141 Dakota Access pipeline protesters arrested

Dakota Access pipeline opponents in front of the White House.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Police in riot gear arrested at least 141 people near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota on Thursday, with charges including criminal trespassing, engaging in a riot, and conspiracy to endanger by fire, the Morton County Sheriff's Department said.

The protesters were blocking the path of the planned Dakota Access oil pipeline, which will stretch 1,172 miles. Native American demonstrators are worried the pipeline, which goes through an area they hold sacred, could contaminate the water, and they say they are reclaiming land that was given to the Great Sioux Nation in the 1851 Ft. Laramie Treaty, but later revoked. Temporary barricades the protesters set up were dismantled, and authorities say there is no one left at the encampment. Police showed up at the scene with military-style vehicles, including one meant to withstand roadside bomb explosions. While most protesters were peaceful, one did set fire to tires that were part of a barricade.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.