Tag Archives: Standing Rock

For U.S. veterans, pipeline protest promises to galvanize activism

Veterans join activists in a march to Backwater Bridge just outside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S.

By Ernest Scheyder and Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL/FORT YATES, N.D. (Reuters) – U.S. veterans, thousands of whom last week helped stop a contested oil pipeline running through North Dakota, could become important partners of activists on the environment, the economy, race and other issues that divide Americans.

Several academics said the effort to support the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others opposed to the pipeline project was likely the biggest gathering of its kind of former military personnel since the early 1970s when U.S. veterans marched against the Vietnam War.

That so many veterans mobilized in less than two weeks to rural North Dakota speaks to the power they may have on public opinion, because of their status as having put their lives on the line for their country, veterans and academics said.

“The sense that vets are distinctively American figures, regardless of political beliefs, always seems to have currency, even when they are working on different sides of an issue,” said Stephen Ortiz, a history professor at the State University of Binghamton in New York.

Many veterans who went to Cannon Ball, North Dakota, to join the months-long protests by Native Americans and environmentalists against the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) Dakota Access Pipeline, said they were already looking for their next issue to support.

“Militarily-trained soldiers have now discerned, on their own, a genuine, just cause for which to promote and defend, and this time without being under orders to do so,” said Brian Willson, whose 2011 memoir “Blood on the Tracks: The Life and Times of S. Brian Willson”, described how after serving in the Vietnam War, he became a non-violent protester for social change in the United States.

Law enforcement tactics, particularly the use of water cannons, against the protesters had been considered extreme by some. Veterans said in interviews they felt galvanized to act as a human shield, providing a respite for those who had been at the protest camp for months.

The pipeline owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, is routed adjacent to the Standing Rock Sioux’s reservation. Protesters have said the $3.8 billion project could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands.

The veterans at Standing Rock were led by former Marine Michael Wood Jr and Army veteran Wes Clark Jr, son of retired U.S. general Wesley Clark, former commander of NATO. The group raised $1.1 million through online crowdfunding to help transport, house and feed veterans at the camp.

BATTLE RESUMES WITH TRUMP PRESIDENCY

On Sunday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it turned down a permit for the pipeline’s completion, handing a victory to the protesters.

But the saga will not end there. Republican President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants the pipeline built; his team said he would review the decision when he takes office.

Even though the fight is not over in North Dakota, some see this as a way forward on other issues.

“There’s a lot of these pipelines being built around the county. Flint (Michigan) has a water crisis. So we’re going to see if we can keep this movement going and really change some things in America,” said Matthew Crane, 32, from Buffalo, New York, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2002 to 2006.

Clark’s group, called Veterans Stand With Standing Rock (VSSR), asked for 2,000 volunteers but said twice as many arrived. Comments on the VSSR Facebook page criticized Clark for a lack of planning and for not having contingencies in place for North Dakota’s harsh winters.

As a blizzard blew in on Monday, many hunkered down at the main protest camp. Hundreds more slept in the pavilion of the Prairie Knights Casino in Fort Yates, roughly 10 miles away on the Standing Rock reservation.

Clark, who himself was snowed-in at the casino, said in a Facebook video posted Wednesday night that the response meant “a huge tax on the supply chain and on accommodations.”

ASKING FORGIVENESS

As part of their journey to North Dakota, many veterans asked forgiveness in two ceremonies for what they considered crimes and mistreatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government and military over the past 150 years.

One ceremony took place Monday on Backwater Bridge near the camp, the site of two heated confrontations with law enforcement earlier this fall. Thousands of veterans and tribal members prayed, emoting war cries on the bridge’s southern cusp.

One veteran, wearing a flak jacket and a Veterans for Peace flag, yelled to the crowd from atop a horse.

“We didn’t serve this country to see our brothers and sisters here persecuted,” said the man, whose name was inaudible in the fury of the arriving blizzard. “Are we not all human?”

