WAR HAS BROKEN OUT IN NORTH DAKOTA
Marc Ash
A water defender stands in defiance of a fully militarized North Dakota law enforcement battalion at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction project. (photo: COUNTERCURRENTNEWS)
he situation in North Dakota at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline has degenerated into what can now only fairly be described as a war zone.
The escalating assaults on unarmed protesters by heavily armed, fully militarized police units have transformed the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site into a battlefield.
Scores of people have been injured and medics are struggling to evacuate the injured to area medical facilities for treatment. The scene is one of constant clashes and assaults by North Dakota military police attempting to drive Native American protesters away from the pipeline construction site.
A flashpoint on the Backwater Bridge was the scene of an intense six-hour engagement between “Water Defender” protesters and Morton County, North Dakota, sheriff’s personnel.
Using military tactics, law enforcement unleashed barrage after barrage of military grade tear gas, rubber bullets, water sprayed from high-pressure hoses in below freezing temperatures, and concussion grenades. According to the ACLU, “News reports confirm more than 300 people have been injured.”
The worst injury reported occurred as a result of a concussion grenade thrown by police directly striking a 21-year-old protester from New York. Sophia Wilansky suffered severe damage to her arm when the grenade detonated in close proximity. The injury caused a compound fracture and extensive damage to muscle, nerve and bone, resulting certainly in a lifelong disability. Details of the Wilansky incident have gone viral on Twitter.
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/40456-war-has-broken-out-in-north-dakota