DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Native" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Native</span></a> leaders draft bill to regain some of sacred <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BlackHills" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>BlackHills</span></a> </p><p>Tribal and treaty council representatives hope proposed legislative language to return federal lands in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SouthDakota" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SouthDakota</span></a>'s Black Hills to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Lakota" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Lakota</span></a> people can be turned into a Congressional bill</p><p>by Amelia Schafer, Dec 2, 2024</p><p>FORT YATES, N.D. – "The Black Hills are not for sale and never will be was the central uniting message discussed during a meeting at the Prairie Knights Casino in Fort Yates, N.D. on the Standing Rock Reservation.</p><p>Representatives from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, a group of Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation elders and various treaty councils gathered on Nov. 13 to formulate a plan for regaining land in the Black Hills. </p><p>"The group met to discuss the He Sapa Restoration Act, which includes a formal declaration from the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Oyate" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Oyate</span></a> (nation) and the tribal governments to demand that the United States return federal land in the Black Hills to the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OcetiSakowin" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OcetiSakowin</span></a> people. The group hopes to introduce the bill in 2025.</p><p>"The bill would not affect the titles of private lands. Though those lands would be cataloged as part of the land identification process, they would remain in possession of the title holders. </p><p>"'Today we’ve gathered to discuss the Black Hills,' Standing Rock Vice-Chairman Frank Jameson said. 'This fight has been ongoing for many decades before us and it will continue after us." </p><p>Read more:<br /><a href="https://ictnews.org/news/leaders-draft-bill-to-regain-some-of-sacred-black-hills" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">ictnews.org/news/leaders-draft</span><span class="invisible">-bill-to-regain-some-of-sacred-black-hills</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CheyenneRiverSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>CheyenneRiverSioux</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CrowCreekSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>CrowCreekSioux</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LowerBruleSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>LowerBruleSioux</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OglalaSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OglalaSioux</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RosebudSiouxTribe" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>RosebudSiouxTribe</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SissetonWahpetonOyate" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SissetonWahpetonOyate</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StandingRockSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>StandingRockSioux</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SpiritLakeSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SpiritLakeSioux</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LandBack" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>LandBack</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SacredBlackHills" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>SacredBlackHills</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ProtectTheSacred" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ProtectTheSacred</span></a></p>
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#DakotaAccessPipeline Owner Slaps #WaterProtectors with New Subpoenas -- Third-party subpoenas allow #EnergyTransfer to obtain evidence, from individuals or organizations, who are not part of the lawsuit
Energy Transfer attempts to drag #Indigenous and #EnvironmentalJustice advocates into meritless lawsuit with third-party subpoenas
The operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer, is attempting to drag Indigenous and environmental justice advocates into this meritless lawsuit to stifle #dissenting voices.
By Greenpeace USA, via Censored News, November 27, 2023
WASHINGTON – "In response to recent third-party subpoenas issued by Energy Transfer, which target Indigenous and environmental justice advocates, Ebony Twilley Martin, Executive Director of #greenpeaceusa said: “The operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer, is attempting to drag Indigenous and environmental justice advocates into this meritless lawsuit to stifle dissenting voices.
"'For over six years, #Greenpeace USA has been fighting lawsuits brought by Energy Transfer over the Indigenous- led resistance movement at #StandingRock. This type of legal #bullying, known as #StrategicLawsuitsAgainstPublicParticipation, is part of the #corporate playbook to #silence and #intimidate #DissentingVoices who lack the financial means to fight these lawsuits.
"Energy Transfer is now attempting to expand this playbook by targeting Indigenous and environmental justice activists through the use of third-party subpoenas. Now is the moment for us all to come together to send a message to Energy Transfer, and other corporations considering this tactic, that we will not be silenced and we will not tolerate legal bullying.'
"'These legal actions are an insult to the many Indigenous water protectors who continue to lead the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and the continual threats and degradation of their historic lands. These attacks are a threat to our First Amendment rights to speak out, a threat to #IndigenousRights, and a threat to the rights of #nature. We will not let this meritless lawsuit silence us and distract our movements from all our work to win a #green, #just, and joyful future for all.'
