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Standing Rock: Masked Men Threaten Water Protectors: “North Dakota People Are Going to F*** You Up”

HeadlineDec 09, 2016

In North Dakota, police have arrested a man who was caught on camera Monday threatening water protectors fighting the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Thirty-three-year-old Jesse McLain of Bismarck is facing two counts of “terrorizing,” after he and another man, both with their faces covered, surrounded a water protectors’ car at the Ramada Inn and began threatening them while preventing the car from leaving. This is a clip of the video shot by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe member Dean Dedman Jr., also known as Shiye Bidziil, which has been viewed more than a million times.

Jesse McLain: “Take your protest [bleep] back home.”

Shiye Bidziil: “Let’s just go. Let’s go.”

Jesse McLain: “Yeah, go ahead. Turn your phone on.”

Shiye Bidziil: “Go. Let’s go.”

Jesse McLain: “Go ahead. Turn it on.”

Shiye Bidziil: “Go. Turn around.”

Jesse McLain: “All you [bleep] protesters, go home!”

Shiye Bidziil: “Go. I said go.”

Jesse McLain: “Us North Dakota people are going to [bleep] you up!”

Shiye Bidziil: “Go.”

Jesse McLain: “Every [bleep] one of you!”

Shiye Bidziil: “Matt, just go.”

Water Protector: “I can’t; they’ve blocked us in.”

Jesse McLain: “Every [bleep] one of you!”

Water Protector: “Hey, guys, seriously, we’ll get out of here.”

Jesse McLain: “We know who you are.”

Water Protector: “We’re going to go.”

That’s a Bismarck resident threatening Shiye Bidziil and another water protector. Meanwhile, Bidziil and two other indigenous media makers, including Myron Dewey of the outlet Digital Smoke Signals, were attacked last night by snow-mobilers and a truck, which tried to run their car off the road. Video they shot from the car shows the three men driving down a long icy stretch of road, when the snow mobilers appear to swerve in front of their car and then yell a string of expletives at them. Water protectors say these two incidents are part of an escalating wave of threats and harassment by white North Dakota residents against the Native water protectors fighting the pipeline.

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