Hundreds of “Riot Gear-Clad Officers Move In With MRAPs” Against Dakota Pipeline Protests

This article was written Claire Bernish and originally published at The Free Thought Project.

Editor’s Comment: The powers that be are increasingly using military troops against the American people, and shutting down legitimate protests by force. Whether the issue is one you agree with or not, a militarized opposition to assembly is taking place.

Those standing against the Dakota Pipeline, including tribal members, having been speaking out against the contamination of the water supplies for tens of millions of people, while they have come to represent a new front in corporate-crony crackdowns on American dissent.

Dozens Arrested as Heavily Armed Cops Move In With MRAPs to Remove Water Protectors

by Claire Bernish

Heavily militarized police and National Guard forces moved in to raid camps at Standing Rock on Thursday morning, with hundreds of riot gear-clad officers marching in formation to clear camps of water protectors, journalists, and anyone firmly entrenched to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Ominously poised on Highway 1806, officers waited in formation with dozens of heavily armored vehicles for over an hour before eventually descending into the remnants of the largest Standing Rock camp, Oceti Sakowin, in recent days renamed Oceti Oyate.

Prayerful song eerily served as a backdrop for what constituted a military raid of land unceded to the U.S. government in treaties from 1851 and 1868.

In a livestream taken a slight distance from camp, Unicorn Riot explained a Bearcat armored vehicle on scene was likely the same from which an officer in a gun turret fired an alleged explosive device at Sophia Wilansky, ripping her arm to shreds on November 20, during a police offensive.

Just before noon local time — and under the watchful eye of snipers — officers in helmets carrying temporary zip-tie restraints could be seen roaming the camp, searching for stragglers to arrest under the premise water protectors are trespassing on land federally managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

With assault rifles and guns in hand — and helicopters occasionally just ten feet in the air above — militarized cops perched outside tipi and tent entrances, searching for violators of the eviction order. As the search continued, live video showed several water protectors joining hands in prayer before near certain arrest.

At 12:30 local time, dozens of officers approached a tiny group of water protectors — one of whom raised a sacred pipe in prayer as they closed in to make arrests. Reports more than 20 military veterans had been arrested were unconfirmed at the time this article was published, but images posted to social media did show police arresting an elderly Native grandmother and searching the pockets of her coat.

Grandmother arrested. Please don’t strip her & number her & put her in a dog kennel like you did the rest #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/4bBiQNNSYY

— Ruth Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) February 23, 2017

Despite nearly a year of proving themselves unarmed, water protectors became the subject of utterly unfounded law enforcement rumors that an armed group of rebels could be hiding out in an unknown location within the camps.

UPDATE: At least 23 Natives have been arrested today at #StandingRock as oil police sweep through camp #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/DRHjmiRaWd

— #NoDAPL Resistance (@NoDAPL_) February 23, 2017

Thus, MRAPs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles), Bearcats, and Hum-vees zig-zagged through the a complex of still-intact structures that had served as home for the protectors for months, making sure to evacuate everyone before razing the property.

National Guard and police were still searching through the property as of 1 p.m. local, and appeared to be secondarily kettling water protectors inside the camp, where arrests would be easier to effect en masse.

sooo how many highly militarized brutes does it take to untie a line? your tax dollars at work….#StandingRock – pic.twitter.com/l7rRSL9sRW

— T. Mettalig (@Mimiges) February 23, 2017

Sweeps of the territory will take hours, as officers move from structure to structure with assault rifles drawn — permission to use live fire was reportedly given months ago — in a methodical but deliberate process.

Just as law enforcement appeared to have gained a foothold of control on the camp, two of a handful of livestreams were suddenly cut. A third livestreamer, Hunter Nolan, recorded as authorities tried to determine how to extricate a lone water protector perched on the roof of a house in defiance of the eviction — whom Nolan described as ‘the last man in camp.’

