Hundreds hurt in pipeline protests
Witnesses say mace, water cannons used
Protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline say hundreds of people were injured in clashes with law enforcement on a bridge near Cannonball, N.D., Sunday night.
At least 75 people remained on a barricaded bridge Monday morning after a standoff that lasted more than seven hours.
Maxine Herr of the Morton County Sheriff ’s Office said the majority of the 400 demonstrators moved away from the bridge around 1:30 a.m.
Herr said one officer was injured when he was hit with a rock. Protesters hurled “multiple items,” Herr said, including burning logs and small propane tanks.
Protesters said their actions were peaceful and reported hundreds of injuries, including a broken kneecap and a cardiac arrest. Water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets and blasts of sound were used on the protesters throughout the evening, they reported.
A news release from the Sacred Stone Camp at Cannonball, N.D., called the use of the water can- nons in 26-degree temperatures “indiscriminate.”
EMTs from the Standing Rock reservation were on site to assist at the medic tent on the Oceti Sakowin camp, whose entrance is about a quarter mile from the Backwater Bridge.
Angela Bibens, a lawyer on the ground at Standing Rock, said in a podcast posted early Monday morning that law enforcement reacted aggressively.
“They deployed 20 mace canisters in a small area in less than five minutes to the point where people have lost bowel function,” Bibens said. “At least one seizure has been witnessed by our legal observers.”
One one woman suffered a broken kneecap and one elder “went into cardiac arrest” but was revived at the scene, Bibens said.
Greenpeace International on Monday called on President Obama to put an end to the violence.
“The violent scenes at Standing Rock last night were nothing short of horrific,” Greenpeace said. “It is clear that the militarized police response has completely disregarded the protection of human life.”
The Sheriff ’s Office described protesters as “very aggressive” and said they were “attempting to set multiple fires.”
Officers have been guarding the blocked Backwater Bridge since Oct. 27, when multiple fires were set as law enforcement moved protesters off a camp on private land.
Herr said the water cannons were not lethal and were needed to protect officers and extinguish fires started by protesters.
“They had the numbers,” she said.