Authorities and protesters in North Dakota clashed for hours Thursday as law enforcement cleared a camp of activists opposing a $3.8-billion oil pipeline. The camp, erected days ago on the project’s path on private land, has been secured and 141 people have been arrested, authorities said.
Armed law enforcement in riot gear used sirens, pepper spray and bean bag shots, while activists set roadblocks on fire and threw rocks, logs, and molotov cocktails at officers, according to authorities and published reports.
At least three shots were allegedly fired by a protester moments before she was arrested, “narrowly missing a sheriff’s deputy,” North Dakota State Emergency Services Spokeswoman Cecily Fong told NBC News.
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The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said protesters — who call themselves water protectors — started various fires during the course of the day.
Activists allegedly set fires to three pieces of construction equipment, a couple of bridges, and numerous vehicles, on the nearby highway. At least seven people attached themselves to unspecified items and vehicles, according to authorities.
Most people were arrested for conspiracy to endanger by fire or explosion, engaging in a riot, or maintaining a public nuisance. To date, more than 300 people have been arrested in connection with the protest.
Authorities estimated at least 250 protesters, who are mostly Native Americans, were at the camp during Thursday’s violence. Activists say more than 300 officers moved in, with all-terrain vehicles, armored cars, and military-grade Humvees. Helicopters and at least one airplane monitored the action from above.
A handful of officers suffered minor injuries, authorities told NBC News. Social media and news photographs show protesters suffered injuries, too, but no official tally has been reported.
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Thursday’s clash took place a day after negotiations broke down between protesters and authorities. On Sunday, activists put up tents and tepees directly on the project’s path for the first time, arguing the land belongs to Native Americans based on a treaty signed in the 1800s.
Dakota Access, a developing arm of Energy Transfer Partners, now owns the land. The company plans to build a 1,172-mile pipeline to transport more than 500,000 barrels of fracked crude oil daily through the Dakotas and Iowa, before reaching a hub in Illinois.
The projects is set to cross the Missouri River, the longest river in North America and which borders Standing Rock Sioux Tribe land. The tribe opposes the line in part because it fears a spill would poison the river, the tribe’s sole water supply. The line, which is almost finished, has yet to receive permits allowing it to cross the Missouri, which is considered federal property. The tribe has filed a lawsuit while federal agencies are reviewing the permits and has asked the company to refrain from building near the area.
While there have been clashes and mass arrests since activists built camps in opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline a couple of months ago, this incident appears to be the most violent. It has also managed to capture major news media attention for a full day. Activists have for months complained that a gathering of thousands of Native Americans from hundreds of tribes who are opposing an oil line has been hardly been covered, even while the occupation by white armed militia of a federal wildlife refuge received nonstop national coverage.
Bundy took over a building = FoxNews couldn't stay away!
Native Americans assert treaty rights to save their water = SILENCE #noDAPL— Whit Jones (@whitjones) October 27, 2016
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton commented on the protests Thursday evening.
“From the beginning of this campaign, Secretary Clinton has been clear that she thinks all voices should be heard and all views considered in federal infrastructure projects,” Spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement.
“Now, all of the parties involved — including the federal government, the pipeline company and contractors, the state of North Dakota, and the tribes — need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest,” she said . “As that happens, it’s important that on the ground in North Dakota, everyone respects demonstrators’ rights to protest peacefully, and workers’ rights to do their jobs safely.”
Her comments came as envoys from the Standing Rock tribe and other groups went to the campaign’s headquarters in New York and demanded her to take a stand on the issue. The Republican presidential nominee has not commented on the issue.