Veterans Join Standing Rock Resistance

standing rockAlexandra Bruce – The developments near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation have received scant coverage in the corporate news media since they began early last April. They were not spoken of at all by the two leading Presidential contenders throughout the race. This story now looks as if it’s about to jump into the forefront of the upcoming news cycles, as it’s getting more and more interesting by the hour.

There’s a growing movement of unarmed US military veterans who’ve been arriving in North Dakota, to peacefully support the “Water Protectors”. The latter are members of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, who set up camp in the path of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), in protest of its construction. The $3.8 billion pipeline would cross the Missouri River, just upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The tribe says that the pipeline would interrupt sacred lands and could contaminate their only source of drinking water, if it ruptures.

The protesters have faced an excessive militarized police response, including:

  • Mace
  • sound cannons
  • sniper guns pointed at unarmed civilians
  • journalists being shot with rubber bullets or arrested for covering the protests
  • attack dogs unleashed on groups- including children
  • elder Natives getting tased and violently arrested
  • protesters marked with numbers and kept in dog kennels after arrest

The military veterans already there will soon be joined on December 4th by an organized contingent called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, which includes high-profile progressive activists who have served in the military, including US Congressman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Baltimore police officer-turned police brutality whistleblower Michael A. Wood, Jr.

Continue reading