"Contact: Gujari Singh, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, gsingh@greenpeace.org, (631) 404-9977
"Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use #PeacefulProtest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa "
Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/11/dakota-access-pipeline-owner-slaps.html
bsnorrell.blogspot.comDakota Access Pipeline Owner Slaps Water Protectors with New Subpoenas Censored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.
How to #decolonize your #Thanksgiving dinner in observance of #NationalDayofMourning
Meredith Clark
Wed, November 22, 2023
"Thanksgiving is almost upon us, a time when many #Americans gather together to eat turkey and talk about what they’re most thankful for. Growing up in the #UnitedStates, almost everyone can recall the 'First Thanksgiving' story they were told in elementary school: how the local #Wampanoag #NativeAmericans sat down with the #pilgrims of #Plymouth Colony in 1621, in what is now present-day #Massachusetts, for a celebratory feast.
"However, this story is far from the truth - which is why many people opt out of celebrating the controversial holiday.
"For many #Indigenous communities throughout the US, Thanksgiving remains a National Day of Mourning - a reminder of the devastating #genocide and #displacement that occurred at the hands of European #colonisers following their arrival in the Americas.
"Every year since 1970, #IndigenousPeople and their allies have even gathered near #PlymouthRock to commemorate a National #DayOfMourning on the day of Thanksgiving. 'Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands, and the erasure of Native cultures,' states the official website for the United American Indians of New England. 'Participants in National Day of Mourning honour Indigenous #ancestors and Native resilience. It is a day of #remembrance and #spiritual connection, as well as a #protest against the #racism and #oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience #worldwide.'
"This year, the 54th annual National Day of Mourning takes place on 23 November - the same day as Thanksgiving. While not everyone can support the event in person, there are still many ways people can raise awareness toward issues affecting Indigenous communities from wherever they are - by '#decolonising' their Thanksgiving dinner.
"#Decolonisation can be defined as the active resistance against #settlerColonialism and a shifting of power towards Indigenous sovereignty. Of course, it’s difficult to define decolonisation without putting it into practice, writes Eve Tuck and K Wayne Yang in their essay, #Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor. Rather, one of the most radical and necessary moves toward decolonisation requires imagining and enacting a future for Indigenous peoples - a future based on terms of their own making.
"Matt Hooley is an assistant professor in the department of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Dartmouth College, where he teaches about US colonial powers and Indigenous cultural production. 'Decolonisation is a beautiful and difficult political horizon that should guide our actions everyday, including during holidays like Thanksgiving,' he tells The Independent. 'Of course, Thanksgiving is a particularly relevant holiday to think about decolonisation because the way many people celebrate it involves connecting ‘the family’ to a colonial myth in which colonialism is inaccurately imagined as a peaceful event in the past.'
"By decolonising our Thanksgiving, we can celebrate the holiday with new traditions that honour a future in which Indigenous people are celebrated. This year, we can start by understanding the real history behind Thanksgiving as told by actual Indigenous communities.
"While Americans mainly dedicate one day a year to give thanks, Indigenous communities express gratitude every day with the #Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address - often called: 'The words that come before all else.' The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address is the central prayer and invocation for the #HaudenosauneeConfederacy, which comprises the #SixNations - #Mohawk, #Oneida, #Onondaga, #Cayuga, #Seneca, and #Tuscarora. When one recites the Thanksgiving Address, they’re giving thanks for all life and the natural world around them.
"According to Hooley, one of the most straightforward actions people can take to decolonise their Thanksgiving includes supporting Indigenous land acknowledgments and land back movements. #LandBack is an ongoing Indigenous-led movement which seeks to return ancestral lands to Indigenous people and the recognition of Indigenous #sovereignty. While the movement is nowhere near new, it received international attention in 2016 during protests against the #DakotaAccesSPipeline - which continues to disrupt land and #water sources belonging to the #StandingRockSioux Tribe.
