While Americans Focus on DC, Cops Unleash Fury During DAPL Water Protector Eviction

Cannon Ball, ND — All water protectors must leave the camps — and abandon plans to relocate to a higher elevation — the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Council wrote in a resolution passed during an executive session of a district meeting just before President Donald Trump took the oath of office.

Decisive, sharp consequences soon followed.

Journalist and livestreamer Jon Ziegler — known better as Rebelutionary Z — met the full force of the law enforcement coalition led by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department on the front lines of brutal and indicative attacks on peaceful water protectors opposing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“All the individuals at all the camps in and around Cannon Ball need to leave the district,” Standing Rock Sioux Council resolved. “The building of an alternative site for the camp(s) within the Cannon Ball District is not needed or wanted. If there is to be any kind of a ‘site’ for the commemoration of this historic event that took place with all the tribes, the people of Standing Rock need to vote on where, what and cost before any ‘shanty town is built.’”

According to the Bismarck Tribune, “The resolution, approved by the full council Friday, applies to all of the protest camps in the area: Oceti Sakowin, Rosebud and Sacred Stone […]

“Cody Two Bears, the Cannon Ball district representative to the tribal council, said the district is requesting federal law enforcement aid in removing protesters from the district and setting up posts blocking those who do not live or work in the district from entering. The district requests these actions be taken in the next 30 days.”

Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council Passes Resolution to Close Camps https://t.co/K0yL9WIhTl pic.twitter.com/0pB7udjYek

— NativeNewsOnline (@Native_NewsNet) January 22, 2017

Oceti Sakowin, considered the ‘main camp’ housing pipeline opposition, lies just south of Highway 1806’s Backwater Bridge — the site of fraught contention in months previous, after police fortified a makeshift barricade blocking access by emergency personnel to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

“We need to take the fire that was lit here and burns within us and go back to our own respectful reservations,” Lewis Grassrope told the council.

A lone dissenter on the resolution, Ed Blackcloud, stood against the unpopular actions of the tribe, stating, per the Bismarck Tribune,

“Very few people (at the camp) are the ones who agitate. I do not think all these people should be asked to go home when they fought for you guys, they fought for me, fought for my children, fought for your guys’ children … I feel sending these people home is wrong.”

Police and U.S. National Guard were quick to capitalize on the tribe’s resolution, moving in shortly afterward in yet more aggression against the largely peaceful group who’d maintained semi-permanent encampments near the banks of the Missouri River since last April.

Miserably parallel to similar uses of unnecessary force, law enforcement inflicted targeted attacks against the both the unarmed and journalists documenting the scene Wednesday night.

Despite previous confrontations on Backwater Bridge, police remained behind their barricade to the north — until that night — when they crossed into the south side, in order to remove a tipi.

Water protectors quickly demanded officers return the tipi, and — upon being refused — began to construct another in its place.

As The Daily Haze reports, “Police reportedly went to the south side of the barricade once again and began using rubber bullets against water protectors to prevent them from being able to assemble the second tipi. This led to a standoff that went on for hours, until the police would cross the barricade for the third time.”

Ziegler livestreamed that crossing — and paid the price.

As his own camera recorded heightening police aggression, Ziegler noted the judiciously militarized police moving into sovereign land where no U.S. law enforcement would have a right to be according to centuries’ old treaties between Native Americans and the government.

For some time, the situation remained mostly a battle of insults and screams —  until the journalist learned firsthand the telling portent of the incoming administration. Someone yelled his name.

Audio seeming to emanate from the officers’ ‘side’ sends a chilling and direct portent of events immediately to conspire. An authoritative voice — quickly echoed — grunts, “Jon Ziegler!”

READ MORE:  Mayan Elders Go to Standing Rock to Show Solidarity & Give Thanks "For Lighting a Path for Our People"

Mere seconds later, this wall of officers opens fire on the peaceful water protectors — the second or third rubber bullet fired hitting Ziegler in the hand and leg, as if a last resort to shut down the activist’s live stream.

