Dakota Access Pipeline: More Than 100 Arrested as Protesters Ousted From Camp
Source: NBC
Authorities used pepper spray and fired bean bags at activists demonstrating against a controversial North Dakota oil pipeline as the standoff there reached a new peak Thursday, according to officials.
Armed soldiers and police in riot gear removed the demonstrators using trucks, military Humvees, and buses Thursday afternoon, according to The Associated Press. Two helicopters and an airplane scanned the operation from the air. At least 117 protesters had been arrested as of 8:15 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. ET) as law enforcement slowly closed in and tensions escalated, the Morton County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
"117 protesters have been arrested. Morton County will be utilizing other jails in this mass arrest operation," the department said in a statement. The incident continues to be ongoing, the sheriff's department said, and law enforcement was engaged in a situation with protesters at Backwater Bridge.
A woman who was being arrested pulled a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at law enforcement, "narrowly missing a sheriff's deputy," North Dakota State Emergency Services Spokeswoman Cecily Fong told NBC News. The woman was taken into custody and no shots were fired by law enforcement, she said.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dakota-access-pipeline-authorities-start-arresting-protesters-new-camp-n674066