Army Corps of Engineers plans to evict Dakota Access protest camp

Nov 27

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When the government is out to accomplish something, there is nothing to stop them. That betrays trust and gives a sense of hopelessness to the people.

The Fifth Column

CREDIT: AP/John L. Mone

THINK PROGRESS

The announcement comes as dozens of protestors were arrested at a Bismarck mall on Black Friday.

The Army Corps of Engineers announced plans on Friday to evict the Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota, saying anti-pipeline protestors have until December 5 to leave. The camp is a key site in the ongoing fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, a controversial $3.8-billion pipeline project that would run through the only water supply for the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The pipeline protestors — who call themselves water protectors — face arrest if they don’t vacate the camp in time, Col. John Henderson of the Corps said in a letter delivered to Tribal Chairman Cave Archambault II on Friday. Citing weather and safety concerns, Henderson claimed the decision was “necessary” to shield the public from “the violent confrontation between protestors and law enforcement officials that have occurred in this area.”

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Posted on 11/27/2016, in politics, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 28 Comments.

  1. NavyDad0007 | 11/27/2016 at 4:08 pm

    Evicting people off their own land? Smh

    Liked by 2 people

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  2. yahtzeebutterfly | 11/27/2016 at 4:56 pm

    So wrong.

    Liked by 2 people

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  3. yahtzeebutterfly | 11/27/2016 at 5:11 pm

    From article linked in above tweet:

    “A sad, yet accurate example of eminent domain gone wrong took place last week in Calhoun County, Iowa. Cyndy Coppola was arrested over the weekend on her own property for trying to block access to DAPL trucks from hauling pipeline construction materials through her land. DAPL first received access to Coppola’s farm through the use of eminent domain, which granted Energy Transfer Partners easements to her property. Coppola remarked that watching the morally wrong seizure of the farm she worked so hard for was difficult to handle.”

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. Xena | 11/27/2016 at 6:08 pm

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Gronda Morin | 11/27/2016 at 8:09 pm

    Dear Xena,

    And where is President Obama on all of this? Did he not ask the Army Corps of Engineers to see if rerouting the pipeline wasn’t an option? Why isn’t he pushing back harder on this and why isn’t he just standing up for what is right. Is he becoming one of those Washington elites who just doesn’t get it?

    Hugs, Gronda

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Xena | 11/27/2016 at 11:13 pm

      Gronda,
      I wish that I could answer your question as a fact, but I can’t. The closest I can come to understand the president’s lack of intervening is because of separation of powers. He might ask the Arm Corps of Engineers to reroute, but he can’t instruct them to because the court has spoken.

      Sadly, this is one of the vicious circles that corporations and the government use. They do nothing, (or wrong) and tell those wronged that it’s a civil matter to be handled by the courts. So, the people go to the court. The court makes a decision and then the executive branch says they cannot interfere because of separation of powers.

      Our nation is a Republic before it’s a democracy, so what the majority of the people want does not persuade politicians.

      Liked by 3 people

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    • shannoninmiami | 11/29/2016 at 10:59 am

      This just ruins the whole idea of USA “The greatest country on Earth”
      If I wanna scream or cry I can’t even imagine what those people are dealing with.
      Why isn’t this video on loop on every news station?
      I think all this stuff; this political, corporate, government abuse & corruption is causing a sorta mass traumatic, emotional distress syndrome.
      Won’t they finally get too bold? Go too far?

      We sux. Germany is looking better everyday.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. yahtzeebutterfly | 11/27/2016 at 9:13 pm

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. yahtzeebutterfly | 11/27/2016 at 9:42 pm

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. lady2soothe | 11/28/2016 at 2:52 am

    Thanks Xena for keeping up on this…

    THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS IS SEEKING A PEACEFUL AND ORDERLY TRANSITION TO A SAFER LOCATION, AND HAS NO PLANS FOR FORCIBLE REMOVAL.
    http://tinyurl.com/zv7cnft

    Posted 11/27/2016
    Release no. 20161127-001

    Contact
    Omaha District Public Affairs
    402-995-2417

    OMAHA, NE – On November 25, 2016, after coordination with Tribal leaders involved in the ongoing protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline on which some of the land is currently leased to a local rancher for grazing, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notified Tribal leaders throughout the Missouri River basin by letter that areas of Corps-managed federal property north of the Cannonball River will be closed to the public effective December 5, 2016. The Army Corps of Engineers is seeking a peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location, and has no plans for forcible removal. But those who choose to stay do so at their own risk as emergency, fire, medical, and law enforcement response cannot be adequately provided in these areas. Those who remain will be considered unauthorized and may be subject to citation under federal, state, or local laws. This will reduce the risk of harm to people in the encampments caused by the harsh North Dakota winter conditions

    This transition is also necessary to protect the general public from the dangerous confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement officials which have occurred near this area. “Unfortunately, it is apparent that more dangerous groups have joined this protest and are provoking conflict in spite of the public pleas from Tribal leaders. We are working to transition those engaged in peaceful protest from this area and enable law enforcement authorities to address violent or illegal acts as appropriate to protect public safety,” said Omaha District Commander, Col. John Henderson.

    The Army Corps of Engineers has never been able to legally issue a permit for the Oceti Sakowin camp north of the Cannonball River due to the pre-existing grazing lease to a local rancher. However, the Corps has established an area on land south of the Cannonball River for anyone wishing to peaceably protest the Dakota Access pipeline project. In this area, jurisdiction for police, fire, and medical response is better-defined since it is located inside of the Reservation boundary making it a more sustainable area for visitors to endure the harsh North Dakota winter.

