Police arrest 141 in crackdown on North
Dakota pipeline protesters
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[October 28, 2016]
By Timothy Mclaughlin
(Reuters) - Police arrested 141 Native
Americans and other protesters in North Dakota in a tense standoff that
spilled into Friday morning between law enforcement and demonstrators
seeking to halt construction of a disputed oil pipeline.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray and armored vehicles in an effort
to disperse an estimated 330 protesters and clear a camp on private
property in the path of the proposed $3.8 billion Dakota Access
Pipeline, according to photos and statements released by the Morton
County Sheriff's Department.
Some protesters responded by throwing rocks, bottles and Molotov
cocktails at police, attaching themselves to vehicles and starting
fires, police said.
"It was a very active and tense evening as law enforcement worked
through the evening to clear protesters," the department said.
A female protester fired three rounds at the police line before she was
arrested, the department said.
In another shooting incident, a man was taken into custody after a man
was shot in the hand. That "situation involved a private individual who
was run off the road by protesters," the department said in a Facebook
post.
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The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline, being built by a group of companies
led by Energy Transfer Partners LP, would offer the fastest and most
direct route to bring Bakken shale oil from North Dakota to U.S. Gulf
Coast refineries.
Supporters say it would be safer and more cost-effective than
transporting the oil by road or rail.
But the pipeline has drawn the ire of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and
environmental activists who say it threatens the water supply and sacred
tribal sites. They have been protesting for several months, and dozens
have been arrested.
In all, 141 people were arrested on various charges including conspiracy
to endanger by fire or explosion, engaging in a riot and maintaining a
public nuisance, the sheriff's department said.
Native American protesters had occupied the site since Monday, saying
they were the land's rightful owners under an 1851 treaty with the U.S.
government.
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![](../images/102816pics/news_c7.jpg)
A line of police move towards a roadblock and encampment of Native
American and environmental protesters near an oil pipeline
construction site, near the town of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S.
October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Rob Wilson
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Video posted on social media showed dozens of police and two armored
vehicles slowly approaching one group of protesters.
Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the video, which
showed a helicopter overhead as some protesters said police had used
bean-bag guns in an effort to chase them out of the camp.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said police were successful in
clearing the camp.
"Private property is not the place to carry out a peaceful protest,"
he said.
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux asked Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday to oppose the pipeline. She
has not taken a public position on the issue.
(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago and Brendan O'Brien in
Milwaukee; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington;
Editing by Peter Cooney and Nick Macfie)
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