Here's where things stand at 10pm EST
Things are calming down at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, as night falls. It’s been an eventful day.
- More than 200 police in riot gear deployed pepper spray and armored vehicles to push protesters off land belonging to the pipeline company
- At least 16 people were arrested, though Morton County sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said that more were en route to be processed
- Kirchmeier said that police would be on the scene “as long as it takes”
- Protesters reported police use of stun guns, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds, though Kirchmeier said that they were not deployed “as far as I know”
- A group of activists protested outside Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Brooklyn in solidarity
Number of arrests rises to 117
117 protesters have been arrested at the Standing Rock camp, a spokesperson for the Morton County sheriff’s department says.
“Currently law enforcement is engaged in a situation at the backwater bridge, just north of the main camp. Protester have lit a fire near the bridge,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
117 protesters have been arrested. Morton County will be utilizing other jails in this mass arrest operation.
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Pipeline protest in pictures
Here are some of the latest images from photographers on the frontline of today’s standoff:
Here’s the Guardian’s photo gallery of the day’s events:
Standing Rock tribal chairman Dave Archambault just released a statement. “Militarized law enforcement agencies moved in on water protectors with tanks and riot gear today,” the statement says. “We continue to pray for peace. We call on the state of North Dakota to oversee the actions of local law enforcement to, first and foremost, ensure everyone’s safety.”
The statement continues:
The Department of Justice must send overseers immediately to ensure the protection of First Amendment rights and the safety of thousands here at Standing Rock. DOJ can no longer ignore our requests. If harm comes to any who come here to stand in solidarity with us, it is on their watch. They must step in and hold the state of North Dakota and Morton County accountable for their acts of violence against innocent, prayerful people.
The Obama administration has asked DAPL to voluntarily halt construction until the review process has been completed, but DAPL has ignored these repeated requests. By deploying law enforcement to support DAPL construction, the State of North Dakota is collaborating with Energy Transfer Partners and escalating tensions.
We need our state and federal governments to bring justice and peace to our lands, not the force of armored vehicles.
We have repeatedly seen a disproportionate response from law enforcement to water protectors’ nonviolent exercise of their constitutional rights. Today we have witnessed people praying in peace, yet attacked with pepper spray, rubber bullets, sound and concussion cannons. We urge state and federal government agencies to give this tense situation their immediate and close attention.
We also call on the thousands of water protectors who stand in solidarity with us against DAPL to remain in peace and prayer. Any act of violence hurts our cause and is not welcome here. We invite all supporters to join us in prayer that, ultimately, the right decision—the moral decision—is made to protect our people, our sacred places, our land and our resources.
We won’t step down from this fight. As peoples of this earth, we all need water. This is about our water, our rights, and our dignity as human beings.
The Morton County sheriff’s department has released a new statement clarifying their earlier release regarding firearm incidents:
At around 5:30 law enforcement received a report of gun shots being fired near a bridge just north of the main camp. A person was injured. Law enforcement have one person in custody.
In a separate incident, a woman was being placed under arrest and pulled a weapon and fired three shots near officers who were holding a line. She was taken into custody. No officers were injured.
One key difference is that officials are now saying that a weapon was fired “near officers” rather than “at” officers, as the previous statement alleged.
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Some pictures from today’s events:
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Reports of incidents involving firearms
A spokesperson for the Morton County sheriff’s department has sent the Guardian a statement about several separate incidents involving firearms at the protest today, including one in which a woman being placed under arrest allegedly shot at law enforcement officers.
The statement in full:
We have received reports of several incidents involving firearms.
1) Situation involved a private individual who was run off the road by protestors. The victim was shot in the hand and is being treated. An investigation in underway. No law enforcement was involved with this shooting.
2) At the front line on Highway 1806, a woman who was being placed under arrest, pulled a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at law enforcement, narrowly missing a sheriff’s deputy. She was taken into custody with no shots fired by law enforcement.
3) Ten shots were reported in the area. It’s possible it is local hunters. This incident is under investigation.
