It’s definitely winter up here in the upper Midwest. The temperature is right around freezing, there’s at least 15cm of snow on the ground, and the roads and sidewalks are slick with hard-packed ice. And they’re using water cannons on protesters at Standing Rock.
This is not just cruel — it’s dangerous. I’m sure residents of the Dakotas are just as conscious of the risks of getting wet outside in frigid weather as we are here in the slightly more urban state of Minnesota. You just don’t do that. You can kill people in this weather.
And of course they’re using rubber bullets and tear gas, and roughing up protesters and throwing them in dog kennels.
She told me that they were arrested at a prayer ceremony lead by camp elders, and that she had been slammed to the ground by uniformed officers with shields and helmets that kept her from distinguishing whether they were law enforcement or national guard.
“It was three against one, that’s their strategy,” she said, “there’s tear gas in the air everywhere. They didn’t fire it directly at me, but it’s everywhere.”
I was told that when they were arrested, they weren’t read their rights until after they spent a day in jail.
Her description of the arrest matched my student’s description. She told me they were bussed to a facility where they were kept in dog cages with urine stains on the floor, pictures of dogs hung on the walls. Women were separated from men with chain link fencing and a tarp.
They said their phones and money were confiscated, the money seized and turned into procurement cards and calling cards, allegedly without consent. The balance was not returned upon release, she said.
The state of the jail uniforms made the women feel vulnerable, she said, and the tarp separating the women from the view of the camp’s men exacerbated that feeling. She went on to tell me they were strip-searched.
“It was just turn your head and cough, just spread your cheeks and cough, but they didn’t tell us what they were going to, so when the woman approached me with rubber gloves on, I braced for a body cavity search. It’s worse not knowing, you know?”
America! This is what we’re like before the orange fascist takes power. What’s it going to be like next year?
You can still donate to the Standing Rock Sioux, and they’re going to need it. It takes courage and dedication to confront this kind of oppression.
I was reading about the “unprovoked assault” on the cop in San Antonio. While I am sorry it happened and I feel terrible for the cop’s family, it’s not right to say that sort of thing is “unprovoked.” Cops are in the process of conclusively demonstrating that they are the enemies of the people, and they’ve got to expect that the blowback is going to spiral up. I don’t understand what’s wrong with these authoritarian blockheads – don’t they understand that they’re potentially buying themselves a world of pain? They’re much more vulnerable than the protesters – insurgency tactics really really work well against blockheads like these cops appear to be.
There’s a riot going on, but it’s not the protestors doing it.
There’s a lot of talk about fake news nowadays, but, without having done any investigation of the sources, I think this report is reasonably likely to be true, unfortunately. The stated behaviour of the authorities is appalling.
The prospects for the future in the US look even bleaker now. Unfortunately, some of the vitriol will flow across the border, like a flood of raw sewage
Can anyone recommend detailed sources of information that both explain the background to this situation and where things are at now? (what laws govern pipeline right of way, and how is tribal sovereignty involved, who’s being arrested, for what, where are the protests, are there multiple camps, is there a spokesperson, is there camp leadership, who’s in charge on the other end – seems like there is DAPL security, police, and National Guard, is there a timeline, how has the Corps rulings had an impact, etc.). I feel very uniformed – despite an article in our paper this Sunday (pg 2) – from DAPL. (The paper is owned by North Dakota businessman, who overruled the editorial board to endorse Trump). My wife is going out there in a few weeks (once exams are over).
andyb #3
I recommend any seach engine on the internets.
andyb@3: FTB has one blogger on the ground (literally) at the NODAPL protest:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/
Lots of information about the background (going back months) and current activity, lots of it firsthand accounts. Caine is a great writer to boot, not “just” reporting the facts.
Just sent them my check! Thank goodness a snail mail address was posted! Thanks PZ for reminding us of this.
The Young Turks (online news) have done a pile of coverage on Standing Rock as well. Their reporter, Jordan Chariton, has been up there. One of their regular contributors is also organizing a bunch of veterans to stand with the Water Protectors in early December.
The bulk of the videos are on their side channel, TYT Politics. Link
Fair enough #4. The Wikipedia article is informative, but I still don’t understand the process for permitting pipelines. Do they have all the permits required to finish the pipeline? What law enforcement agency is in charge and what factors are driving their aggressive behavior – and who theoretically should be the check on their actions?
Clearly the protest is to stop the pipeline – but who can stop it and how?
#STANDING ROCK SYLLABUS.
andyb @ 8:
I have been covering Standing Rock from the beginning. Stop expecting people to fucking spoon feed you. There’s months worth of reading, if you are actually interested. You need to do the work. Here’s 11 pages, and that’s only working off one single tag.
If you’d like to make a complaint about police treatment of the water protectors, but can’t get there yourself, the number is 701-667-3330.
andyb
Hint: It’s not about permits for pipelines. That pipeline could have all the appropriate permits in triplicate and it would still be protested. Go read and learn before coming back (I recommend ICTMN, Caine’s blog, and the syllabus Caine posted).