Some veterans said they planned to remain in North Dakota, unwilling to trust that Energy Transfer Partners would abide by the federal government’s decision. Most had left by Wednesday, however, said Heather O’Malley, a U.S. Army veteran who monitored news for the group. She said it was unclear if they would return to the area in January if needed.

Clark and others said this was a way for veterans to address other efforts around the country.

“This is a small battleground in a larger war that is developing in our country that has to do with race, the economy and the powers that be taking advantage of those who really don’t have a voice,” said Anthony Murtha, 29, from Detroit, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2009 to 2013.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder and Terray Sylvester in Cannon Ball and Fort Yates, N.D.; additional reporting by Tim Mclaughlin and Andrew Cullen; writing by David Gaffen; editing by Grant McCool)

Sioux chief asks protesters to disband, Trump to review pipeline decision

Veterans march with activists near Backwater Bridge just outside the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline

By Ernest Scheyder and Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – A Native American leader asked thousands of protesters to return home after the federal government ruled against a controversial pipeline, despite the prospect of President-elect Donald Trump reversing the decision after he takes office.

A coalition of Native American groups, environmentalists, Hollywood stars and veterans of the U.S. armed forces protested the $3.8 billion oil project. They said construction would damage sacred lands and any leaks could pollute the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

The tribe still wants to speak with Trump about the Dakota Access Pipeline to prevent him from approving the final phase of construction, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault told Reuters.

“The current administration did the right thing and we need to educate the incoming administration and help them understand the right decision was made,” he said.Trump’s transition team said on Monday it would review the decision to delay completion once he takes office Jan. 20.

“That’s something that we support construction of and we’ll review the full situation when we’re in the White House and make the appropriate determination at that time,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said at a transition team news briefing.

A Native American man stands in the snow during a march with veterans near Backwater Bridge just outside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota,

A Native American man stands in the snow during a march with veterans near Backwater Bridge just outside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as “water protectors” continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Archambault said nothing would happen over the winter before Trump takes power, so protesters should leave. Many had dug in for the harsh winter of the North Dakota plains, where a blizzard hit on Monday and 40 miles-per-hour (64 kmh) winds rattled tipis and tents.

“We’re thankful for everyone who joined this cause and stood with us,” he said. “The people who are supporting us … they can return home and enjoy this winter with their families. Same with law enforcement. I am asking them to go.”

It was unclear if protesters would heed Archambault’s call to leave the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

A man stands on Highway 1806 just outside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S.,

A man stands on Highway 1806 just outside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as “water protectors” continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

SHORT-LIVED VICTORY

On Sunday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected an application for the pipeline to tunnel under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

The Army Corps said it would analyze possible alternate routes, although any other route is likely to cross the Missouri River.

The camp celebrated the decision, but some expressed concern their victory could be short-lived.

“I think this is just a rest,” Charlotte Bad Cob, 30, of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, said on Sunday. “With a new government it could turn and we could be at it again.”

On Monday, tribal leaders and hundreds of veterans walked to Backwater Bridge, one of the focal points of the protests, and offered prayers and chanted after the victory.

Several veterans said they had no plans to leave and suspected Sunday’s decision was a ruse to empty the camp.

Veterans gather for a briefing inside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota

Veterans gather for a briefing inside of the Oceti Sakowin camp during a snow fall as “water protectors” continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The company building the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, said late on Sunday that it had no plans to reroute the line, and expected to complete the project.

The Obama administration’s decision was a “political action”, ETP said in a joint statement on Sunday with its partner Sunoco Logistics Partners.

The pipeline is complete except for a 1-mile (1.61 km)segment that was to run under Lake Oahe, which required permission from federal authorities.

The chief executive of ETP, Kelcy Warren, donated to Trump’s campaign, while the president-elect has investments in ETP and Phillips 66, another partner in the project.

As of Trump’s mid-2016 financial disclosure form, his stake in ETP was between $15,000 and $50,000, down from between $500,000 and $1 million in mid-2015. He had between $100,000 and $250,000 in shares of Phillips, according to federal forms.

