What is going on in North Dakota? For weeks now information about the protests going on in North Dakota has been only skirting the mainstream. But, now, what started out as only private security forces have now turned into police and military equipment being brought in to handle the protests.
If you’re not familiar with the pipeline protests, take a moment to watch the video below by Ben Swann’s “Reality Check” from September where he gives an overview up to that point:
So far, more than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the protests. Authorities have used pepper spray, fired bean bags and even employed sound cannons at activists. The protesting group is calling themselves “water protectors,”. Supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe set up tents and teepees on the land, about an hour south of Bismarck, which they said belongs to the tribe under a 19-century treaty.
The tribe has gone to court to challenge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers‘ decision granting permits at more than 200 water crossings. A federal judge in September denied their request to block construction, but three federal agencies stepped in to order construction to halt on Corps-owned land around Lake Oahe, a wide spot of the Missouri River, while the Corps reviewed its decision-making.
The majority of the protesters are Native Americans and don’t see themselves as “protesters” at all. According to a video made by BuzzFeedNews and posted on Indigenous People Of America’s Facebook Page. (video below)
There has also been a lot of the police action being filmed on social media like this video below:
And, MSNBC did a video piece on the fact that the US does not recognize the rights of indigenous people according to how they voted in the United Nations.
So. Who’s Right? Who’s Wrong? The answer is rather cloudy. But, it probably can be stated with certainty that violence will be the one thing that prevails.