“Fuck!!” he yells, “they’re hitting me in my fucking camera — you assholes!”

Ziegler immediately calls for medics, but ‘less-than-lethal’ force had already done its damage — he had to be transported to the local hospital for a viciously broken finger. Apparently, law enforcement purposefully targeted his camera — caring little for his personal safety.

My finger just now getting some color back after turning blue.. nurses say shot to my leg looks like a burn?!?#NoDAPL #standingrock pic.twitter.com/UYsNQLZsqz

— Rebelutionary Z (@Rebelutionary_Z) January 19, 2017

Ziegler tweeted just after midnight on January 21, “Surgery went good (twice as long as expected). I’ll be elevating my hand at hotel for a day or 2. DR-’like a chicken bone smashed w/ hammer.’”

Surgery went good (twice as long as expected). I"ll be elevating my hand at hotel for a day or 2.
DR-"like a chicken bone smashed w/ hammer"

— Rebelutionary Z (@Rebelutionary_Z) January 21, 2017

Rebelutionary Z wasn’t the only person seriously injured in that confrontation — an unnamed water protector shot at close range by a rubber bullet was left with a gaping hole in the leg — proving less-than-lethal a purely relative description of such police weaponry.

Without the Standing Rock tribal council’s seemingly counterintuitive agreement to shut down the camps — regardless water protectors’ consent to move to higher ground to avoid spring flooding — police would have no reason or justification to move forward in forcefully clearing the area.

Many from tribes and Indigenous nations from around the planet, as well as their non-Native supporters, had intended to remain encamped in order to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Now, the rebels who so vehemently and thoughtfully sought to protect the integrity of the water supply of millions will are facing a fresh and expansive onslaught of law enforcement brutality — thanks to the tacit consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Council.

As Everyone Watches the Inauguration, Violence Returns to Standing Rock

January 20, 2017   |   Derrick Broze

(ANTIMEDIA) Cannonball, ND — Early Friday afternoon, all eyes and ears from around the world seemed to focus on Washington D.C. for the inauguration of America’s 45th president, Donald J. Trump. The political pundits and social media armchair activists were ranting and raving about what exactly “Make America Great Again” is going to mean for Americans. Meanwhile, violence broke out in the streets of D.C. as anti-Trump protesters clashed with Trump supporters and law enforcement. But while the nation is distracted by the selection of the latest puppet-in-chief, violence has returned to North Dakota in the ongoing fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

After a relatively quiet December and early January, tensions are running high at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannonball, North Dakota. Over the weekend, water protectors with the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies once again clashed with the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and the National Guard.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, social media accounts connected to the fight against the DAPL and in support of the Sioux posted several videos showing law enforcement using tear gas and rubber bullets on water protectors who attempted to set up a tipi on Backwater bridge off highway 1806. Social media reports state law enforcement grabbed an “unknown amount of water protectors.” Backwater Bridge was the site of conflict throughout the months of October and November.

The Morton County Sheriff’s announced 21 arrests on Wednesday night via their Facebook page. The following is an account of the protests as reported by the Sheriff’s office:

“Protesters began assembling on the Backwater Bridge around 6:45pm on Wednesday, January 18. By 8:30pm, the crowd of protesters had grown to approximately 150. During the following four hours, protesters started three tire fires on the bridge and two fires on each side of the bridge as well as erecting two tipis further blocking the bridge. Protestors [sic] flanked the law enforcement line several times, attempting to get behind them. After protesters failed to comply to multiple orders from law enforcement to return to the south side of the bridge and go back to camp, law enforcement deployed less-than-lethal munitions.”

Video posted on the Morton County Sheriff’s Facebook page on Tuesday also shows water protectors using tools to cut down fences and standing toe to toe, shoving police who are carrying riot shields. Morton County reported 14 arrests on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

On Monday night, the water protectors held rallies and marches to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. According to the Sacred Stone Camp:

“Hundreds of water protectors led a prayer walk to the razor wire barricade approximately 700 feet from the drill pad where the Dakota Access Pipeline is proposed to cross the Missouri river.  Law enforcement fired tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber-coated steel bullets at point blank range, hitting one person directly in the eye. A total of 14 water protectors were arrested, and some were held in cold dog kennels overnight.”

