In North Dakota, land defenders disrupted the gubernatorial debate in Bismarck Monday night to demand an end to the construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which has faced massive resistance from North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, as well as members of hundreds of other tribes from across the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
Land Defender 1: “We will never allow this pipeline through. Not now and not ever. This is something that each one of you need to understand. This is 1851 treaty land. It is not legal. It is no different than if we say no to nukes and you guys broke that treaty.”
Also on Monday, land defenders say they stopped work at as many as five separate Dakota Access construction sites across North Dakota.
Land defender 2: “We have a caravan of 100 vehicles strong. We have stooped construction today at the Dakota Access pipeline just with our presence of our warriors and land defenders and water protectors. We have stopped them from work today.”
Meanwhile, in southeast Iowa, 30 people were arrested Saturday also blocking construction of the Dakota Access pipeline there. The pipeline’s route runs from North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota, Iowa and into Illinois. In Iowa, land defenders have now established a permanent protest encampment where the pipeline is slated to cross the Mississippi River.