Tag Archives: NoDAPL

6/10 The People’s Summit, Evening 2 in Progressive Land & Open Thread

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Good Evening! It’s been quite a conference so far. And McCormick is a huge convention center! I just saw Rob Quist and Rep Pramilla Jayapal. Great talk. More in the comments! Nina is busy at her new job with The Real News. This evening’s keynote speaker is Senator Bernie Sanders.   The title of the program is The Political Revolution Now.   It’s scheduled for 7-8:30PM. The livestream link is below, once you click on it, it takes you to a yet link. People’ Summit via Our Revolution … Continue reading →

3/3 Open Thread & News Roundup

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Happy Friday friends! I’ll start off with a couple stories of the continued fallout for those who choose to support/cover the Standing Rock movement and then will put all the rest of the news in the comments (Sessions, Sanders, The DNC & more..). Also please take time to visit Humphrey’s post below!

Journalists covering Standing Rock face charges as police arrest protesters

For months, environmental protesters have clashed with police and private security companies over plans for the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.7 billion project that opponents say will destroy Native American sites and affect the region’s water supply. While mainstream media have covered flashpoints in the protests, a core of mostly freelance, left-wing, and Native American outlets have remained at the site to provide daily coverage.

Several of those journalists are facing charges, including trespass and engaging in riots, after being caught in mass arrests as police cracked down on protests or tried to clear camps in recent months. CPJ is aware of at least 10 journalists covering the story who are facing charges. Details of their cases can be seen here.

Some of those facing charges told CPJ that police used heavy-handed tactics, ignored or dismissed their press credentials, or arrested them even though they were following dispersal orders or commands to stay behind police lines. The journalists said that the burden of legal costs or risk of further charges if they are arrested again has discouraged them from covering other protests.

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Jihan Hafiz, an award-winning Egyptian-Samoan journalist who also faces charges, told CPJ that she thought reporting in North Dakota would be “a walk in the park.” Hafiz, who has covered conflict in the Middle East and police brutality in Brazil for outlets including The Real News Network and Al-Jazeera America, said she was surprised by what she described as heavy-handed police tactics and compared covering Standing Rock to reporting on conflict overseas. “These are not American tactics of policing. It’s clear to me that covering this is dangerous,” she told CPJ.

Meanwhile:

Standing Rock: arson accusation renews fear of police targeting military veterans

North Dakota police have accused a US veteran of arson at Standing Rock, renewing concerns that law enforcement is targeting former service members for prosecution.

Police on Thursday said that Sean Sullivan was a “possible arson suspect” and sent out a photo taken from his Facebook page of him standing near a burning structure at the main encampment at Standing Rock, which officers evicted last week.

Sullivan, a 35-year-old navy veteran from San Diego, who returned home from Standing Rock on Monday, had not heard he was a suspect until a Guardian reporter called him on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s just completely unfounded,” said Sullivan, who was part of a group called VeteransRespond that recently traveled to North Dakota to assist the remaining Native American activists demonstrating against the Dakota Access pipeline. “It’s intimidating. They’re just trying to bully me around. Everyone knows I didn’t start that.”

The arson accusation, which police said could lead to prosecution, is the latest in a series of arrests and charges filed against veterans aiding indigenous groups fighting the pipeline, which could soon be in operation.

1/3 News Roundup & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Good morning and Happy New Year everyone! Once again I have a lot of catching up to do after some extended time away due to the Holiday and then an absolute mad rush of work at the ‘real world job’. I hope you are all well and hope we can do some catching up in the comments… perhaps discuss a little of the second season of The Man In The High Castle if you’ve watched it yet (and you absolutely should). Though its several years old I also managed to take in the documentary: Holy Man: The USA vs Douglas White. You can watch the trailer here & find the entire thing on Amazon Prime and perhaps other places on the internet.

Moving onto the news.. this happened this weekend and made me quite happy:

Dakota Access Opponents Stage Dramatic Protest Against U.S. Bank

Continuing a strategy to target the project’s financial backers, a small team of Dakota Access Pipeline opponents on Sunday pulled off a dramatic banner-drop from the rafters of the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as the Minnesota Vikings played the Chicago Bears.

