Video: Hired Dakota Access oil pipeline security officers attack Native American protesters with dogs and pepper spray – ‘I saw dogs biting people indiscriminately’

4 September 2016 (ICTMN) –  On Saturday, 3 September 2016, water protectors from the Red Warrior Camp near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation went to a construction site for the Dakota Access oil pipeline. There, they said, they were confronted by guard dogs and pepper spray, wielded by private security guards employed by Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder’s parent company. Photographer Matika Wilbur, of Project 562 fame, was at the scene and compiled this video of some of the events of that afternoon.

One protester said, “They set the dogs on us, and they started spraying … Before I got sprayed, I saw dogs biting people indiscriminately.”

Dakota Access: Photographer Matika Wilbur Captures Video of Pepper-Sprayed Water Protectors

BISMARCK, North Dakota, 4 September 2016 (AP) – A protest of a four-state, $3.8 billion oil pipeline turned violent after tribal officials say construction crews destroyed American Indian burial and cultural sites on private land in southern North Dakota. […] Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. At least 30 people were pepper-sprayed, he said. Preskey said law enforcement authorities had no reports of protesters being injured. There were no law enforcement personnel at the site when the incident occurred, Preskey said. The crowd dispersed when officers arrived and no one was arrested, she said. The incident occurred within half a mile of an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s protest of the oil pipeline that is slated to cross the Missouri River nearby. […] Energy Transfer Partners did not return phone calls and emails from The Associated Press on Saturday seeking comment. […] Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said in a statement that “individuals crossed onto private property and accosted private security officers with wooden posts and flag poles.” “Any suggestion that today’s event was a peaceful protest, is false,” his statement said. [more]

Oil pipeline protest turns violent in southern North Dakota

3 September 2016 (Democracy Now!) – On Saturday, 3 September 2016, the Dakota Access pipeline company attacked Native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they protested against the $3.8 billion pipeline’s construction. If completed, the pipeline would carry about 500,000 barrels of crude per day from North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield to Illinois. The project has faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and members of nearly 100 more tribes from across the U.S. and Canada.

Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Native American Protesters with Dogs & Pepper Spray