"This year, sit down with family and friends to discuss an action plan and highlight the concrete steps you plan on taking to support Indigenous communities. 'Another, even simpler way would be to begin participating in what’s called a ‘Voluntary Land Tax,’ whereby non-Indigenous people contribute a recurring tax to the tribal communities whose land you occupy,' said Hooley.
"Food is perhaps the most important part of the Thanksgiving holiday, with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes taking center stage. However, there are many ways we can make sure our dinner tables honour Indigenous futurisms too. Donald A Grinde, Jr is a professor emeritus in the department of Africana and American Studies at the University at Buffalo. Grinde - who is a member of the #YamasseeNation - tells The Independent that crops such as #corn, #beans, #squash, #tomatoes, and #potatoes are central to #IndigenousHistory and future.
"'A good thing is to be thankful for the abundance in the fall and note that Native people created over 60 percent of modern #agricultural #crops,' he said. 'People can be thankful for the crops that Native people created, #medicines created, and traditions about #democracy, #WomensRights and #environmental rights.'
"Rather than buying food from major corporations this year, Hooly also recommended people consciously source their Thanksgiving dinner from Indigenous producers. 'Industrial agriculture is one of the most devastating contributors to the destruction of land and water everywhere, including on Indigenous land,' he said. 'Instead of buying food grown or made by colonial corporations, people could buy their food from Indigenous producers, or even simply make a greater effort to buy locally grown food or not to buy meat harvested from industrial farms.'
"Thanksgiving is just a day away. While it’s important that we’re actively working toward highlighting Indigenous communities on this special holiday, decolonisation efforts are something that should be done year-round.
"'People can also learn about political priorities of the Indigenous communities near them and support those priorities by speaking to their representatives, participating in a protest, or by making sure that their local school and library boards are including Indigenous texts in local community education,' Hooley said."
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/decolonize-thanksgiving-dinner-observance-national-213225020.html
Yahoo Life · How to decolonize your Thanksgiving dinner in observance of National day of Mourning
After infiltrating #StandingRock, #TigerSwan pitched its ‘#counterinsurgency’ playbook to other oil companies
More than 50,000 pages of newly released documents detail how the security firm targeted #pipeline opponents and tried to profit off its #surveillance tactics.
by Alleen Brown & Naveena Sadasivam
Apr 13, 2023
"The Intercept and Grist contacted TigerSwan, #EnergyTransfer, the National Sheriffs’ Association, as well as Thompson, the group’s executive director. None of them responded to requests for comment.
"To TigerSwan, the emergence of #Indigenous-led social movements to keep oil and gas in the ground represented a business opportunity. Reese anticipated new demand from the #FossilFuel industry for strategies to undermine the network of #activists his company had so carefully gathered information on. In the records, TigerSwan expressed its ambitions to repurpose these detailed records to position themselves as experts in managing pipeline protests. The company created marketing materials pitching work to at least two other energy companies building controversial oil and gas infrastructure, the records show. TigerSwan, which was staffed heavily with former members of military special operations units, branded its tactics as a 'counterinsurgency approach,' drawing directly from its leaders’ experiences fighting the so-called War on Terror abroad.
"TigerSwan did not just work in #NorthDakota. Energy Transfer hired the company to provide security to its #RoverPipeline in #Ohio and #WestVirginia, the documents confirm. By spring 2017, TigerSwan was also assembling intelligence reports on opponents of Energy Transfer and #Sunoco’s #MarinerEast2 Pipeline in #Pennsylvania.
"The documents from the North Dakota security board paint a detailed picture of counterinsurgency-style strategies for defeating opponents of oil and gas development, a War-on-Terror security firm’s aspirations to replicate its deceptive tactics far beyond the Northern Great Plains, and the cozy relationship between businesses linked to the fossil fuel industry and one of the largest law enforcement trade associations in the U.S. The impetus for spying was not simply to keep people safe, but to drum up profits from energy clients and to allow fossil fuels to continue flowing, at the expense of the communities fighting for clean water and a healthy climate.