UPDATE: At approximately 3 p.m., livestreamer Johnny Dangers reported in a live video Bureau of Indian Affairs police had begun to raid a second camp, Rosebud, in much the same manner as with Oceti Oyate camp.

This article was written Claire Bernish and originally published at The Free Thought Project.

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Author: Claire Bernish
Views: Read by 20 people
Date: February 24th, 2017
Website: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/62872-2/

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Actress Who Plays Revolutionary in Movies, is a Revolutionary in Real Life

Photo: Shailene Woodley (from Time)

Shailene Woodley, the actress who plays a hero revolutionary in the “Divergent” film series, was recently arrested for protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and she is hoping to use her arrest to bring attention to the injustices taking place. Woodley was charged with criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot, and pled not guilty in court this Wednesday.

For those of you new to the story of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the pipeline is being constructed by the Energy Transfer Partners corporation and will stretch 1,172 miles from the Bakken fields of North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, crossing the Missouri river.

The pipeline runs alongside the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, and according to the National Historic Preservation Act, the tribe should have been consulted about the project before it was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

According to a lawsuit filed by an organization representing the tribes, “The construction and operation of the pipeline, as authorized by the Corps, threatens the Tribe’s environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance to the tribe” — indeed, it already has.

Despite the fact that thousands of native people have been protesting the project for months, the situation was largely absent from the mainstream media until Woodley’s arrest, which prophetically occurred on Oct. 10, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which was formerly known as Columbus Day in many places.

In a recent article for Time, Woodley laid out a strong case against the pipeline, saying that, “When the Dakota Access Pipeline breaks (and we know that too many pipelines do), millions of people will have crude-oil-contaminated water. I know it is easy to be apathetic or detached from the reality that fossil fuel contamination could actually affect you and the ones you love… But hear me loud and clear: If you are a human who requires water to survive, then this issue directly involves you. Don’t let the automatic sink faucets in your homes fool you—that water comes from somewhere, and the second its source is contaminated, so is your bathtub, and your sink, and your drinking liquid. We must not take for granted the severity of this truth.”

Humbly, she called attention to the 26 others who were detained in the Morton County jail with her and pointed out that it is a shame that the media will not recognize the arrests of peaceful protesters unless a celebrity’s name is involved.

“Treaties are broken. Land is stolen. Dams are built. Reservations are flooded. People are displaced. Yet we fail to notice. We fail to acknowledge. We fail to act. So much so that it took me, a white non-native woman being arrested on Oct 10th in North Dakota, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, to bring this cause to many people’s attention. And to the forefront of news publications around the world,” she said.

Adding later, “What if we took the hashtag #FreeShailene and made it #ProtectCleanWater, or #HonorNativeTreaties, or #IStandWithStandingRock?”

Woodley also pointed out that Native Americans are entirely ignored and forgotten in mainstream settings, and yet they still face a considerable amount of oppression.

The racial group most likely to be killed by law enforcement are Native Americans, followed by African Americans, Latinos, Whites, and Asian Americans.

Native Americans, 0.8 percent of the population, comprise 1.9 percent of police killings.

Shailene Woodley should be commended for her actions, and for using her influence to branch out into activism and get others involved. People who are in the public eye have a choice to either be a propaganda mouthpiece, or an avenue for change. There is no middle ground. In times of great injustice, those who are silent side with the oppressors, especially if those who are silent have wealth, notoriety, and a platform to reach people with important messages.

It is rare for people to use their positions in the public eye to stir up moral and philosophical debate, however, because examples have been made of people who have tried in the past. We’ve seen this media tar and feathering very recently with the controversy surrounding football player Colin Kaepernick, who has refused to stand for the national anthem ritual that the military pays the NFL millions to recite at the beginning of every game.

Yet, despite the risks of becoming a pariah in the media and losing job opportunities, Woodley has taken a stand for what is right, and you can get involved too. Will you join us?

John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. John is currently battling cancer naturally, without any chemo or radiation, and will be working to help others through his experience, if you wish to contribute to his treatments please donate here.