Democratic nominee for president Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the situation. In a statement to NBC News, Clinton campaign spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said:
From the beginning of this campaign, Secretary Clinton has been clear that she thinks all voices should be heard and all views considered in federal infrastructure projects. Now, all of the parties involved — including the federal government, the pipeline company and contractors, the state of North Dakota, and the tribes — need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest. As that happens, it’s important that on the ground in North Dakota, everyone respects demonstrators’ rights to protest peacefully, and workers’ rights to do their jobs safely.
Police have cleared protesters from the land owned by the pipeline construction company
Here’s a little more about what exactly that means.
The original protest camp – Sacred Stone – is on tribal land owned by Lakota Sioux tribal member Ladonna Allard, on the west bank of the Missouri river, just south of where the smaller Cannonball river flows into it.
As it grew, the camp multiplied and spread. Teepees sprung up along the west bank of the Cannonball – the new camp was formed by Rosebud Sioux – and then up to the county road, and then across the road bridge on to the east bank.
The area on the east bank, where there is much more space, became the main camp once the ranks of protesters swelled in August. That land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Further east along the road, toward the Missouri river, is the construction site. That’s the place that protesters erected teepees in protest today, and it is that site from which they have been cleared by police.
Protesters are currently being pushed back along the county road towards the main camp on the east bank of the Cannonball, where they will be allowed – for now – to stay, according to Morton County sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier.
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Protesters have been pushed out of the North Camp, on land owned by Dakota Access, and are being pushed down the road back to the original camp by police driving armored vehicles.
Hoferer is still live on Facebook:
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Sheriff Kirchmeier: we'll be here 'as long as it takes'
In a press conference just now, Morton County sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said that “numerous more arrestees” on top of the 16 already confirmed are en route to the police station. “I can’t give you numbers, but right now they are arresting individuals ... [who will be charged with] anywhere from public nuisance to inciting a riot.
He said that the north camp, which is on land owned by the Dakota Access pipeline’s parent company, was now clear, but he said that police were planning to be there “as long as it takes” to keep protesters off the pipeline’s land.
Kirchmeier confirmed that pepper spray had been used but said that tear gas, rubber bullets or beanbag rounds had not been deployed – “Not that I’m aware of.”
He said that there were more than 200 police officers on the scene.
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At the protest is a mixture of police and private security, some of the latter of whom are watching events unfold:
In the background, DAPL private security watching (and a few smirking) as protestors are teargassed #NODAPL #DAPL pic.twitter.com/7fDiKgwjFP
— wes enzinna (@wesenzinna) October 27, 2016
Sheriff slams 'millionaire Hollywood actors'
Morton County sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier has slammed Native American protesters and their supporters in a new statement that appears to be a response to actor Mark Ruffalo, who is backing the Standing Rock Sioux tribe:
Morton County has entrusted me to uphold the law and that is exactly what I intend to do. Yet I am being asked by outsiders and millionaire Hollywood actors to let agitators and rioters walk onto private property, destroy equipment, and endanger lives. And, so-called environmentalists are asking me to turn my head and allow this to happen. We have patrolled the county and enforced the law because our number one priority is public safety, separating the unlawful actors from legal protesters. This is not about the pipeline. This is not about those who wish to legally protest. This is about the rule of law.
Here’s Ruffalo at the Dakota Access pipeline demonstration earlier this week:
Peaceful resistance. #NoDAPL #StandingRock pic.twitter.com/alp8Gk2vA8
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 26, 2016
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Police make 16 arrests, deploy pepper spray
Police have made 16 arrests as of 3.30pm local time, Cecily Fong, spokeswoman for the state department of emergency services, told the Guardian.
Fong confirmed that police have also used pepper spray on activists, who have been standing their ground and refusing to back down as police close in on the demonstration at the Dakota Access pipeline site. Fong said state officials are “hopeful” that police can clear the area of protesters, at which point the pipeline operator, Energy Transfer Partners, would be responsible for security.
“They were given a warning that they were free to go,” she said, adding, “The pipeline company will secure that site since it’s their property.”
Fong claimed that the protesters had become violent, but the activists have repeatedly argued that police have been the aggressors. Fong said she believes the company would allow activists to return to the site to retrieve their teepees. She added:
Our intent from the beginning here is that no one gets seriously hurt. We’ve shown a lot of patience and discretion.