(Writing by David Gaffen and Simon Webb; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Alan Crosby)

U.S. veterans to meet with tribe elders in pipeline protest

Trek Kelly of Venice Beach, California, stands with veterans who oppose the Dakota Access oil pipeline on Backwater Bridge near Cannon Ball, North Dakota,

By Ernest Scheyder and Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – U.S. military veterans will meet with tribal leaders on Saturday as they continue to entrench themselves in a North Dakota camp where thousands of activists are protesting a multibillion-dollar pipeline project near a Native American reservation.

Veterans Stand for Standing Rock members will meet with Standing Rock Sioux elders to determine how the potentially  3,500 veterans arriving over the weekend can aide protesters who have spent months demonstrating against plans to route the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the tribe’s reservation.

Phyllis Young (C) of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe talks with veterans who oppose the Dakota Access oil pipeline and local law enforcement on Backwater Bridge near Cannon Ball, North Dakota,

Phyllis Young (C) of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe talks with veterans who oppose the Dakota Access oil pipeline and local law enforcement on Backwater Bridge near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

The group of veterans are also expected over the weekend to complete building a barracks and mess hall near where they constructed a headquarters at the Oceti Sakowin camp about 5 miles (8 km) north of the small town of Cannon Ball.

The Native Americans and protesters say the $3.8 billion pipeline threatens water resources and sacred sites.

Wesley Clark Jr, a writer whose father is retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, met with law enforcement on Friday to tell them that 3,500 veterans may join the protest and the demonstrations would be carried out peacefully, protest leaders said.

Tribal leaders asked the veterans, who aim to form a wall in front of police to protect the protesters, to avoid confrontation with authorities and not get arrested.

There have been violent confrontations near the route of the pipeline with state and local law enforcement, who used tear gas, rubber bullets and water hoses on the protesters, even in freezing weather.

“I felt it was our duty and very personally more of a call of duty than I ever felt in the service to come and stand in front of the guns and the mace and the water and the threat that they pose to these people,” said Anthony Murtha, 29, a Navy veteran from Detroit, at the Oceti Sakowin camp.

Some 564 people have been arrested, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department said.

The number of protesters in recent weeks has topped 1,000. State officials on Monday ordered them to leave the snowy camp, which is on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, citing harsh weather, but on Wednesday they said they would not enforce the order.

A man rests on top of a hill inside of the Oceti Sakowin camp as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota

A man rests on top of a hill inside of the Oceti Sakowin camp as “water protectors” continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier spoke by phone on Friday with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, but assistance for law enforcement and a timeline for a resolution to the situation were not offered, the sheriff’s office said.

Lynch said in a statement that the U.S. Department of Justice has been in communication with all sides in an effort to reduce tensions and foster dialogue.

State officials never contemplated forcibly removing protesters, and Dalrymple said his evacuation order stemmed mainly from concerns about dangerously cold conditions as the temperature in Cannon Ball is expected to fall to 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius) next week.

The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

Protesters, who refer to themselves as “water protectors”, have been gearing up for the winter while they await the Army Corps decision on whether to allow Energy Transfer to tunnel under the river. The Army Corps has twice delayed that decision.

(Additional reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago, Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and David Gaffen in New York; editing by Susan Thomas)

U.S. military veterans flock to North Dakota pipeline protest camp

Veterans have a confrontation with police on Backwater bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota,

By Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – Hundreds of U.S. military veterans on Friday have been arriving at a protest camp in North Dakota where thousands of activists, braving frigid conditions, are demonstrating against a pipeline project near a Native American reservation.

Veterans Stand for Standing Rock will spend the day building a barracks at the Oceti Sakowin camp near Cannon Ball and coordinating with protesters who have spent months rallying against plans to route the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, organizers said.

Veterans have a demonstration on Backwater bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S

Veterans have a demonstration on Backwater bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

Some of the more than 2,100 veterans who signed up on the group’s Facebook page have arrived at the camp, with hundreds more expected over the weekend. The veterans intend to form a human wall in front of police to protect protesters, who say the $3.8 billion pipeline poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites.

