Discussion: Dogs, Pepper Spray Unleashed On Protesters At Oil Pipeline Site

I need more information before I can form a strong opinion here. Iā€™d like to know about why the tribe was only recently allowed to survey the affected land? Why not long before the pipeline was approved ā€¦ like in the planning stages? Seriously, this doesnā€™t sound right at all. Our nation has treated Native Americans like garbage for so many years. The kinds of destruction described in this article is unforgivable. Iā€™d like the pipeline halted immediately until ALL the land affected can be surveyed by all parties. Additionally, Iā€™d like non-interested third-party evaluation of the watershed, groundwater, etc., in the region.

edited for grammar

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Glad to see this up front and center on TPM [finally]. When the hand full of right wing yah-hoos up in Oregon invaded last winter, you covered then 24/7. This is a much bigger more important demonstrationā€¦keep up the coverage please.

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How dare these first nation aboriginal native American illegal immigrants tell whitey what to do in whiteyā€™s country?
Go back to where you came from.

Oh waitā€¦

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Youā€™re right to want to know more. Iā€™ve been out west and seen some pretty shocking mining damage, so I wonder how strict or lax the regulations are in this region. Is there a historic and religious component to any environmental impact statement thatā€™s involved beforehand? How much public notice and input? Had the current protestors made an effort to protect the lands involved beforehand, or is this a reaction? How did a child get bitten? One thing Iā€™m sure of, Iā€™m glad nobody got shot. But dogs and pepper spray are bad enough. One thing about the big-sky country out there, law enforcement can be very thin on the ground under that sky. Sounds like itā€™s about time to get this under control in every way.

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And ā€œunder controlā€ almost always means fucking over those with the least in the face of those with the money, lawyers, and power. I have zero confidence that this will be resolved in any way that is supportive of Native Americans.

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If there is another report about this on TPM during the rest of the month, Iā€™ll be pleasantly surprised.

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Thatā€™s the usual case but I hate to see people clashing and kids getting bitten by dogs with nobody around to separate the two parties.

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Where are all those brave Oathkeepers who, when defending the Bundy traitors and coming out in full armed force to black communities, claimed theyā€™d protect ANYONE for exercising their Constitutional rights?

Iā€™m not an advocate of violence, but time for the tribes to start exercising their Second Amendment rights in order to protect themselves from these right wing lying bastards.

Our friendly sheriff, Kyle, apparently does not know the word ā€˜allegedly.ā€™

Astonishingly trenchant commentary by MSNBCā€™s Lawrence here.

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Iā€™m not sure about this case, but there have been several other cases in which higher courts have ruled that the offical impact assessments for licensing were a sham. No local hearings, no notice, minimization of evidence that was offered etc.

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WhaT WAs TRUmpā€™s REAction? TPM sPends TOO much TIME on MR. POCHahontas AND not Enough ON trump.

This seems awful but from a legal perspective how can the rightful owners of the land be ā€˜trespassersā€™? Why arenā€™t ā€˜conservativesā€™ incensed by this perversion of property rights?

Non-snarky legal question: whatā€™s stopping protesters from carrying pepper-spray and defending themselves against these private security guards and their dogs?

Itā€™s a whole issue in itself. Iā€™ve seen people not see the legally required notices of stuff, and even when municipalities make an effort to get people to be aware, theyā€™ll ignore it until the bulldozers are moving. If you wanted to minimize public awareness it wouldnā€™t be hard in most situations, unless there were some sort of watchdog person or organization.

Clearly these security guards were not trained in the proper use of pepper-spray on environmental activistsā€¦with Q-Tips swabbed directly onto the eyes, of course:

The background is informative, but for those pressed for time, the real ā€œfunā€ starts at about 6:45.

Thursday, Sept. 8, there will be a protest in Omaha against the building of a pipeline carrryining oil from ND to Il. I plan to be among the protesters. Jane Kleeb, leader of the group that successfully stopped the KXL through NE, is one of the organizers. This is becoming a national issue as oil companies plan to build pipelines to cheaply carry oil while posing an environmental danger to water and trampling on farm owner rights.

Native American rights, private domain protection, the environment, racism are the issues the pipeline affects. Getting interesting. Wonder if it will become an election issue.