As Anti-Media recently reported, the Morton County Sheriff’s office has also deployed an Avenger Air Defense System in Cannonball. The Avenger is a humvee-mounted, low altitude surface-to-air missile system.

In the background of the ongoing violence, legal battles over the fate of the Dakota Access Pipeline continue to be fought. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge James Boesberg denied DAPL attorneys’ attempt to stop the Army Corp of Engineers from conducting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Lake Oahe crossing. Following Boesberg’s decision, the Army Corps of Engineers officially published a notice of intent in the federal register to prepare a partial EIS. The legal process now moves into the formal comment period, which lasts until February 20. The EIS was ordered after the Corps denied a permit for Energy Transfer Partners, DAPL’s parent company, to build the final easement under Lake Oahe.

Despite the call for an EIS, the Standing Rock Sioux say the Corps is neglecting to do a full environmental study. “The proposed scoping fails to include the entire length of the pipeline or downstream impacts of other tribes of the Great Sioux Nation,” the Sioux write.

Another court decision issued on Wednesday officially ended the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s efforts to fight the pipeline via the legal system. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Sioux had no standing in their arguments against construction. The Sioux were attempting to get the court to issue a preliminary injunction to stop construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline based on threats to sacred and cultural sites. In early October, more than 100 scientists from universities across the United States issued an open letter, stating that they “support halting any construction of the DAPL until revised environmental and cultural assessments are carried out as requested by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.”

For the time being, it seems the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline will continue in the fields of North Dakota rather than the courts. The incoming fossil fuel-friendly Trump administration is likely to move on the project soon. Water protectors are preparing to put their bodies on the line to stop a project that threatens the environment, their culture, and the health of future generations.

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13yo Girl Shot in the Face, Tribal Elder in Critical Condition as Police Assault DAPL Protesters

Cannon Ball, ND — Last night, water protectors near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, attempted to clear Highway 1806 of burned-out military vehicles and wound up under an all-out assault by heavily militarized police, who used tear gas, mace, concussion grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannons — in temperatures well below freezing — in an attempt to clear them from a bridge.

By midnight, at least 160 people reported suffering injuries, and medics on scene confirmed a 13-year-old girl had been shot in the face, according to Unicorn Riot, which did not say whether the shot was live ammunition or a rubber bullet.

A statement released by the head medic of the Oceti Sakowin camp shortly before midnight said 167 people, including three elders, had suffered injuries, and that seven people had to be hospitalized. Emergency medics performed CPR on an elder who went into cardiac arrest, and though they were able to resuscitate him at the scene, he remains in critical condition. Further, as the medic noted, police intentionally targeted the water protectors’ heads and legs during the attack.

Elder in Critical Condition after Going into Cardiac Arrest at Scene of DAPL Barricade Clash https://t.co/0rZhUhzDBG pic.twitter.com/tQoAxUo8aA

— NativeNewsOnline (@Native_NewsNet) November 21, 2016

Emergency medics from both the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes attended to the injured, wet, and freezing water protectors at the Oceti Sakowin Camp and in the gymnasium, with hundreds suffering hypothermia, blunt trauma and open wounds from nonlethal projectiles, and contamination from CS gas — tear gas — deemed illegal under international law during war, but acceptable for use by police.

According to a joint statement by Indigenous Environmental Network, Honor the Earth, and Sacred Stone Camp on the incident:

“Hundreds of water protectors were injured at the Standing Rock encampments when law enforcement blasted them with water cannons in freezing temperatures Sunday evening.   The attacks came as water protectors used a semi-truck to remove burnt military vehicles that police had chained to concrete barriers weeks ago, blocking traffic on Highway 1806.  Water protectors’ efforts to clear the road and improve access to the camp for emergency services were met with tear gas, an LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), stinger grenades, rubber bullets, and indiscriminate use of a water cannon with an air temperature of 26 degrees Fahrenheit. Some flares shot by law enforcement started grass fires which were ignored by the water cannons and had to be extinguished by water protectors. Law enforcement also shot down three media drones and targeted journalists with less lethal rounds.