State officials on Monday ordered activists to vacate the camp on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, citing harsh weather, but said on Wednesday they would not enforce the order.

“There is an element there of people protesting who are frightening,” North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said on Thursday. “It’s time for them to go home.”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said he supported the completion of the pipeline. His transition team also said he supported peaceful protests.

Members of the North Dakota Veterans Coordinating Council denounced the involvement of veterans in a protest that has damaged property and asked them not to take part.

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple has said it was “probably not feasible” to reroute the pipeline, but he would try to rebuild a relationship with Standing Rock Sioux leaders.

State officials never contemplated forcibly removing protesters, and his evacuation order mainly stemmed from  concerns about dangerously cold temperatures, Dalrymple said. Engineers interviewed by Reuters also said such weather made some aspects of pipeline construction more difficult.

The temperature in Cannon Ball is expected to fall to 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius) by the middle of next week, according to Weather.com forecasts.

The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP <ETP.N>, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

Protesters, who refer to themselves as “water protectors,” have been gearing up for the winter while they await the Army Corps decision on whether to allow Energy Transfer Partners to tunnel under the river. The Army Corps has twice delayed that decision.

As the U.S. government considers whether to grant Energy Transfer the easement, the pipeline operator said in a legal filing in late November that delays following the projected Jan. 1 startup would cost about $84 million a month.

(Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Lisa Von Ahn)

U.S. veterans head to pipeline protest camp in North Dakota

A tipi is seen in the Oceti Sakowin camp during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota,

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – U.S. military veterans were set to arrive at a camp to join thousands of activists braving snow and freezing temperatures to protest a pipeline project near a Native American reservation in North Dakota.

Protesters have spent months rallying against plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, saying it poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites.

State officials had issued an order on Monday for activists to vacate the Oceti Sakowin camp, located on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, citing harsh weather conditions. Officials said on Wednesday they will not actively enforce that order.

The Standing Rock Sioux, in a statement on Wednesday, scoffed at the state order, noting that because “the Governor of North Dakota and Sheriff of Morton County are relative newcomers” to the land, “it is understandable they would be concerned about severe winter weather.”

They said the camp has adequate shelter to handle the cold weather, adding that the Great Sioux Nation has survived “in this region for millennia without the concerns of state or county governments.”

The temperature in Cannon Ball is expected to fall to 6 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 Celsius) by the middle of next week, according to Weather.com forecasts.

The 1,172-mile (1,885 km) pipeline project, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, a contingent of more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans, intends to reach North Dakota by this weekend and form a human wall in front of police, protest organizers said on a Facebook page.

Protesters, who refer to themselves as “water protectors,” have been gearing up for the winter while they await the Army Corps decision on whether to allow Energy Transfer Partners to tunnel under the river. That decision has been delayed twice by the Army Corps.

(Reporting by Terray Sylvester; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

Police fire water cannon at Dakota protesters in freezing weather

Police use a water cannon to put out a fire started by protesters during a protest near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

By Chris Michaud and Stephanie Keith

NEW YORK/CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – Police fired tear gas and water at hundreds of protesters in North Dakota opposed to an oil pipeline in freezing weather late Sunday and early Monday, in the latest violent clash between law enforcement and activists over the $3.7 billion project.

An estimated 400 protesters mounted the Backwater Bridge just north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, and attempted to force their way past police in what the Morton County Sheriff’s Department initially described as an “ongoing riot.”

A joint statement from several activist groups said protesters were trying to remove the burned vehicles blocking Backwater Bridge in order to restore access to the nearby Standing Rock encampments so emergency services and local traffic can move freely.

Police fired volleys of tear gas at the protesters to prevent them from crossing the bridge. Law enforcement also sprayed protesters with water in sub-freezing temperatures, and fired rubber bullets, injuring some in the crowd.

“It is below freezing right now and the Morton County Sheriff’s Department is using a water cannon on our people – that is an excessive and potentially deadly use of force,” said Dallas Goldtooth, a spokesman for the Indigenous Environmental Network, one of the organizations involved in protests.

