BIA Agent caught on Video Hitting Female Water Protector with Baton during Arrest in Standing Rock

BIA agent Attacks female Water Protector with Baton during Arrest in Standing Rock

BIA agent caught hitting unarmed female with baton and arresting her as Tribe says ‘No Forcible Removal’ 

By Black Powder | RPM Staff, Feb 06 2017 • Updated

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officials said this weekend they were working with federal authorities to close the Dakota Access Pipeline camps for safety reasons.

On Friday, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) said the agency had sent “enforcement support and would assist the tribe” in closing the protest camps within its reservation boundaries.

RELATED: 

• U.S. Army Corps Moves To Close Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Camp Feb. 22

But Tribal officials responded over the weekend that while they wanted people to close the camps and leave the reservation, they did not want them arrested or ousted by force.

“We want to stress that we are cleaning the camps, not clearing them,” the tribe posted on Facebook on Saturday. “We do not support or endorse any ‘raids.’ We have not asked for law enforcement to assist in clearing camps and in fact have repeatedly told them there will be no forcible removal.”

On Saturday evening, a video emerged out of Standing Rock which showed a female water protector beaten by a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officer with his baton during an arrest. The unarmed woman is seen walking away from a BIA agent when he starts to hit her with the weapon. The woman can be heard yelling at the officer during the attack “Stop brutalizing me”

Will Barton uploaded the video to his Facebook page shortly after the incident occurred on February 4. 2017.

The altercation took place along the road going into Sacred Stone Camp.

Three people were said to be arrested.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe put out a Press Release yesterday, including more information about the incident. 

“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe denounces any violence and it is very important to maintain peace on all sides. Although we don’t know all the facts, the Bureau is conducting an investigation.”

“From information provided thus far, we understand that a tribal citizen of the Cannonball community called the police due to individuals blocking road access to the caller’s home. When law enforcement arrived at the scene, officers were subsequently pepper sprayed by the individuals at the roadblock. This led to an altercation and arrests at the scene. The safety of Tribal citizens remains our top priority and we denounce all forms of violence.”

After months of protests, both tribal officials and residents in the town of Cannon Ball, have asked those opposed to completion of the controversial, 1,170-mile pipeline to leave.

The Standing Rock Tribe has asked camps to disband by Feb. 22, before the spring flooding season.

U.S. Army Corps Moves To Close Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Camp Feb. 22

Law enforcement officers line up against protesters during the eviction of Dakota Access pipeline opponents from a camp on private property in southern North Dakota near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, Feb. 1, 2017.

BIA pledges support in helping Standing Rock Tribe close protest camps

By Black Powder | RPM Staff, Feb 04, 2017

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given an evacuation order to those protesting at the Dakota Access Pipeline camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

The Army Corps is giving protesters until Feb. 22 to leave the Oceti Sakowin Camp for safety reasons, ABC News reported on Friday.

The Corps issued notices of the closure to protesters.

Record snowfall is expected in North Dakota, which could lead to record flooding in the area, according to an Army press release.

“Much of the land where the protest camps are currently located is directly in an area prone to flooding in years with heavy plains snow pack,” the Army said. “While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers routinely monitors river levels, ice jam flooding can very quickly force water into low-lying areas near the river with little time for reaction, placing anyone in the floodplain at risk for possible injury or death.”

Anticipated Flood Area. From a January 11th, 2017 article in the Bismarck Tribune

According to NBC News, The Corps said it would close the Oceti Sakowin Camp, which sits on approximately 50 acres of Corps land, due to the “high potential for flooding” in the low-lying area at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball Rivers.

The website of the largest protest camp urged protesters to leave.

“As we are caretakers of this land we are familiar with the oncoming flooding of the land of Mni S’os’e (Missouri River) we ask occupants of the Oc’eti Oyate to evacuate as soon as possible for safety reasons,” the Oceti Sakowin camp said in a statement.

The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said that if the protesters do not leave the camp, it will become a “humanitarian mission” to rescue them.

In addition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) pledged its support in helping the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe close the protest camps within its reservation boundaries.

The federal government announced Friday that it was dispatching BIA agents to the Standing Rock reservation.

The Corps said oil erosion and pollution — which it attributed to the “unauthorized placement of structures, vehicles, personal property, and fires” on the land over the course of more than six months — could result in contaminated runoff into both rivers.

“As stewards of the public lands and natural resources, we have a responsibility to the public to prevent injuries and loss of life,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Commander, Col. John Henderson. “We must also ensure our precious water resources are free from pollution due to human activities and respect for all who rely on this water for their livelihoods.”

A senior U.S. Defense official confirmed to NBC News that members of Congress were notified of the decision Friday.

The decision could be the final, decisive blow for a protest movement that began at the camp in early August with just a few dozen protesters — who call themselves water protectors — from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and blossomed into a movement captivated the nation with thousands of Native Americans and environmental activists flocking to the remote North Dakota plains to stop the $3.7 billion pipeline.

In late November, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple issued a similar evacuation order, citing “severe winter conditions.” The order was followed up days later by a U.S. Army Corps deadline of Dec. 5.

The orders drew thousands more to the camp in solidarity, including groups of U.S. military veterans who vowed to act as “human shields” against possible clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.

On Dec. 4, just hours before that deadline, the Corps turned down a permit for the project in what would be a short-lived victory for the tribe.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memo asking for an expedited review of the Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to get the controversial final portion of the 1,100-mile project moving again.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has promised to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for not conducting the environmental-impact review it said it would conduct.

On Tuesday, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp told NBC News that the Corps would grant an easement to Energy Transfer Partners, the Dallas-based company funding the project, to finish the pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe alleges the construction and operation of the pipeline would destroy sacred sites and threatens their drinking water.

#NoDAPL Alert: The Last Child Camp raided by marginalized police. #StandingRock @RedPowerMedia https://t.co/D0tKoXJcn1 pic.twitter.com/Jmd2DLqeSi

— Saulteaux Okichitâw (@BlackPowder_RPM) February 2, 2017

Meanwhile, Morton County Sheriff’s arrested Seventy-six protesters on Wednesday after a new camp, with seven tepee frames representing the seven tribes, was erected on a hill Wednesday morning a quarter mile from the original Oceti Sakowin Camp.

American Indian activist and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe member Chase Iron Eyes was charged on Friday with inciting a riot and trespass.

The anti-pipeline protest camp that once occupied by as many as 10,000 people has thinned to fewer than 300 due to harsh winter weather and a plea by Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault for the camp to disband before the spring flooding season.