November 28, 2016

Contact:
Tasha Moro, NLG Communications Director: communications@nlg.org | 212-679-5100, ext. 15

Above: Law enforcement uses water canon, teargas, and other munitions against peaceful Water Protectors, November 20, 2016. (Photo: Shanna Merola)

CANNON BALL, ND —Today, the Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC-formerly Red Owl), an initiative of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), filed suit in US District Court against Morton County, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirschmeier, and other law enforcement agencies for using excessive force against peaceful Water Protectors on the night of November 20, 2016.

The class action suit, filed on behalf of persons who were injured on the night of November 20 and early morning of November 21, seeks an immediate injunction preventing the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement from using impact munitions such as rubber bullets and lead-filled “beanbags,” water cannons and hoses, explosive teargas grenades and other chemical agents against protesters.

Beginning on the evening of November 20, officers from the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and assisting agencies confronted peaceful Water Protectors at a bridge near the Standing Rock protest camp and within the boundaries of Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires, or Great Sioux Nation) treaty lands. Without giving any warnings or opportunity to disperse, officers fired on them with highly dangerous munitions, chemical agents, a water cannon and hoses in freezing weather. More than 200 Water Protectors were injured.

“The Morton County Sheriff’s office not only violates the constitutional rights of peaceful protesters, but their actions highlight the long history of abuse against Indigenous peoples,” said Brandy Toelupe, WPLC lawyer. “From the beginning, governments have used their latest technologies to take land and resources from Native nations and oppress Indigenous peoples. Sheriff Kirchmeier’s actions make it clear that nothing has changed,” she added.

The complaint describes the excessive force with which the nine class representatives were met while peacefully protesting. Five are Native, including two members of the Lakota Nation. Vanessa Dundon of the Navajo Nation was hit in the eye with a tear gas canister that was shot by police directly at the crowd of Water Protectors. Jade Kalikolehuaokakalani Wool had two grenades blow up near her head, knocking her down, burning her face and sending shrapnel into it, and causing her to be hospitalized. Crystal Wilson was shot with a water cannon, tear gassed and shot with a munition. David Demo was filming police when, without warning, they shot him with a water cannon and then in the hand with a munition. He was hospitalized with broken bones and was told he would need reconstructive surgery. Gary Dullknife III saw a Water Protector knocked to the ground by a water cannon. As police sprayed her on the ground, he tried to move her away. He was shot in the chest, stomach and leg by impact munitions. Mariah Marie Bruce was peacefully protesting when police sprayed her with water cannons. She was then hit in the genitals with a grenade, and was hospitalized. Frank Finan was taking pictures when he was shot in the abdomen and knocked to the ground by a rubber bullet. Israel Hoagland–Lynn tried to help two people who had been shot with water cannons and rubber bullets and was shot in the back of his head by an impact munition. He lost consciousness, was hospitalized, and needed 17 staples for a head wound. Noah Michael Treanor, while praying, was shot by the water hoses or cannon. Once on the ground, he was shot in the head by an impact munition. Bleeding badly, he was hospitalized.

“The civil rights violations that night were deliberate and punitive,” said Rachel Lederman, WPLC lawyer. “The Morton County Sheriff’s Department’s illegal use of force against the Water Protectors has been escalating. It is only a matter of luck that no one has been killed. This must stop.”

Those concerned are urged to call local and federal agencies below to demand (1) immediate end to construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, (2) the immediate cessation and a full investigation into law enforcement abuses, (3) dropping felony charges against water protectors from the October 27 police raid, and (4) permitting the Water Protectors to stay at their current encampment until the DAPL’s application to drill under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River is permanently denied.

• White House: 202-456-1414 or sign the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s White House petition standwithstandingrock.net/take-action
• White House Situation Room, 202-456-9431
• North Dakota Governor’s Office: 701-328-2200
• Morton County Sheriff’s Office: 701-667-3330
• Morton County State’s Attorney’s Office: 701-667-3330
• Army Corps of Engineers-Bismarck 701-255-0015

The Water Protector Legal Collective is the National Lawyers Guild legal support team for those engaged in resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. It maintains a 24/7 presence on-site at the Oceti Sakowin camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

Related Documents:

• Temporary Restraining Order Motion
• Temporary Restraining Order Memo
• Class Action Complaint

Donations to legal support efforts may be made to:

• Water Protector Legal Collective: fundrazr.com/campaigns/11B5z8 or nlg.org/donate/waterprotectorlegal for tax-deductible contributions.
• Sacred Stone Legal Defense Fund: fundrazr.com/campaigns/d19fAf

For updates, visit waterprotectorlegal.org, and follow the WPLC at Facebook.com/WaterProtectorLegal and Twitter @WaterProtectUs.

Contact: Tasha Moro, NLG Communications Director
communications@nlg.org | 212-679-5100, ext. 15

CANNON BALL, ND—The Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC; formerly Red Owl), an initiative of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), strongly condemns the flagrant civil and human rights violations committed by Morton County law enforcement last night against unarmed Standing Rock Water Protectors. The standoff lasted more than five hours in freezing temperatures (26-degrees Fahrenheit), during which police deployed water cannons, rubber bullets, Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), teargas, and flash-bang grenades against Water Protectors and members of the press. The attack resulted in 167 injuries—including at least one cardiac arrest, one seizure, and mass hypothermia. One 13-year-old girl was shot in the face with a rubber bullet, and at least 20 people were sent to the emergency room with serious injuries. WPLC/NLG Legal Observers on the scene reported many people temporarily lost consciousness from being shot with such “less lethal” munitions. The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes provided Emergency Medical Services, which Water Protector Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network called “ridiculous,” noting that such EMS “should be the responsibility of Morton County.”