Police are currently attempting to push protesters up the street and away from the construction site.
Atsa E’sha Hoferer is currently streaming the events on Facebook Live:
Rose Stiffarm, a cinematographer and member of six Native American nations including the Chippewa Cree, has been at the protest camp for a month.
She just spoke to the Guardian over the phone from the the protest over the noise of police loud-hailers and the sound of protesters chanting “Mni Wiconi”, which means “water is life” in the Lakota dialect.
“I’m on the front lines right now,” Stiffarm said. “They just fired some rounds of tear-gas or something - it’s hard to tell.”
We are innocent people; women, children, and elders. The government is attacking us for protesting, for protecting the water.
Asked to describe what she was seeing, she said:
I’m on the road right now ... right now we’re probably at least 100 protectors here, and about the same amount of police. There’s military vehicles that are armored, pipeline workers here surrounding us in addition to police.
They have these noise-things that are meant to deafen us, the volume is increasing. There’s some people here wearing eyewear and ear-protection ... I saw a person of the press pepper-sprayed because they have a camera - they are targeting press right now.
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Mark Ruffalo says police 'very aggressive'
Actor Mark Ruffalo, who traveled to North Dakota to support the pipeline protests, said he observed that police were “very, very aggressive” in an interview on CNN.
Mark Ruffalo speaks about police violence at pipeline protests in North Dakota: “Very, very aggressive” https://t.co/oj9wDDAphu
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 27, 2016
He continued:
The mantra of the place is it’s not the police, it’s the pipeline that we’re protesting or protecting ourselves against. They spend basically the entire day doing prayers, chanting. I’ve never been around so peaceful a stand. It’s led by young people.
Unicorn Riot, an independent media organization who have been reporting on the ground at the protests since they began in April, captured this picture which appears to show a tribal elder in ceremonial dress being arrested at the protest:
Police have arrested an elder in ceremonial garb who was praying. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/IJtXUvPQyd
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 27, 2016
There are also reports that pepper spray is being deployed:
#NoDAPL cops macing crowd, people running https://t.co/caEhSPIdSO pic.twitter.com/bJ8spS0zpq
— Madeleine Faye Guy (@madeleinefguy) October 27, 2016
Police: 'You are going to get pepper-sprayed'
Tensions are escalating at the standoff between police and protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline. Video feed from Atsa E’sha Hoferer, one of the Facebook live-streams with the most viewers today, just captured police making a number of threats to activists if they don’t back down and return to a camp farther away. An officer said:
You are going to get pepper-sprayed if you are on top of the pickup ... Do not approach officers. You will be arrested ... We are not coming down there. We are not coming to your main camp. You can send a liaison.
Hoferer said on the stream:
They are surrounding us now ... They have their batons out ready to hurt us.
#NoDAPL prayer circle refuses to move, cops saying group "by the pickup" will be arrested if they do not move https://t.co/caEhSPIdSO pic.twitter.com/fKQcppr8Q3
— Madeleine Faye Guy (@madeleinefguy) October 27, 2016
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Are you protesting the Dakota Access pipeline? Share your photos and stories
In early September, activists opposing the $3.8bn oil pipeline held solidarity protests in more than 100 cities across the US and around the world. People gathered at rallies in New York City, Los Angeles and London to support the Standing Rock Sioux.
We asked you to share your photos of demonstrations via GuardianWitness. Esperanza Gutierrez captured scenes in San Diego. You can see more contributions and submit your own.
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Police make arrests
Authorities closing in on Dakota Access pipeline protesters have begun making arrests, a spokeswoman for the local sheriff just told the Guardian.
BREAKING: Authorities begin arresting protesters at camp on private land in the path of Dakota Access pipeline.
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 27, 2016
“They’re pushing us off of this land. But we’re not budging,” Atsa E’sha Hoferer said on a Facebook live-stream, capturing the commotion of loud helicopters and sirens in the background. “Everybody ... needs to get here now. We need you here today.”
The spokeswoman said she was not immediately able to confirm how many arrests have taken place.
The Associated Press also just reported that officers are now converging on the camp from two directions, threatening arrest on loudspeakers. Some activists are defying commands and others are taking part in prayer circles.