A statement from the sheriff’s’ department said one arrest had been made by 8:30 p.m. local time (0230 GMT Monday), about 2-1/2 hours after the incident began 45 miles (30 miles) south of Bismarck, the North Dakota capital. About 100 to 200 protesters remained after midnight.

The protest was latest in a series of demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline that Native American activists and environmentalists say threatens water resources and sacred tribal lands.

Kazlin Red Bear,4, from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe jumps from a hay bale in an encampment near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Kazlin Red Bear,4, from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe jumps from a hay bale in an encampment near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

The Dakota Access project has drawn steady opposition from activists since the summer, led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose tribal lands are adjacent to the pipeline.

Supporters of the pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners, said the project offers the most direct route for taking shale oil from North Dakota to Gulf Coast refineries and would be safer than road or rail transportation.

Completion of the pipeline, set to run 1,172 miles (1,185 km) from North Dakota to Illinois, was delayed in September so federal authorities could re-examine permits required by the Army Corps of Engineers. A final decision on the permit has been deferred for more consultation with the tribe.

The latest confrontation began after protesters removed a truck that had been on the bridge since Oct. 27, police said. The North Dakota Department of Transportation closed the Backwater Bridge, which crosses Cantapeta Creek north of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s camp, due to damage from that incident.

The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said officers on the scene of the latest confrontation were “describing protesters’ actions as very aggressive.”

Demonstrators tried to start about a dozen fires as they attempted to outflank and “attack” law enforcement barricades, the sheriff’s statement said. Police said protesters had hurled rocks, striking one officer, and fired burning logs from slingshots.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud in New York and Stephanie Keith in Cannon Ball, North Dakota; Editing by David Gaffen and Marguerita Choy)

Facebook users ‘check in’ to support North Dakota pipeline protests

A log adorned with colorful decorations remains at a Dakota Access Pipeline protest encampment as construction work continues on the pipeline near the town of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S.,

By Timothy Mclaughlin and Amy Tennery

(Reuters) – Thousands of supporters of a Native American tribe and environmental activists fighting construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota turned to social media on Monday in a bid to confuse police who they believe are using it to track the protesters.

More than 4,600 people used Facebook’s location tagging feature to “check in” on Monday afternoon at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near the site of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, vastly boosting the numbers actually there.

The local sheriff’s department denied it is using social media to keep tabs on demonstrators, and said the online actions by the protesters’ supporters were unnecessary.

“The Morton County Sheriff’s Department is not and does not follow Facebook check-ins for the protest camp or any location. This claim/rumor is absolutely false,” Donnell Preskey, a spokeswoman for the department, said in an email.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other opponents say the pipeline threatens sacred sites and local water supplies. Supporters say it would be safer and more cost-effective than transporting oil by road or rail. The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline is being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP.

The vast majority of new check-ins at the site in rural southwestern North Dakota appear to have been made remotely.

Ironically, using social media from the protest camp is hard due to poor cellphone reception. To get a signal, people walk up a small mound that has been dubbed “Facebook Hill.”

Variations on the search term “check in at Standing Rock” were among the most popular searches on Facebook on Monday afternoon, with more than 10,000 people talking about them.

Mekasi Camp Horinek, a protest leader from Bold Oklahoma, an environmental advocacy group, said he did not know who started the online movement, but he welcomed it.

“It is a lot of people showing their support for Standing Rock,” Horinek said on Monday by telephone from North Dakota. “They can’t be with us here physically, but they are with us in spirit and prayer.”

Horinek was among the 142 protesters arrested by police last week at an encampment set up on private land.

There were also demonstrations at banks linked to the pipeline’s financing on Monday. Twelve people were arrested in San Francisco for demonstrating in the Citigroup Center, according to protest organizers, and demonstrators occupied the lobby of the Wells Fargo Center in Salt Lake City.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago and Amy Tennery in New York; Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)