“National Lawyers Guild legal observers on the frontlines have confirmed that multiple people were unconscious and bleeding after being shot in the head with rubber bullets.”

Due to the sheer number of serious injuries, the local Cannon Ball community graciously opened its school gymnasium as a makeshift emergency medical facility.

Around 400 people were kettled — encircled by police from both sides — on the Backwater Bridge, as police seemed to use every nonlethal weapon at their disposal against the peaceful water protectors.

Nov 18: Morton County Sheriff expresses concern about hypothermia at #NoDAPL camps. Nov 20: uses water cannons on ppl in ~20 degree weather pic.twitter.com/1c2KaQxfUQ

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) November 21, 2016

Authorities cited ongoing rioting in the decision to launch the offensive, which came after an hours-long standoff with the water protectors. That bridge has been closed since October 27, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe worried its closure — and the burned vehicles blocking the road — would prevent emergency services from reaching the reservation and residents in the vicinity.

Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, explained water protectors were “done with the military-style barricades,” and thus decided to clear the burned vehicles from the road. On Sunday night, he wrote in a Facebook post, “It was to open up the road so in the daylight the world can see the face of militarized law enforcement and state oppression.”

Law enforcement has cited questions about the structural integrity of the bridge after the vehicles were burned on October 27, since officials from the Department of Transportation have not been able to inspect the structure due to ongoing protests.

Water protectors suspect the reason authorities haven’t cleared the roadway — and, in fact, have since reinforced the blockade with cement barriers and razor wire — is to prevent them from breaching Dakota Access Pipeline construction sites.

Aidoneus Bishop, a water protector who had attempted to clear the roadway and was shot in the head and back with rubber bullets, said, “The only thing that makes sense is that it’s blocked to keep us away from the pipe,” reported the Bismarck Tribune.

In a statement last night, Goldtooth explained the risks to life law enforcement was taking in its assault against the water protectors, saying:

“It is below freezing right now and the Morton County Sheriff’s Department is using a water cannon on our people, that is an excessive and potentially deadly use of force. Tribal EMS are stepping up and providing services that should be the responsibility of Morton County, this is ridiculous. Because of the police enforced road block, ambulances now have an extra 30 minutes to get to the hospital. Those are life and death numbers right there, and Morton County and the State of North Dakota will be responsible for the tally.”

Despite claims by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department that ‘protesters’ had turned violent and attempted to flank officers at the scene, live reports at the time dispute that account, with witnesses describing officers surrounding the bridge, preventing water protectors from escaping unless they trampled one another.

Morton County law enforcement claimed water protectors had “started a dozen fires near the bridge” — however, witnesses at the scene explained several fires had been controlled and used for necessary heat in the frigid conditions, while others were the result of tear gas canisters being kicked back at police. According to the sheriff, the water cannons were originally deployed to douse the fires.

5:19 PM 11/20/16: Sheriffs again fire tear gas at water protectors attempting to clear Highway 1806 bridge, canister returned. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/c1Tf28nkTA

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) November 21, 2016

Whatever excuse the Morton County Sheriff and other law enforcement agencies at the bridge gave to initiate force against the water protectors, video clearly shows an all-out assault in freezing temperatures and completely unnecessary use of force. To wit, one officer was reportedly injured when someone threw an object at his head — and by contrast 167 unarmed people had to be treated for injuries.

Tara Houska, National Campaigns Director for Honor the Earth, stated:

“For weeks, the main highway to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation has been cut off, with no movement by the state to address a public safety risk. Attempting to clear the road was met with police spraying people with water cannons in 26 degree weather — that’s deadly force, it’s freezing outside. They want to kill people for clearing a road? When will our cries be heard? Stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Respect the rights of indigenous people, of all peoples.”