YESTERDAY NORTH DAKOTA LOOKED MORE LIKE A WAR ZONE THEN THE
SITE OF A PROTEST OVER THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PIPELINE.
THERE WERE MANY PROTESTERS, MANY ARRAYED AGAINST THE PROTESTERS
--
>>AMERICANS HAVE TRAVELED ACROSS THE ENTIRETY OF THE COUNTRY
TO STAND WITH THEM --
>>WE HAVE RUMORS OF TASERS, BEANBAG GUNS, SOUND CANNONS, AND
OTHER FORMS OF IN SOME CASES NONLETHAL FORCE THAT WERE
DEPLOYED AGAINST THE PROTESTERS, BUT THERE ARE MANY REPORTS
OF LIVE AMMUNITION BEING PRESENT, ALTHOUGH NOT
NECESSARILY BEING USED AGAINST PROTESTERS.
>>NO NOT NECESSARILY -- NOT USED.
>>THERE WERE REPORTS OF SHOTS BEING FIRED, POLICE ARE SINGLES
WERE FROM PROTESTERS.
WE HAVE SOME VIDEO, LET'S ROLL THIS, YOU
WILL SEE A BIT OF THE SITUATION ON THE GROUND THERE.
>>[BUFFERING]
>>THEY ARE STANDING OFF AGAINST, IN SOME CASES,
INDIVIDUALS HOLDING UP BOTTLES OF WATER.
>>LOOK AT THE DANGER THOSE LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE
FACING, THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
>>HUNDREDS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.
>>ONE SIDE IS DIGGING UP THE EARTH AND COULD PUT THINGS
IN IT, THE OTHER ISN'T.
>>WE KNOW THAT 141 WERE ARRESTED OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST 24
HOURS, WHAT HAPPENED EARLIER THIS WEEK WAS THERE WERE
NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN AUTHORITIES AND THE PROTESTERS, THOSE BROKE
DOWN AND THAT LED TO THE PROTESTERS MAKING THEIR CAMP ON
THE PHYSICAL PATH OF THE PROPOSED PIPELINE FOR THE FIRST
TIME.
THEY HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY DONE THAT, THEY HAD ALWAYS BEEN
CLOSE TO IT BUT NOT ON IT.
AND THAT IS WHAT LED TO AN
INCREDIBLE A LOT OF FORCE BEING BROUGHT AGAINST THEM.
AS WE
MENTIONED, THERE WERE REPORTS FROM THE POLICE THAT SHOTS HAD
BEEN FIRED, SUPPOSEDLY A WOMAN DREW A HANDGUN AND FIRED THREE
SHOTS AT A DEPUTY, NARROWLY MISSING HIM.
WE HAVE THIS PHOTO
WHICH WE WILL BRING UP WHICH PEOPLE ARE SAYING IS THE ACTUAL
WOMAN HOLDING A PRAYER STICK, NOT A GUN, OF COURSE MANY
REPORTS COMING FROM BOTH SIDES.
I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY HARD EVIDENCE THAT A REVOLVER WAS THE
POINT AGAINST POLICE, THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE SAYING.
>>THE HISTORY OF THESE THINGS IS THAT SHE DIDN'T HAVE A GUN.
OBVIOUSLY NONE OF US WERE THERE, IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THAT AN
INCREDIBLY ORGANIZE PROTEST -- ONE PERSON THOUGHT I'M GOING TO
BRING A HANDGUN AND FIRE AT THESE OFFICERS.
>>WITH SNIPERS.
>>AND I'M GOING TO BE A MIDDLE-AGED OR ELDERLY WOMAN AND
I'M GOING TO HAVE A PRAYER STICK WITH ME BUT I WILL SHOOT, SHOOT,
THEN PUT THE GUN AWAY AND GET MY PRAYER STICK.
THAT IS NOT
USUALLY HOW IT GOES DOWN.
AND BEFORE, THESE SAME COPS WERE
SAYING THERE MIGHT BE PIPE BOMBS.
REALLY?
IF YOU FOUND PIPE BOMBS, YOU WOULD HAVE MADE LITERALLY A
FEDERAL CASE OUT OF IT.
THERE WERE NO PIPE BOMBS.
>>JAMES COMEY WOULD WRITE A LETTER SAYING THERE MIGHT
BE PIPE BOMBS.
