Veterans out in force for pipeline protest
NORTH DAKOTA United States military veterans are building barracks at a protest camp in North Dakota to support thousands of activists who have squared off against authorities in frigid conditions to oppose a multibillion-dollar pipeline project near a Native American reservation.
Veterans volunteering to be human shields have been arriving at the Oceti Sakowin camp near the small town of Cannon Ball. They would work with protesters who have spent months demonstrating against plans to route the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, organisers said.
The veterans started building barracks yesterday.
The Native Americans and protesters say the US$3.8 billion pipeline threatens water resources and sacred sites.
Some of the more than 2100 veterans who signed up on the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock group’s Facebook page are at the camp, with hundreds more expected during the weekend.
Tribal leaders have asked the veterans, who aim to form a wall in front of police to protect the protesters, to avoid confrontation with authorities and not get arrested.
Wesley Clark Jr, a writer whose father is retired US Army general Wesley Clark, met with law enforcement yesterday to tell them that potentially 3500 veterans would join the protest and the demonstrations would be carried out peacefully, protest leaders said.
The plan was for the veterans to gather in Eagle Butte, a few hours away, and then travel by bus to the main protest camp, organisers said.
A big procession was planned for Tuesday.
Protesters began setting up tents, tepees and other structures in April, and the numbers swelled in August at the main camp.
Joshua Tree, 42, from Los Angeles, who has been visiting the camp for weeks at a time since September, said he felt pulled to the protest.
‘‘Destiny called me here,’’ he said at the main camp. ‘‘We’re committed.’’
The protesters’ voices have also been heard by companies linked to the pipeline, including banks that protesters have targeted for their financing of the pipeline.
Wells Fargo & Co said on Friday it would meet with Standing Rock elders before January 1 ‘‘to discuss their concerns related to Wells Fargo’s investment’’ in the project.
There have been violent confrontations near the route of the pipeline with state and local law enforcement, who have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water hoses on the protesters, even in freezing weather.
The number of protesters in recent weeks has topped 1000. State officials this week ordered them to leave the snowy camp, which is on US Army Corps of Engineers land, citing harsh weather, but said they would not enforce the order.
US President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday he supported the completion of the pipeline, and his transition team said he supported peaceful protests.
Trump’s stock holdings, as of his most recent disclosure in May, include millions of dollars worth of shares in oil and other energy companies that could stand to gain if he follows through on promises to loosen environmental regulations and pursue more drilling – including Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas-based firm behind the pipeline, and Phillips 66, which will hold a share of the project once completed.
They also include millions of dollars worth of shares in financial institutions such as Wells Fargo.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said it was ‘‘probably not feasible’’ to reroute the pipeline, but he would try to rebuild a relationship with Standing Rock Sioux leaders.
Since the start of the demonstrations, 564 people have been arrested, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department said.
State officials have never contemplated forcibly removing the protesters. Dalrymple said his evacuation order stemmed mainly from concerns about dangerously cold temperatures. The temperature in Cannon Ball is expected to fall to minus 16C by the middle of next week. Reuters, Washington Post