Dakota Pipeline - Protestors Assaulted With Water Cannons In Freezing Weather

[MajinCry]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/da...s-authorities-clash-temperatures-drop-n686581

Police Use Tear Gas on Dakota Access Pipeline Demonstrators 0:35
Tear gas, freezing cold water and rubber bullets were used to disperse a crowd of 400 protesters at the Dakota Access Pipeline in clashes late Sunday and early Monday that left more than 150 activists and one law enforcement officer injured.

Linda Black Elk, a member of the Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council of the Catawba tribe, said she treated protesters for injuries and hypothermia and they were soaked by water in temperatures as low as 23 degrees.

"Last night was a really critical life or death situation," she told NBC News Monday. "There were hundreds of people out on the frontlines. People were first soaked down with tear gas and then sprayed with a bunch of water."

Protestors say that the clashes began when they tried to remove a roadblock on a bridge north of their Oceti Sakowin "Water Protector" Camp. The roadblock, composed in part of burned-out trucks, has blocked the main route to the city of Bismarck since late October.

"The negotiation from law enforcement stated that they were going to remove them for their emergency services to get through ... to Bismarck. It's been 2.5 weeks, maybe 3, and they still haven't kept their word on that," said E'sha Hoferer,who live-streamed the clashes on Facebook.

Black Elk said the roadblock was an inconvenience and posed a risk for emergency personnel trying to access the protest camp.


Authorities spray water over Dakota Access Pipeline protesters in freezing temperatures Sunday night, Nov. 20, 2016. Dallas Goldtooth
She said more than 150 protesters had been injured. "There is a gentlemen who was hit with a rubber bullet in his head. There were rubber bullets flying everywhere in a crowd that was already blinded by tear gas."

Police used "concussions grenades, rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons," she said, "and then they fired up the [Long-Range Acoustic Device] but as far as I know, it was never used."

Sheriff's spokesman Rob Keller told NBC News that no water cannon were deployed and that water was sprayed from a fire truck to control fires as they were being set by activists. However, video posted to Facebook by activists clearly showed authorities spray a continuous stream of water over demonstrators in areas where there were no fires.

A law enforcement officer was hit on the head by a thrown rock during the confrontation, Morton County Sheriff's Office said in an update at 1 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET).

Party like it's the 1700s, these Injuns have got to go.

So much for a land of freedom and liberty. Fucking digusting; you'd think that the red man would be treated like the human beings they are, but no.

 

[Homerboy]

The whole Standing Rock situation makes me nauseous. My sister and brother-in-law went out there and camped for a few days. Said it was incredibly uplifting and depressing at the same time. And politicians, except for Sanders, all seem to mum about it. Wonder why...

And thank you OP for posting this. I should have posted this instead of the Trumps staying in NYC article this morning. I guess even I am guilty of getting caught up in that reality show and forget about real-world stuff like Standing Rock.

 

[Homerboy]

There was a live stream on this attack as it happened and it was appalling -- shocking. The amount of teargas they used, on a funneled crowd, and then shot rubber bullets at them and THEN the water cannon.... Jesus. Just gross.

 

[MajinCry]

There was a live stream on this attack as it happened and it was appalling -- shocking. The amount of teargas they used, on a funneled crowd, and then shot rubber bullets at them and THEN the water cannon.... Jesus. Just gross.

It's just insane. And if you check out, say, the reddit thread on the matter, there is no shortage of Americans saying that it's all fair game.

It's sick and barbaric.

 

[Pens1566]

LMAO! What did they think was going to happen? In before the same thing happens on 1/20!

WWYBYWB?

 

[Darwin333]

Well obviously the police needed to do something, blocking public roads, trespassing on private land, burning things in the road and assaulting officers is going to illicit a very serious response. With that said, I don't agree with using a water cannon in freezing or near freezing temps.

 

[MajinCry]

Well obviously the police needed to do something, blocking public roads, trespassing on private land, burning things in the road and assaulting officers is going to illicit a very serious response. With that said, I don't agree with using a water cannon in freezing or near freezing temps.

Uh, the roads were blocked by the police. The Native American protestors were removing a roadblock on the bridge, that impeded emergency services from taking injured to hospitals.

The burning was of debris to stay warm, unlike, say, setting houses on fire.

Officers "say" they were assaulted, but only one was injured and sent to hospital, which occurred AFTER they started the Jim Crow method of policing.

First, it was setting dogs on them. Now it's water cannons mixed with mace. What next, ropes and tall trees?

 

[Kazukian]

After the vehicles burned on the bridge, they've been unable to inspect the wooden bridge to ensure it's safe for vehicle traffic.

I don't agree with the protestors, but water and freezing temps can be deadly, poor decision on law enforcement's part.

 

[MajinCry]

After the vehicles burned on the bridge, they've been unable to inspect the wooden bridge to ensure it's safe for vehicle traffic.

I don't agree with the protestors, but water and freezing temps can be deadly, poor decision on law enforcement's part.

Poor decision?

That's like saying a cop shooting a guy dead is a mishandling of appliances.