Above the crowded stadium, which can hold nearly 70,000 attendees at capacity, the two individuals—later identified as Karl Zimmerman, 32, and Sen Holiday, 26—rappelled from large steel girders during the second quarter

Holiday, who shot live video while dangling beside the banner, explained their reasoning. “We are here today at the U.S. Bank Stadium in solidarity with water protectors from standing rock,” she said. “We are urging US Bank to divest from the Dakota Access pipeline, a project threatening the tribe’s clean water supply.”

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Corey Schmidt, a public information officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, told local CBS affiliate WCCO Channel 4 News the largest concern was for safety. “That sign could have fallen, they could have fallen,” Schmidt said. “We don’t want people to do that.”

Returning to the ground after several hours, both Zimmerman and Holiday, were arrested for trespassing and burglary, both gross misdemeanors, for their participation in the protest. A third person, identified by police as 27-year-old Carolyn Feldman, was arrested on lesser charges.

Speaking from jail with WCCO reporter Jeff Wagner, Zimmerman declined to say how they got their climbing equipment and the banner inside the stadium, but said that like police, the idea of safety was also on their mind. “What’s relevant is that the Dakota Access Pipeline is unsafe,” Zimmerman told Wagner. “It’s unsafe for the residents of Bismarck, it’s unsafe for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and it is unsafe for the Missouri River.”

Everything else will be added to the comments as I come across it. Hope to see you there!

12/5 TPW News Roundup – Standing Rock Water Protectors React To Denial Of DAPL Permit

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Standing Rock: US denies key permit for Dakota Access pipeline, in win for tribe

The Army Corps of Engineers will not grant the permit for the Dakota Access pipeline to drill under the Missouri river, the army announced on Sunday, handing a major victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe after a months-long campaign against the pipeline.

Assistant secretary for civil works Jo-Ellen Darcy announced the decision on Sunday, with the army saying it was based on “a need to explore alternate routes” for the crossing.

“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” Darcy said in a statement. “The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.”

The army corps will undertake an environmental impact statement and look for alternative routes, the tribe said in its own announcement.

“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision,” tribal chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement.

While the news is a victory, Jan Hasselman, an attorney for the tribe, cautioned that the decision could be appealed.

From TYT Politics:

More in the comments, hope to see you there!

No Money, NODAPLE…Take Your Money Out!

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Facebook is reporting that there is  a large group assembled in San Francisco right now trying to take their money out of Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo today, and some of the banks have shut their doors to these people and won’t let them in to close accounts. https://www.facebook.com/AyanaYoung11/videos/1372844302728450/ Jordon addresses the supply blockade in the middle..I loved his segment of the young Water Protectors sledding but I didn’t see them in this vid. 11/30 In a related protest, Reuters has reported today that prosecutors suspended charges against Deia Schlosberg, a documentary maker arrested while filming as environmental … Continue reading →

11/28 News Roundup – Water Protectors, Free Speech Zones, Razor Wire, Bernie’s Trade Act & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Happy Monday friends! My auto-post saying I would be away seems to have failed (oops!), but thank you all for filling in!

The government will let Standing Rock protesters continue to demonstrate

U.S. authorities said on Sunday they had no plans to forcibly remove activists protesting plans to run an oil pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota, despite telling them to leave by early December.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the federal land where the main camp protesting the Dakota Access pipeline is located, said last week it would close public access to the area north of the Cannonball River on Dec. 5

On Sunday, the agency said in a statement that it had “no plans for forcible removal” of protesters. The statement said anyone who remained would be considered unauthorized and could be subject to various citations. It also said emergency services might not be adequately provided to the area.

“The Army Corps of Engineers is seeking a peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location,” the statement said. “This will reduce the risk of harm to people in the encampments caused (by) the harsh North Dakota winter conditions.”

A representative for the agency could not be immediately reached on Sunday to provide further clarification on its plans.

Organizers told a news conference on Saturday at the main protest site where about 5,000 people are camped that they had no intention of moving.

From The Young Turks:

More news & media in the comments. Please join us with your thoughts!

Open Thread 11/24 Thanksgiving Edition

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Good morning lovely friends!  I’ve been awake since 5:30 this morning and am preparing food I’m bring to the Thanksgiving Feast at my son, daughter-in-law, grandkids house where we’ll be gathering with friends.  So far I have a Pecan Pie in the oven made with pecans harvested from a friend’s brother’s trees in his Texas backyard.  Thank you friend’s brother for all your hard work!  I’m also making a Dutch Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pies so will be happily busy…I like my pies to be filled with love 🙂 My Minnesota Ojibwe Hand Harvested Wild Rice is on the stove … Continue reading →

#NoDAPL Protest Songs And Day Of Action Tweets

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Headed out to #NoDAPL Day Of Action event? Not able to go to an event but want to get a look at things from the people on the ground? Here are some pretty damn amazing grassroots inspired songs in support of the Water Protectors to pump you up, to pass around, and overall… to just make your day better. Genres may vary.