"'For them, it was an opportunity to help create a narrative against our tribe and our supporters,' said Wasté Win Young, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the one of the plaintiffs in a class action civil rights lawsuit against TigerSwan and local law enforcement. Young’s social media posts repeatedly showed up in the documents. 'We weren’t motivated by money or payoffs or anything like that. We just wanted to protect our homelands.'"
Full article:
https://grist.org/accountability/tigerswan-documents-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock-surveillance/
#ClimateJustice #BigOilAndGas #WaterIsLife #ACAB #StandingRockSioux #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #Activism #ClimateChange
#EnvironmentalJustice
Grist · After infiltrating Standing Rock, TigerSwan pitched its ‘counterinsurgency’ playbook to other oil companies
After Spying on #StandingRock Protest, #TigerSwan Shopped Info to Oil Firms
by Alleen Brown and Naveena Sadasivam
04/17/2023
""More than 50,000 pages of documents were recently made public after the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline lost a court case to keep them secret."
"Leaked documents and public records reveal a troubling fusion of private security, public law enforcement, and corporate money in the fight over the Dakota Access pipeline."
"A new business model for breaking down environmental movements was being hatched in real time. On Labor Day weekend in 2016, private security dogs in North Dakota attacked #pipeline opponents led by members of the #StandingRockSioux Tribe as they approached earth-moving equipment. The tribal members considered the land sacred, and the heavy equipment was breaking ground to build the Dakota Access pipeline. With a major public relations crisis on its hands, the pipeline’s parent company, Energy Transfer, hired the firm TigerSwan to revamp its security strategy.
"By October, TigerSwan — founded by James Reese, a retired commander of the elite special operations Army unit Delta Force — had established a military-style pipeline security strategy.
"There was one nagging problem that threatened to unravel it all: Reese hadn’t acquired a security license from the North Dakota Private Investigation and Security Board. Although Reese claimed TigerSwan wasn’t conducting security services at all, the state regulator insisted that its operations were #unlawful without a license."
https://theintercept.com/2023/04/13/standing-rock-tigerswan-protests/
#Activism #ClimateChange
#EnvironmentalJustice #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #Mercenaries #BigOil #ClimateJustice #ACAB
The Intercept · After Spying on Standing Rock, TigerSwan Shopped Anti-Protest “Counterinsurgency” to Other Oil Companies
Security Firm Running #DakotaAccessPipeline Intelligence Has Ties to U.S. Military Work in #Iraq and #Afghanistan
By Steve Horn
Oct 28, 2016
"#TigerSwan is one of several security firms under investigation for its work guarding the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota while potentially without a permit. Besides this recent work on the #StandingRockSioux protests in #NorthDakota, this company has offices in Iraq and Afghanistan and is run by a special forces Army veteran.
"According to a summary of the investigation, TigerSwan 'is in charge of Dakota Access intelligence and supervises the overall security.'
"The Morton County, North Dakota, Sheriff’s Department also recently concluded that another security company, Frost Kennels, operated in the state while unlicensed to do so and could face criminal charges. The firm’s attack dogs bit #protesters at a heated Labor Day weekend protest.
"Law enforcement and private security at the North Dakota pipeline protests have faced criticism for maintaining a militarized presence in the area. The American Civil Liberties Union (#ACLU) and National Lawyer’s Guild have filed multiple open records requests to learn more about the extent of this #militarization, and over 133,000 citizens have signed a petition calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and quell the backlash.
"The Federal Aviation Administration has also implemented a no-fly zone, which bars anyone but law enforcement from flying within a 4-mile radius and 3500 feet above the ground in the protest area. #DallasGoldtooth, an organizer on the scenes in North Dakota with the #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork, said on Facebook that '#DAPL private security planes and choppers were flying all day' within the designated no-fly zone.
"Donnell Hushka, the designated public information officer for the North Dakota Tactical Operation Center, which is tasked with overseeing the no-fly zone, did not respond to repeated queries about designated private entities allowed to fly in no-fly zone airspace.
