Cannon Ball, North Dakota: Tensions have increased this week near construction site of the Dakota Access pipeline, with repeated clashes between protesters and police.
Police used tear gas and fired bean-bag rounds to disperse crowds, and have arrested nearly 40 people, many of them on a bridge that has been the site of frequent confrontations.
Demonstrators at the shrinking protest camp have voiced desperation and declining morale, citing weaker support from local Standing Rock Sioux tribe that launched the effort last year.
“It’s closing in on the inauguration, and people want to make sure that their voices are heard while they still have a chance,” said Benjamin Johansen, 29, a carpenter from Iowa who has been at the camp for two months.
“There’s a very real possibility that once the new president is inaugurated, our voices won’t matter.”
This week’s clashes between protesters and police are the most serious since the US Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement in December for the pipeline to travel under Lake Oahe.
Native Americans and environmental activists have said that the pipeline threatens water resources and sacred lands.
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation is near the pipeline, asked protesters to disperse following the Corps’ decision, but around 600 remain in the main camp, now called Oceti Oyate.
