Obama Exploring ‘Ways To Reroute’ Dakota Access Pipeline Amid Protests

[Donkees]

The Washington Times, Nov 1, 2016

President Obama said Tuesday that the federal government is looking for ways to reroute the Dakota Access pipeline project, which has been paralyzed by weeks of demonstrations by environmentalists.

In an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday, Mr. Obama seemed to side with occupiers who want the pipeline rerouted or scrapped outright, citing opposition by Indian groups.

“We’re monitoring this closely, and you know I think that as a general rule my view is that there is a way for us to accommodate sacred lands of Native Americans,” Mr. Obama told MSNBC.

Local authorities have pleaded for help in dealing with thousands of demonstrators who’ve also invaded private lands, prompting more than 100 arrests last week and at least one potentially deadly gun attack against cops.

But Mr. Obama indicated that the federal government has no intention of stepping in, despite the threat to federal lands.

“We’re going to let it play out for several more weeks and then determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way that I think is properly attentive to traditions of the first Americans,” he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/1/obama-exploring-ways-reroute-dakota-access-pipelin/

[Donkees]

1. The Guardian report ...

Asked about “shocking footage” showing police firing rubber bullets at protesters, Obama said: “It’s a challenging situation. I think that my general rule when I talk to governors and state and local officials whenever they’re dealing with protests, including for example during the Black Lives Matters protests, is there’s an obligation for protesters to be peaceful and there’s an obligation for authorities to show restraint.”

He continued: “I want to make sure that as everybody is exercising their constitutional rights to be heard, that both sides are refraining from situations that might result in people being hurt.”

His comments comes as a group with the United Nations investigates allegations of human rights abuses after jailed Native Americans said they were held in cages and faced cruel and inhumane treatment behind bars.

Police have used pepper spray, Tasers and batons against activists who have insisted they are remaining peaceful.

Several protesters recently released from local jails told the Guardian at the Standing Rock camps that the Morton county sheriff’s office was not prepared to process hundreds of those arrested, and that they wrote numbers and charges on inmates’ bodies to track them while also temporarily detaining groups in cages that they said seemed like “dog kennels”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/02/dakota-access-obama-suggests-ways-to-reroute-pipeline-being-investigated