 

[Homerboy]

After the vehicles burned on the bridge, they've been unable to inspect the wooden bridge to ensure it's safe for vehicle traffic.

I don't agree with the protestors, but water and freezing temps can be deadly, poor decision on law enforcement's part.

Wood bridge? Isn't this the bridge in question?

 

[Kazukian]

Wood bridge? Isn't this the bridge in question?

Ah, sorry saw it in the dark video, still needs inspected.

 

[KMFJD]

Disgraceful to say the least....and it's gonna get worse before it gets better that's for damn sure

 

[MajinCry]

For those curious, I found a list of reported pipeline "accidents". I think maybe, juuuuuust maybe, the red man has a point.

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/pipeline.aspx

Probably not a good idea to have cowboy construction going through fresh water, especially when it is relied upon Native American communities. When that stuff leaks, it'll hide the taste of uranium in their water.

 

[shady28]

They should've called the Bundy ranch for help.

 

[Homerboy]

There's this too (from August):

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/sta...cle_64d053e4-8a1a-5198-a1dd-498d386c933c.html

An early proposal for the Dakota Access Pipeline called for the project to cross the Missouri River north of Bismarck, but one reason that route was rejected was its potential threat to Bismarck’s water supply, documents show.

Now a growing number of protesters are objecting to the oil pipeline’s Missouri River crossing a half-mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which they argue could threaten the water supply for the tribe and other communities downstream.

 

[KMFJD]

nvm

Didn't learn anything from Oregon. /s

 

[piasabird]

They are protesting on private property and destroying equipment. It is more like a riot.

 

[MajinCry]

They are protesting on private property and destroying equipment. It is more like a riot.

Yes yes yes, and the Native Americans are lazy moneygrubbers livin' off dat gubment dole.

For reference on Pissbird's...Racial bias, he never did change his tune after being informed about the racism Native Americans face. And 'eres the reference: https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...rt-of-native-americans.2465412/#post-38063292

Mr. P., you make Jim Crow proud.

 

[Darwin333]

For those curious, I found a list of reported pipeline "accidents". I think maybe, juuuuuust maybe, the red man has a point.

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/pipeline.aspx

Probably not a good idea to have cowboy construction going through fresh water, especially when it is relied upon Native American communities. When that stuff leaks, it'll hide the taste of uranium in their water.

I'd wager good money that a very very large percentage of those spills came from very old pipelines. So we should be building new ones to replace the old ones and while this pipeline probably isn't going to reduce oil going through any others it sure sets a precedent for any company that would want to replace aging pipelines or build new ones to take their capacity. Who in their right mind would want to go through this kind of mess just to replace an existing pipeline instead of just rolling the dice with what they have?

 

[michal1980]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/da...s-authorities-clash-temperatures-drop-n686581



Party like it's the 1700s, these Injuns have got to go.

So much for a land of freedom and liberty. Fucking digusting; you'd think that the red man would be treated like the human beings they are, but no.

You off your meds?

 

[MajinCry]

You off your meds?

Nah, I don't need medication to not be racist. In your case, I'd advocate asking for a higher dosage from your GP.

 

[buckshot24]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/da...s-authorities-clash-temperatures-drop-n686581



Party like it's the 1700s, these Injuns have got to go.

So much for a land of freedom and liberty. Fucking digusting; you'd think that the red man would be treated like the human beings they are, but no.

"Red men" who aren't protesting like this aren't getting treated like this. Their race isn't why these things are happening to them.

 

[K1052]

I'd wager good money that a very very large percentage of those spills came from very old pipelines. So we should be building new ones to replace the old ones and while this pipeline probably isn't going to reduce oil going through any others it sure sets a precedent for any company that would want to replace aging pipelines or build new ones to take their capacity. Who in their right mind would want to go through this kind of mess just to replace an existing pipeline instead of just rolling the dice with what they have?

Most places replacement really isn't a problem since the ROWs have been there so long. Enbridge has been pretty active lately replacing lines in Michigan for example...after one of the old ones failed and dumped a million gallons of diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo river. No company is going to spend big bucks for a pre-emptive replacement scheme unless there is a major failure or signs of extensive risk. You mostly have to hope their inspection scheme is up to snuff and it doesn't take a big "oops" to make them invest.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Well obviously the police needed to do something, blocking public roads, trespassing on private land, burning things in the road and assaulting officers is going to illicit a very serious response. With that said, I don't agree with using a water cannon in freezing or near freezing temps.

You mean like how they handled these guys?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Well obviously the police needed to do something, blocking public roads, trespassing on private land, burning things in the road and assaulting officers is going to illicit a very serious response. With that said, I don't agree with using a water cannon in freezing or near freezing temps.

I have no problem with the water cannon. The idea is to use non-lethal weapons to get a crowd to disperse peacefully. Well when it's 23* and someone is shooting water at you, you get the fuck out of Dodge. Problem solved.

The only issue was the waste of perfectly good teargas and rubber bullets. Authorities should have just started with the water cannons, the whole thing would have been over in 2 minutes.