement
still needed government approval.
On Monday, the Department of Justice, U.S. Army and Department of
the Interior said that the Army, in the interim, will not authorize
construction of the pipeline on Army Corps land bordering or under
Lake Oahe.
The tribe believes the pipeline would leave its land vulnerable to
contamination from oil spills and would damage historic and
culturally significant sites.
Supporters say it would provide a safer and more cost-effective way
to transport Bakken shale to the U.S. Gulf than by road or rail.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe
and Lisa Shumaker)
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