Last night, WPLC attorney Angela Bibens described the horrifying scene: “[Law enforcement] deployed 20 mace canisters in a small area in less than five minutes, to the point where people have lost bowel function. At least one seizure has been witnessed at the front lines by our legal observation team. There have been people vomiting from the exposure to the mace. The water cannon has been mixed with the mace, and so even our legal observers have been exposed and are trying to deal with that while they’re doing up their notes. And canisters were shot at the medic area at the front line. There is at least one woman who has a broken kneecap. At least one elder went into cardiac arrest and was revived through CPR at the front line by medics.”

The attack began around 6 PM yesterday, while Water Protectors attempted to peacefully remove two military vehicles that had been blocking Highway 1806 since October 27, ironically, in an effort to clear the path providing the most direct route from the Oceti Sakowin camp to Bismarck, ND, for emergency services vehicles. The Morton County Sheriff’s Department made unfounded claims of “very aggressive” behavior and an “ongoing riot” by Water Protectors, and falsely claimed that the water cannons were deployed in response to fires set by Water Protectors on Highway 1806.

The police attack comes shortly after a local judge dismissed trumped-up felony charges against 15 Water Protectors last Thursday, citing failure by the District Attorney’s office to provide sufficient evidence of “Conspiracy to Endanger by Fire.” Additional hearings are set for December 5. The WPLC continues its months-long work on the ground in North Dakota, providing Water Protectors with legal representation, jail support, legal observers, and other direct legal assistance.

Concerned members of the public are strongly encouraged to call local and federal agencies to demand (1) immediate end to the construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, (2) a full investigation into abuses by law enforcement, and (3) dropping the felony charges against Water Protectors arising from the October 27 police raid on the camp.

White House: 202-456-1414
White House Situation Room, 202-456-9431
North Dakota Governor’s Office: 701-328-2200
Morton County Sheriff’s Office: 701-667-3330
Morton County State’s Attorney’s Office: 701-667-3350
Army Corps of Engineers Bismarck Office 701-255-0015

Donations to support the Water Protector Legal Collective may be made at fundrazr.com/campaigns/11B5z8 or nlg.org/donate/waterprotectorlegal for tax-deductible contributions. For updates, visit their website at waterprotectorlegal.org, and  follow them at Facebook.com/WaterProtectorLegal, Twitter @WaterProtectUs.

PHOTO: Police teargas Water Protectors on Highway 1806, November 20, 2016. (Photo: Elizabeth Hoover via Instagram @lizhoover.)

Contact: Tasha Moro, NLG Communications Director
communications@nlg.org | 212-679-5100 ext. 15

BISMARCK, ND—On Thursday, Burleigh County Judge Cynthia Feland dismissed felony charges against 15 Water Protectors arrested on October 27 who were praying or protesting near the route of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Even by police accounts, all but a couple people who may have been provocateurs, were not involved with setting hay bales on fire some distance from the main protest site. Despite this, all 147 Water Protectors arrested that day were charged with the felony, “Conspiracy to Endanger by Fire.” The court found that the prosecutor had presented no evidence that any of the individuals charged had conspired to set any fires.

“The Water Protectors were held for 48 hours or more, forced to removed outer layers of clothing, crowded into freezing chain link cages, and denied food, water and bathrooms for long periods,” said Brandy Toelupe, attorney with the Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC; formerly Red Owl), an initiative of the National Lawyers Guild. “They were strip searched, and taken to jails all over North Dakota,” she added.

Because of the felony charges, the Water Protectors’ bond was set at $1500 cash and they faced prison terms of up to five years. Had there not been a crowd-funded bail fund, many would have remained in jail for weeks. By alleging a “conspiracy,” State’s Attorney Gabrielle Goter attempted to impose harsh consequences on the Water Protectors absent any evidence of their involvement in the fire. No individual defendant was identified doing anything specific.

Judge Feland ruled on her own motion that the prosecution failed to present sufficient facts in its affidavit showing probable cause that any of the defendants before the court, or any of the 147 arrested and charged on October 27, had committed the “Conspiracy to Endanger by Fire” felony.

“The Affidavit supporting the information however provides no specifically named defendants who committed this crime and how and when they each committed it…. In addition, the affidavit does not explain how the defendants agreed to commit the crime. The case law is well-established that in order to provide sufficient probable cause, the State must show that a crime has been committed and the accused is probably guilty of committing it,” read the court order.

“While the Water Protectors and their families are relieved by Judge Feland’s decision, State’s Attorney Gabrielle Goter should not recharge these cases and be reprimanded for deliberately overcharging 147 people with felonies that she knew she could not prove,” added Toelupe. “Overcharging is a dangerous and misleading strategy. It subjects people to preemptive punishment through detention and high bail, and intimidates people from engaging in First Amendment activity. It also misleads the public about what’s being prosecuted.”

The WPLC has been on the ground for months providing Water Protectors with legal representation, jail support, legal observers, and other direct legal assistance. WPLC members were in court monitoring the proceeding and were representing some of the Water Protector defendants.

The next court date is set for December 5, when more than 100 additional felony cases from the October 27 action will be heard. All are expected to be dismissed. Felony cases from actions on other dates will also be heard at that time.

Donations to support the Water Protector Legal Collective may be made at fundrazr.com/campaigns/11B5z8 or nlg.org/donate/waterprotectorlegal for tax-deductible contributions.

For updates, follow them at Facebook.com/WaterProtectorLegal and Twitter @WaterProtectUs.