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Standing Rock youth protest Hillary Clinton
Standing Rock youth have traveled to New York for a protest at the Brooklyn headquarters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton – on the same day that police in North Dakota have closed in on the oil pipeline demonstrators, launching a tense standoff that has dragged on for hours.
Young activists from Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires and the Standing Rock Sioux Nation demanded that the Democratic candidate speak out against the Dakota Access pipeline, according to Greenpeace, which helped coordinate the action.
As police in ND seem poised to raid #NoDAPL camp, Standing Rock youth flood Clinton campaign HQ to demand she oppose Dakota Access pipeline pic.twitter.com/4ixgjiuGpk
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) October 27, 2016
The youth leaders also released a letter to Clinton, writing:
Now is the time to prove your commitment to both strong climate action and Indigenous sovereignty. Silence is not acceptable.
William Brownotter, 16, added in a statement, “By refusing to stand against DAPL, Hillary is putting our environment, wildlife, culture, and land at risk.”
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Reports are coming in that police are deploying a sonic weapon called a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD.
This is a picture of the device taken on the scene, which appears to show an LRAD 500X mounted on top of the black vehicle:
#DAPL gets laid while militarized police forces use LRAD sound cannon & massive lines of riot police to clear new #OcetiSakowin camp #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/ZXnLPkjMUR
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 27, 2016
The LRAD was designed as a messaging device to project sound over long distances, but they are also sometimes used for crowd control.
According the the manufacturers’ website:
LRAD fills the critical gap between the poor voice quality and limited broadcast range inherent in bullhorns and vehicle PA systems, and kinetic measures including water cannons, tear gas projectiles, rubber bullets, pepper balls, Tasers and flash bang grenades.
Also known as “sonic weapons”, LRADS are sometimes fitted to ships to repel attacks by pirates, but they are most often used by police.
LRADS were deployed during the clearances of Occupy protests in Oakland in 2011, and during the protests following the killing of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and the protests following the killing of Eric Garner by police in Staten Island, New York, the same year.
While the LRAD is designed to be non-lethal, at medium range it can cause extreme pain and at 15 meters or less it can cause permanent eardrum damage.
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The Morton County sheriff’s office has released some fresh images from the ongoing standoff:
Morton County sheriff releases aerial photos of #NoDAPL standoff: pic.twitter.com/N51Q1MqPo8
— Sam Levin (@SamTLevin) October 27, 2016
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How we got here
- The $3.8bn Dakota Access pipeline, or DAPL, would transport fracked crude oil from the Bakken oil field to a refinery near Chicago. Its route takes it across the Missouri river just above the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux Nation reservation, which tribal members say threatens their water supply and sacred sites.
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Protests began in April, when dozens of members of the Standing Rock Lakota and other nations took to horseback to ride to the river’s edge and set up a “spiritual camp”, named Sacred Stone.
- Since then, the number of protesters has swelled into thousands, with members of more than 90 nations and tribes joining to show their solidarity by August.
- In September, a federal judge denied an attempt by tribal leaders to challenge the legitimacy of the pipe’s construction permits.
- Police have made more than 260 arrests since the demonstrations ramped up in August, and prosecutors have filed a range of charges, including criminal trespass, participating in a riot and resisting arrest. 120 people were arrested last weekend alone.
- The mass arrests came days after a local judge rejected controversial riot charges against Amy Goodman, a broadcast journalist and the host of Democracy Now! who earned support from free speech advocates across the US after authorities issued a warrant for her arrest in September.
- Dakota Access, the company constructing the pipeline, also employs private security to protect their construction sites, who could face criminal charges for setting dogs on protesters.
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Actor Shailene Woodley was also arrested at the protest, and actor Mark Ruffalo and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson also traveled to the pipeline protest this week.
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On the live Facebook feed of Atsa E’sha Hoferer, an officer just shouted: “You will be arrested. You have to come down now.”
The protester’s footage shows police are lined up and have large military-style vehicles. The Associated Press reports that the operation involves dozens of officers in riot gear, some armed, and that police have brought out trucks, police cars, military Humvees and buses. Law enforcement are also using at least two helicopters and a fixed-wing airplane to monitor the demonstration.