"What is TigerSwan?
"TigerSwan has offices in Iraq, Afghanistan, #Jordan, #SaudiArabia, #India, and #LatinAmerica and has headquarters in North Carolina. In the past year, TigerSwan won two U.S. Department of State contracts worth over $7 million to operate in Afghanistan, according to USASpending.gov.
"TigerSwan, however, claims on its website that the contract is worth $25 million, and said in a press release that the State Department contract called for the company to 'monitor, assess, and advise current and future nation building and stability initiatives in Afghanistan.' Since 2008, TigerSwan has won about $57.7 million worth of U.S. government contracts and subcontracts for security services.
"Company founder and CEO James Reese, a veteran of the elite Army Delta Force, served as the 'lead advisor for Special Operations to the Director of the CIA for planning, operations and integration for the invasion of Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom' in Iraq, according to his company biography. Army Delta partakes in mostly covert and high-stakes missions and is part of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the latter well known for killing Osama Bin Laden.
"One of TigerSwan’s advisory board members, Charles Pittman, has direct ties to the #OilAndGasIndustry. Pittman “served as President of #Amoco Egypt Oil Company, Amoco Eurasia Petroleum Company, and Regional President BP Amoco plc. (covering the #MiddleEast, the Caspian Sea region, Egypt, and India),' according to his company biography.
'Sad, But Not Surprising'
"Investigative journalist #JeremyScahill told #DemocracyNow! in a 2009 interview that TigerSwan did some covert operations work with #Blackwater USA, dubbed the 'world’s most powerful #mercenary army' in his book by the same name. Blackwater has also guarded #OilPipelines in central #Asia, according to Scahill’s book.
"Reese advised Blackwater and took a leave of absence from TigerSwan in 2008 in the aftermath of the #NisourSquareMassacre, a shooting in Iraq conducted by Blackwater officers which saw 17 Iraqi civilians killed. TigerSwan has a business relationship with Babylon Eagles Security Company, a private security firm headquartered in Iraq which also has had business ties with Blackwater.
"'It is sad, but not surprising, that this firm has ties to the US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq,' Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women-led peace group #CODEPINK and the co-founder of the human rights group #GlobalExchange, told DeSmog. 'It is another terrifying example of how our violent interventions abroad come home to haunt us in the form of repression and violation of our civil rights.'
"The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Private Investigation and Security Board are also conducting parallel investigations to the one recently completed by Morton County. TigerSwan did not comment on questions posed about their contract."
https://www.desmog.com/2016/10/28/private-security-firm-dakota-access-iraq-afghanistan-blackwater/
DeSmog · Security Firm Running Dakota Access Pipeline Intelligence Has Ties to U.S. Military Work in Iraq and AfghanistanTigerSwan is one of several security firms under investigation for its work guarding the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota while potentially without a permit. Besides this recent work on the Standing Rock Sioux protests in North Dakota, this company has offices in Iraq and Afghanistan and is run by a special forces Army veteran. According to a summary […]
Feds leave future of Dakota Access pipeline's controversial river crossing unclear in draft review
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday released its draft environmental impact statement of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, but said it's waiting for more input before deciding the future of the line’s controversial river crossing in North Dakota
Jack Dura
Friday 08 September 2023
"Federal officials on Friday released a draft environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, but said they're waiting for more input before deciding the future of the line’s controversial river crossing in North Dakota.
"The draft was released over three years after a federal judge ordered the environmental review and revoked the permit for the Missouri River crossing, upstream of the #StandingRockSioux Tribe's reservation. The tribe is concerned a pipeline oil spill could contaminate its water supply.
"The environmental review is key for whether the federal government reissues the permit. The pipeline has been operating since 2017, including during the environmental review."
The IndependentFeds leave future of Dakota Access pipeline's controversial river crossing unclear in draft review
Background on the #StandingRock litigation:
Standing Rock Litigation
About the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit challenging the Dakota Access Pipeline.
