http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/23/stakes-are-getting-higher-83-people-arrested-maced-north-dakota
Published on Sunday, October 23, 2016
by Common Dreams
'Stakes Are Getting Higher': 83 People Arrested, Maced in North Dakota
Saturday's arrests follow reports of escalating police abuse at the
protest sites, including beatings and unnecessary strip-searches of
those arrested
by Nadia Prupis, staff writer
More than 80 people were arrested in North Dakota on Saturday, as police
armed with pepper spray descended on a protest near the Dakota Access
Pipeline (DAPL) construction site.
The 83 water protectors were hit with charges ranging from rioting to
criminal trespass, according to the Morton County sheriff's department.
The Bismarck Tribune reported:
Kellie Berns, a protester who hung back behind a fence at the
scene, said she received reports of people being pepper-sprayed and
thrown to the ground and described law enforcement as being more
aggressive than in past incidents. She said protesters were encircled by
police as they walked onto the site.
"People came back very distressed," she said of those who returned
to the fence following the demonstration. "The pipeline is getting a lot
closer, so the stakes are getting higher."
Protests against DAPL have been ongoing for months, as the Standing Rock
Sioux, along with other tribes and environmental activists, say the $3.8
billion, 1,100-mile pipeline threatens their access to clean water and
violates Native American treaty rights.
Last week, riot charges against Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman were
dismissed after she turned herself in to North Dakota police. An arrest
warrant was issued after Goodman's crew videotaped a private security
team hired by the pipeline company assaulting peaceful protesters with
attack dogs and pepper spray. Meanwhile, documentary filmmaker Deia
Schlosberg faces up to 45 years in prison for reporting on the protests.
"This string of arrests constitutes nothing less than a war on
journalism and a victory for fossil fuel interests that have banked on
the pipeline," Food and Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter
said last week.
Saturday's arrests follow reports of escalating police abuse at the
protest sites, including beatings and unnecessary strip-searches of
those arrested.
On Twitter, Ojibwe activist and attorney Tara Houska wrote:
Journalists, attorneys, indigenous protectors arrested & maced while
demonstrating today. Whose interest is North Dakota protecting?
Construction on the pipeline is continuing despite a request from the
federal government to put a halt on activity so that the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers can properly consider objections.
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