The fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline escalated this weekend. Private security hired by the developer clashed with protesters at a pipeline construction site.
Tim Mentz is a former tribal historic preservation officer for the Standing Rock Sioux and also part of the tribe’s efforts to prevent construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Saturday he spoke to reporters at a site where, a few hours before, construction crews had bulldozed land in preparation for the pipeline. When referring to the bulldozed land Mentz said “archaeologists, they don’t see these. The archaeology firm that came through here walked right over these. 27 graves were identified in this area.”
That area, according to Mentz, was sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. It’s a few miles away from where the pipeline would cross the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Reservation. Pipeline protest leaders like Mentz have taken exception to construction here because they believe Dakota Access wasn't yet legally allowed to begin work.
The tribe last week filed court documents outlining numerous sacred sites in the pipeline’s path and Standing Rock sought to preserve those areas.
As this site was bulldozed Saturday, protesters arrived. Lance Keeble is a volunteer security guard for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s protest efforts. He said that when construction crews were working “it was peaceful at first until they started spraying us with mace.”
Keeble is referring to private security and their dogs hired by the pipeline developer to protect the Dakota Access construction crew. Keeble also said that “the dogs, they started letting them loose. They tried to attack people.”
While the protesters contend they were attacked, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department says it was the other way around. They say protesters used fence posts, knives and flag poles against the security guards and their dogs. One of the Dakota Access private security guards was hospitalized.
Pipeline protest security’s Lance Keeble said that the dogs bit several protesters, and many more were pepper sprayed.
No arrests were made at the scene, and law enforcement continues to investigate. A federal judge is expected to rule this week on the tribe’s request for an injunction to halt construction. The tribe on Sunday filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to stop construction until the judge rules.