"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, represented by Earthjustice from 2016 to 2022, sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for violating the National Historic Preservation Act and other laws, after the agency issued final permits for the Dakota Access Pipeline, a massive crude oil pipeline stretching from North Dakota to Illinois.
"The FAQ and timeline is currently under construction — we apologize for the inconvenience!
"Archival resources related to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit challenging the Dakota Access Pipeline:
- Legal documents about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit
- Press releases and statements about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit
- Feature stories and videos about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit
Links here:
https://earthjustice.org/feature/faq-standing-rock-litigation
EarthjusticeFAQ: Standing Rock LitigationAbout the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit challenging the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Injured #StandingRock protesters press 8th Circuit to revive suit
Attorneys for protesters said the use of "less-lethal" munitions and firehoses in subfreezing temperatures was unnecessarily brutal despite a federal judge's ruling otherwise.
by Andy Monserud / September 19, 2023
"'Water protectors' Vanessa Dundon, David Demo, Guy Dullknife, Frank Finan, Mariah Bruce and Crystal Wilson were at a prayer camp established by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe just south of the Backwater Bridge, near a construction site for the Dakota Access Pipeline, in late November 2016. All six suffered injuries during a confrontation between police and protesters on the night of Nov. 20, when police made headlines by spraying water at the protesters in sub-freezing temperatures alongside stinger grenades, beanbag rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas.
"The protesters brought suit against two North Dakota counties and their sheriffs, plus the city of Mandan and its police chief and up to a hundred John Does, shortly afterward but were shot down first by U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland and then by U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor, who took over the case after Hovland took senior status in 2019. Traynor, in his order granting summary judgment to the law enforcement officers, found that they had not committed a “seizure” of the protesters, that if they had they would be entitled to qualified immunity, and that the protesters’ First Amendment rights had not been infringed upon because they were trespassing on private property at the time.
"In her arguments before the Eighth Circuit Tuesday, attorney Rachel Lederman said Traynor had taken far too much of law enforcement’s side of the story at face value. 'This case is fundamentally about disputes of fact,' she said. 'The story defendants have put forth to justify their use of force is hotly disputed.'
"By cutting off the case before discovery could be conducted, Lederman said, Traynor had deprived the protesters of the chance for a jury to look at the evidence and resolve those disputes, particularly whether protesters posed enough of a threat to law enforcement to justify the use of force.
"'Defendants’ use of force caused serious injuries, such as broken bones and detached retina,' Lederman said. 'Only a single officer was even slightly injured, without requiring medical attention. There’s no evidence whatsoever that any of the named plaintiffs were threatening in any way.'
"The use of water hoses or cannons in particular raised concerns for Lederman and for attorney Michael Avery, of the National Police Accountability Project, who pointed out that the last time water cannons were used on protesters in the United States was in the apartheid south during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Officers, moreover, were “ensconced in a multi-layered barricade” of armored vehicles and concertina wire, and drastically outnumbered protesters at the time, Lederman argued. Furthermore, she said, construction had already been halted on the pipeline, neutralizing any threat protesters posed to that project."
Read more:
https://www.courthousenews.com/injured-standing-rock-protesters-press-8th-circuit-to-revive-suit/
www.courthousenews.comInjured Standing Rock protesters press 8th Circuit to revive suitAttorneys for protesters said the use of
Federal Appeals Court Heard Arguments Today in Law Enforcement Brutality at Backwater Bridge at #StandingRock
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 19, 2023
"ST. LOUIS -- A federal appeals court heard arguments in the class action lawsuit filed for excessive force at Backwater Bridge at Standing Rock. The issues argued included whether water protectors were free to leave, whether law enforcement feared for their lives, and whether the use of munitions, including bean bags filled with shot, and water sprayed on water protectors in temperatures below freezing, was justified or legal."
Read more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/federal-appeals-court-heard-arguments.html
bsnorrell.blogspot.comFederal Appeals Court Heard Arguments Today in Law Enforcement Brutality at Backwater Bridge at Standing RockCensored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.