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Arrests among dwindling demonstrators at Dakota pipeline protest camp

by Reuters
Thursday, 23 February 2017 17:29 GMT

A structure burns after being set alight by protesters preparing to evacuate the main opposition camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

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(Adds arrests in camp on Thursday)

By Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D., Feb 23 (Reuters) - More than a dozen of a dwindling number of protesters at a camp near the site of the Dakota Access pipeline were arrested on Thursday after defying a previous deadline set by authorities to vacate the Army-owned land.

About 50 police in riot gear, aided by additional National Guardsmen, moved slowly through the camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, checking structures for any of the several dozen protesters who had stayed beyond the Wednesday deadline to evacuate. Those arrested surrendered peacefully, while others retreated from the advancing police.

About a dozen Humvee vehicles had entered the camp and a helicopter hovered overhead, with more police officers and National Guard members stationed outside the site. Members of the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the land the camp is on, also began entering the site for cleanup efforts on Thursday morning.

The remaining protesters had been helping with cleanup efforts. Some buildings that were set on fire Wednesday ahead of the evacuation deadline were still smoldering, sending acrid smoke across the camp.

The protesters left said they were not afraid of another confrontation with law enforcement, which has clashed multiple times with demonstrators, resulting in more than 700 arrests.

"They have been pointing a gun at our head since day one, so the feeling of fear becomes pretty normal," said Jeremiah Barnes, 24, a protester from Oregon who has spent the past five months at the camp.

On Wednesday, authorities arrested 10 protesters on a highway outside the camp entrance before the officers retreated around nightfall.

Thousands poured into the protest camp starting in August to oppose the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline that Native Americans and environmental activists say threatens the water resources and sacred land of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

But a push by President Donald Trump since he took office in January to quickly complete the $3.8 billion project has dealt a series of setbacks to those wanting to see the pipeline stopped or redirected from passing under Lake Oahe on the Missouri River.

The Army Corps of Engineers and Republican Governor Doug Burgum set a Wednesday afternoon deadline to clear the camp.

Energy Transfer Partners LP said Thursday that 99 percent of the pipeline is complete after receiving all necessary federal authorizations earlier this month.

Those in opposition to the pipeline used social media to generate widespread support from Hollywood celebrities, military veterans and politicians. An analyst during Energy Transfer Partners' Thursday earnings call said the project was "probably a PR failure," for the Dallas-based company.

"There is no way we can defend ourselves there," Kelcy Warren, the chief executive officer of Energy Transfer Partners said during the call.

"There was a mistake on my part," he added. "I underestimated the power of social media. I didn't realize people could just say things that aren't true and freely do it, but they did."

(Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Additional reporting by Catherine Ngai in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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