Native American protesters arrested as Keystone XL Vote Fails

By Black Powder | Red Power Media

The U.S. Senate voted down a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. Sen. Elizabeth Warren  read the final vote tally as protesters of the pipeline in the Senate Gallery burst into song.

Warren claims Native American ancestry, but she didn’t hesitate to order the sergeant-at-arms to restore order in the galleries.

US Capitol Police officers dragged out five protesters, including Greg Grey Cloud of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe as he bellowed a tribal song.

Grey Cloud, who wore a headdress, continued singing as he was knocked to the floor and pulled to the wall of the hallway.

Pic: Protesters are taken away from the Senate chamber after chanting from the gallery following the Keystone vote. By Frank Thorp V/Twitter

Protesters were handcuffed with plastic zip-ties while standing shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the wall. They were then paraded down a corridor and one of the protesters began singing again.

The group was arrested for “disrupting Congress.”

In response to the Nov. 14 House vote to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline, Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Cyril Scott announced that the tribe recognized the action as an act of war.

The Senate vote was 59-41. The bill needed 60 votes to pass. All the Republicans voted for the bill.

The fight isn’t over yet; Republicans have said they plan to prioritize approving the pipeline once they take control of the Senate next year.