“We’re here to make sure this water is protected at all times,” Hoferer shouted on the live-stream, telling thousands of viewers, “If this is law enforcement from your county, tell them to go home. They are protecting the corporate greed here.”
"The world is watching" People repeat to police on #StandingRock barricade iine. #NoDAPL #northdakota pic.twitter.com/2HFeUnVDOh
— APTN National News (@APTNNews) October 27, 2016
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A spokesperson for the Morton County sheriff’s department, who are the lead agency on the ground, just told the Guardian that they have officers on the scene from “across the state” and that they have put out a request for assistance from out-of-state police departments.
She also said that there were national guard on the scene but added that “they are in a support role”.
Asked if any other agencies - local, state, or federal - were currently taking an active role, she declined to comment.
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Standing Rock member: 'We are standing up'
Dean Dedman Jr, a member of the Standing Rock Hunkpapa tribe from South Dakota, just told the Guardian by phone that protesters are not backing down even in the face of hundreds of armed police officers.
“We are standing up. We are still here,” said Dedman, who has been camped out for months and frequently shoots footage of the actions with his drone. “We’re all just trying to keep the prayer and keep the singing.”
Dedman, who has also contributed video footage for the Guardian, said that a creek was providing some kind of a buffer for protesters but that officers were armed and getting closer. “They keep coming up.”
Dedman said the protesters suspect that police could soon attempt to make more arrests but added, “We’ve been prepared for all these months and all these years.”
Here’s a Guardian video from Dedman and other film-makers on site from the summer:
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Sheriff: 'This is a public safety issue'
Morton County sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier has released a statement claiming that authorities are targeting “illegal roadblocks and protesters trespassing on private property”:
Protesters’ escalated unlawful behavior this weekend by setting up illegal roadblocks, trespassing onto private property and establishing an encampment, has forced law enforcement to respond at this time. As I said yesterday, I visited the protesters roadblock and requested them to remove the barricade and have protesters vacate the private property.
Kirchmeier claims that “numerous teepees, tents and other structures have been built on the private property since Sunday”.
Law enforcement from across North Dakota and from outside of the state are now supporting Morton County “in this mission”, he added.
On one live feed, a police official just said: “You need to back away. We’re going to come forward. We don’t want to arrest any one of you.”
Tribal leaders and protesters have repeatedly emphasized that they are unarmed and peaceful and plan to stand their ground in an effort to stop a project that they believe could cause significant environmental damage to the local lands.
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Here are some fresh tweets and images from the scene where protesters have tried to set up barricades as law enforcement gets closer to the camps.
Flaming barricades as armored vehicles advance #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/hYuOteXYkM
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 27, 2016
Spoke to @dennisward moments ago. Here are his pics of police moving in on protestors at #standingrock #NoDAPL @APTNNews pic.twitter.com/ttFCYgwm8Q
— Karyn Pugliese (@KarynPugliese) October 27, 2016
— Sara Jumping Eagle (@drjumpingeagle) October 27, 2016
Film-makers and activists recently told the Guardian that law enforcement’s response has become over-militarized and aggressive, with police deploying batons and pepper spray against peaceful protesters and indiscriminately arresting demonstrators and journalists.
Local authorities have claimed that the protesters are dangerous and engaged in riots on private land.
Police close in on protesters
Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the increasingly tense protests of the Dakota Access pipeline, where police have announced that they are closing in on the Standing Rock Sioux tribe activists and their supporters.
Police officials just announced that they plan to “take necessary steps to move trespassers from private property”, and reports and live video feeds from Cannon Ball, North Dakota, reveal a volatile standoff between activists opposing construction of the $3.7bn oil pipeline and police who have accused the demonstrators of criminal activity.
The tribe and Native American advocates from across the US have for months camped out at the site in an effort to block a planned oil pipeline, which is operated by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners and on track to transport fracked crude from North Dakota to a refinery near Chicago.
Tribal leaders have argued that the project threatens the local water supply and could destroy sacred lands. The standoff comes days after the Morton County sheriff’s office launched mass arrests of protesters, journalists and film-makers.