    “I am very concerned for the safety and well-being of all citizens at these encampments on Corps-managed federal land, and we want to make sure people are in a safe place for the winter,” said Henderson. “We fully support the rights of all Americans to exercise free speech and peacefully assemble, and we ask that they do it in a way that does not also endanger themselves or others, or infringe on others’ rights.”

    In the letter and ongoing discussions with Tribal leadership, the Corps will continue to encourage everyone located in this area to peacefully move to the free speech zone south of the Cannonball River or to a more sustainable location for the winter. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Indian Affairs will continue to work with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to support a winter camp on trust land already identified by the Tribe.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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    PLEASE SHARE and Tell the World what’s going on in No. Dakota

    #NoDAPL #TheWorldIsWatching #WaterIsLife #WaterIsSacred

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    • yahtzeebutterfly | 11/28/2016 at 6:14 am

      Response by Harold Frazier, Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe:
      http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/cheyenne-river-sioux-tribe-reacts-u-s-army-corps-engineers-eviction-notice-letter-makes-grave-dangerous-mistake/

      Colonel John W. Henderson
      Commander and District Engineer
      Omaha District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
      1616 Capitol Avenue
      Suite 900
      Omaha, NE 68102

      Re: November 25, 2016, Letter Regarding Closure of Treaty Lands

      Dear Col. Henderson:

      This letter responds to your correspondence, dated November 25, 2016, announcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (“Corps”) plan to close certain “Corps’ managed lands to all public use and access effective December 5, 2016.” You state that “[t]his decision is necessary to protect the general public from the violent confrontations between protestors and law enforcement officials that have occurred in this area, and to prevent death, illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh North Dakota winter conditions.”

      You have warned that anyone found outside of a so-called “free speech zone” will be considered trespassing and may be subject to prosecution under federal state, and local laws.” You have asked me to “encourage members of [the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe], as well as any non-members who support you who are located in the encampments north of the Cannonball River on Corps lands to immediately and peacefully move to the free speech zone. . . .”

      The area north of the Cannonball River is both the ancestral homeland of the Lakota people and inside the boundaries of the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty, a treaty that has not been abrogated and law that governs us all. The best of these lands have already been unjustly taken and flooded by the Corps in the disastrous Pick-Sloane legislation. We will no longer allow our rights as a Tribe or as indigenous people as a whole to continue to be eroded.

      This decision, coming on the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday, is not only disrespectful, but continues the cycle of racism and oppression imposed on our people and our lands throughout history.

      We ask that the Corps and the United States reconsider this decision. Treaties are the supreme law of the land and the Constitution of the United States demands that they be respected. Removal from Sioux Treaty lands should be the choice of the Oceti Sakowin Camp north of the Cannonball River, not the United States, which has been violating our rights for hundreds of years. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe stands with the more than 300 Tribal nations and the water protectors who are here peacefully protesting the Dakota Access pipeline while defending the rights of indigenous people.

      Furthermore, your letter dangerously and profoundly misunderstands the basic function and status of a tribal government and its elected leaders. I am the chief executive of a sovereign nation that is comprised of individual citizens with physical territory within the exterior boundaries the State of South Dakota. Under the laws of the United States, my government lacks jurisdiction at Cannonball; but more importantly, I no more control the acts and behaviors of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal members or non-member water protectors at the Cannonball site than you do, Col. Henderson.

      dapl-1027bAs set forth above, even if I could control the water protectors, I recognize and respect their rights under the Constitution of the United States to peaceably assemble in prayerful protest against the cultural and environmental atrocity that is the Dakota Access Pipeline. I would not use my authority, which is based on the consent of my citizens, to curtail their human and constitutional rights.

      Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of your letter is your acknowledgement of the stark reality that that the confrontation between our peaceful water protectors and law enforcement could result in death or serious injury, a fact demonstrated by the brutal attack on Sophia Wilansky by North Dakota police last week. But in the very next paragraph you guarantee that further confrontations will occur by promising that these peaceful people will be trespassing on closed areas and you threaten that they will do so “at their own risk” and will “assume[] any and all corresponding liabilities for their unlawful presence and occupation of such lands.”

      I take your letter as issuing a direct and irresponsible threat to the water protectors. It appears to further empower the militarized police force that has been brutalizing and terrorizing our water protectors while imposing the blame and the risk on unarmed peaceful people. We have pleaded for the protection of the United States. Your letter makes a grave and dangerous mistake. Federal efforts to de-escalate the violence should be aimed at the wrongdoers, not at our peaceful people

      Sincerely,

      Harold Frazier, Chairman
      Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

      cc: President Barack Obama
      Assistant Secretary, Jo-Ellen Darcy
      Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell
      Attorney General Loretta Lynch
      Acting Assistant Secretary Larry Roberts
      Tracy Toulon

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  12. yahtzeebutterfly | 11/28/2016 at 8:10 pm

    https://twitter.com/watching_crows/status/803310274920910848

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. yahtzeebutterfly | 11/29/2016 at 5:23 pm

    Like

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  15. yahtzeebutterfly | 12/04/2016 at 3:39 pm

    Today:

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  16. yahtzeebutterfly | 12/04/2016 at 3:51 pm

    Like

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  18. yahtzeebutterfly | 12/04/2016 at 10:15 pm

    Like

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