Courtesy Sacred Stone Camp
Police raise weapons and approach unarmed water protectors at a peaceful action on September 28, 2016
A police officer raises his weapon at unarmed water protector. Courtesy Leland Dick.
Women plant willow tree seedlings in the path of Dakota Access construction on September 25. Courtesy Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN).
As I wrote in this post, cops are getting increasingly worrisome here in Ndakota. Sarah Sunshine Manning has a column up at ICTMN, please go read, and more importantly, share! We need help getting the truth out, and countering the increasing amount of lies coming from cops and oil corps.
Last week, water protectors from the camps near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, engaged in peaceful non-violent direct action at three different Dakota Access Construction sites. And despite the peaceful and prayerful atmosphere at all three sites, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department quickly released a statement alleging that the demonstration turned violent, and that one unidentified Dakota Access security worker was assaulted by “protestors” as knives and guns were wielded.
Water protectors on the ground vehemently refute this claim, and they contend that the allegations of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department are completely fabricated.
Still, just days later on September 28, police confronted water protectors with armored police vehicles blocking the road, and with shotguns drawn, as water protectors gathered for another peaceful action.
The unarmed water protectors reported being terrified, and many made frantic and fearful pleas over social media calling for support and help.
“Please share and make everyone aware!” Linda Black Elk posted on Facebook. “COPS WITH GUNS DRAWN APPROACHING UNARMED PEACEFUL PROTECTORS.”
For many water protectors, social media has become a means of documenting actions in order to counter the continued false narratives of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
The tactics of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and Dakota Access continue a tragically predictable pattern of villainizing peaceful protests in order to justify excessive police, security and military presence.
It is critical that the voices of water protectors on the ground be elevated.
Nick Tilsen, an organizer and executive director for Thunder Valley CDC, was among those present at the prayerful action Sunday as well as the action where the alleged violence occurred; the same alleged violence that prompted excessive police force later in the week.
In an interview with Sonali Kolhatkar of the show “Rising Up with Sonali,” Tilsen said of the accusations of violence and the attack on a security worker “is 100-percent wrong. This false accusation is totally made up.”
Tilsen said the allegations were nothing more than propaganda.
“By the time we got to the construction site, all of the workers had packed up and left, because they saw us walking for a quarter of a mile,” Tilsen said. “We actually didn’t have interaction with the security guards or interaction with the workers that day.”
According to water protectors and journalists on the ground, all actions that day were peaceful. Additionally, women, children and elders continue to be among those standing in prayer for water and life.
The first peaceful action on September 25 took place much earlier than the action where the alleged violence took place. This earlier action was at a Dakota Access construction site in South Dakota, where a handful of water protectors gathered before daylight and strung over a thousand small prayer ties across Dakota Access machinery.
The full article, and more images is here. If you are able, please, please share, get this news out, get it everywhere, we need help with this.
The escalation is worrisome, to say the least.
Yeah, it is. I wish to hell someone would relieve Kirchmeier, but there’s no one to do it, or no way to do it, I don’t know. The man’s record of running to media with lies has been disturbing from the beginning, and it’s not getting better. He doesn’t care at all that he’s not telling the truth, he just wants to paint this continual picture of all the people at the camps being violent savages. Asshole, through and through.
This is scary. I’m hoping the protectors will stay safe, I know they’re doing everything they can to show they’re peaceful. I also hope Kirchmeier is conscious of all the eyes on him, and that he modifies his behavior. I’m not betting on that one.
Cops pointing guns at unarmed civilians ain’t “serve and protect”
This is a positive result of social media and camera phones. Without them, people would have been shot already.
LykeX:
No, it isn’t. The reason people are crying out for social media coverage about this is to prevent such an occurrence, but the guns, riot gear, armored trucks and other military shinies are new.
Perhaps the specific gear is, but the attitude isn’t. Police have been murdering protestors for as long as there have been police and protestors.
How can you tell the cop is lying?
His lips are moving. (Or his fingers are typing.)
LykeX:
Yes, I know that, but you seem to be missing the point. Half the world doesn’t have a clue about Standing Rock, and most social media shares are among what is affectionately termed facebook Indians. We don’t have the social media power of Black Lives Matter, which is why it isn’t true to say social media prevented bad acts, it hasn’t.
There have already been bad acts on the part of cops and DA, and social media didn’t prevent any of it. Social media has not prevented Kirchmeier from going full tilt military gun nut out here, either. He doesn’t care about being scrutinized, and he’s not altogether wrong in that, because there isn’t enough scrutiny to matter.
Mainstream media finally figured out what was going on, months after the fact, and *some* of them wrote a story, “ooh, looky, Indians”, then have immediately dropped the matter. We are very much on our own out here, which is why there’s a desperate call for people to share this, to get the news out. If white people want to help, they could share this! We need this news spread by people who matter, and that means white people.
True enough. I haven’t seen it mentioned at all over here, in Denmark. I’ve tried cluing in some reporters and will again.
For the record, I really appreciate your work on this. I wouldn’t know about it if it wasn’t for you.