Starting things off with one video here, and the rest will be in the comments.

The Guardian: Fears Of Mass Arrests & Violent Clashes As US Army Corp Of Engineers Orders Destruction Of Water Protector Built Bridge

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Police ordered to arrest Dakota pipeline protesters and destroy bridge they built

The US army corps of engineers has ordered North Dakota police to arrest Native American protesters and destroy a bridge that activists built over a creek at the center of the increasingly tense Dakota Access pipeline demonstrations.

The Morton County sheriff’s office announced Wednesday afternoon that police were in a “standoff with protesters on the banks of the Cantapeta Creek” while activists said they were engaged in a peaceful water ceremony.

The situation raised concerns that there could be more mass arrests and violent clashes with police.

Police claimed that the protesters – who have for months been attempting to block construction of the $3.8bn oil pipeline that they say threatens sacred lands and their water supply – were trying to gain access to private property known as the Cannonball ranch. The group had built a “handmade wooden pedestrian bridge” across the creek, the sheriff said in a statement.

“Officers responded and ordered protesters to remove themselves from the bridge and notified them that if they cross the bridge they would be arrested.”

Police said the activists were “violating numerous federal and state laws”, but a spokeswoman said she could not immediately identify the specific alleged offenses.

An army corps spokesman told the Guardian that the agency had given police permission to enter the federal property “to prevent further campsites from developing and threatening public safety”.

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MN Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputies Recalled From DAPL Protest

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Good news…hundreds and hundreds of Minnesotans protested, wrote emails, made angry phone calls and sent letters to their local and State Reps for over a week demanding that Minnesota’s Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputys be brought back from The Standing Rock Stop the DAPL Action. Hennepin County covers the City of Minneapolis and surrounding areas, the most populace area in the state. Now, the sheriff’s deputies and equipment are on their way back to Minnesota from the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in North Dakota. The protest against the Dakota Access pipeline moved inside Minneapolis’ City Hall on Friday. … Continue reading →

Police from 5 States Escalate Violence, Shoot Horses to Clear 1851 Treaty Camp 10/28

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From The Sacred Stones website: http://sacredstonecamp.org/blog/2016/10/28/police-from-5-states-escalate-violence-shoot-horses-to-clear-1851-treaty-camp   Cannonball, ND – Over 300 police officers in riot gear, 8 ATVs, 5 armored vehicles, 2 helicopters, and numerous military-grade humvees showed up north of the newly formed frontline camp just east of Highway 1806.  The 1851 Treaty Camp was set up this past Sunday directly in the path of the pipeline, on land recently purchased by DAPL.  Today this camp, a reclamation of unceded Lakota territory affirmed as part of the Standing Rock Reservation in the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1851, was violently cleared.  Both blockades established this past weekend to enable … Continue reading →

9/29 Open Discussion

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Good Morning Friends! Lots going on. Here’s a sampling. Things not going too well over at the Standing Rock protest site. In a massive show of force yesterday, twenty-one protestors, or ‘water protectors’, were arrested. At today's prayer service water protectors were surrounded by armed police so they could not leave. Police also impounded their vehicles. — Ruth H. Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) September 29, 2016 The pic on the left in this tweet of a man getting arrested really tugged at my heart due to the expression on his face. He has a kind of stolid expression that I find very sad. I hope … Continue reading →

‘Dreamers and Warriors’ Unite For Global Day of Protest Against Dakota Access

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‘Dreamers and Warriors’ Unite For Global Day of Protest Against Dakota Access People across the nation—and world—on Tuesday are taking to the streets in an outpouring of solidarity for the tribal fight against the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL). #nodapl Tweets With more than 100 events planned for the #NoDAPL Day of Action—from Kyoto to London, from the seat of power in Washington, D.C. to Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) headquarters in Houston—tribal members, environmentalists, and supporters worldwide are joining together to call on U.S. President Barack Obama to cancel the pipeline’s permits once and for all. Meanwhile, on the ground, tribal … Continue reading →