>>THERE ARE TWO ADDITIONAL ANGLES THAT JAYAR JACKSON
BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION.
FIRST OF ALL, THE DIVERSE FORCES OF
THE POLICE THAT WERE WAITING FOR THE PROTESTERS --
>>WHAT IS THIS EMAC?
I HAD PREVIOUSLY NEVER SEEN THIS
BEFORE --
>>EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS PROBABLY WHAT IT MEANS.
>>IT'S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR TORNADOES, EARTHQUAKES, PERHAPS
A SUPER VOLCANO -- NOT NECESSARILY 100 WATER
PROTECTORS.
AND YET THAT IS WHAT WAS USED.
AND THERE IS EVIDENCE
THEY BEEN COORDINATING WITH THE CORPORATIONS THEMSELVES, NOT
JUST POLICE IN NORTH DAKOTA.
>>LET ME CLARIFY, EMAC IS APPARENTLY NOT EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGAINST NATURAL DISASTERS, BUT NATURAL
MINORITIES.
LET'S SEND IN THOSE EMERGENCY FORCES, LET'S CRUSH
THOSE GUYS.
YOU GOT NATIVE AMERICANS IN STANDING ROCK.
HEY,
ALL THE STATES, IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FOR NATURAL DISASTERS, WHO
CARES?
WE'VE GOT SOME NATIVE AMERICANS TO GO GET.
ON THE
ISSUE OF -- BY THE WAY, YOU CAN ARGUE WITH MY SPECULATION ON
THEIR THINKING, YOU CANNOT ARGUE WITH WHERE THEY SENT THEM.
THEY
DID TO SEND THEM TO THOSE THINGS, THAT IS NOT WHEREBY LAW
HOW THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO ACT.
>>I JUST LOOKED AT THEIR WEBSITE, IT'S EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT.
FOR TEMPLE, THEIR PRESS RELEASE
IS THAT AS HURRICANE MATTHEW CONTINUES ITS DESTRUCTIVE PATH
ALONG THE FLORIDA COAST, THERE ARE STATES AS FAR AWAY AS
CALIFORNIA DEPLOYING RESOURCES TO HELP FLORIDA.
THAT IS EXACTLY
WHAT IT IS FOR.
IN ALL 50 STATES ARE IN IT.
>>BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF HURRICANE MATTHEW, FORCES ARE
BEING DEPLOYED TO NORTH DAKOTA.
WHAT'S THE SECOND THING TO
CLARIFY IS, ARE COPS WORKING WITH THE COMPANIES?
ARE THEY
BEING ONE-SIDED?
THE COMPANY ITSELF TOLD US THAT.
I WILL GIVE
YOU A QUOTE FROM ROSS STORY HERE, WHICH QUOTES THE
COMPANIES.
FIRST THE DESCRIPTION -- THE PARENT COMPANY OF THE
DAKOTA ACCESS LLC SAID ON TUESDAY IT INTENDS TO WORK WITH
POLICE TO FORCIBLY CLEAR FRONTLINES WATER PROTECTORS
CAMP.
THEY THREATENED THAT, QUOTE, THIS IS THEIR QUOTE,
INCOORDINATION WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND COUNTY AND STATE
OFFICIALS, ALL TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST
EXTENT OF THE LAW AND REMOVED FROM THE LAND.
SO THE COPS
AREN'T GOING AND SAYING ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, I KNOW YOU
PUT AN INJUNCTION ON THE COMPANY TO NOT BUILD AROUND THE MISSOURI
RIVER, AND HEY, LAWYERS, I KNOW THERE IS A QUESTION ABOUT
EMINENT DOMAIN AND A QUESTION ABOUT THIS TREATY FROM 1851, AND
PROTESTERS WHO LIVE HERE, LET ME CONSULT WITH YOU GUYS, LET ME
CONSULT WITH THE COMPANY AND MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON THE LAW
AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
NO, BY THE ADMISSION OF THE COMPANY
AND, BY THE WAY, THE COPS CONSTANTLY TALKING ABOUT, HEY,
WE'VE BEEN TALKING TO THE COMPANY -- THEY ARE LIKE THE
PINKERTONS.
AND THEY ADMIT IT.
WE CHECKED WITH THE COMPANY, NOW
WE WILL COME AND CRUSH YOU.
YOUR CLAIMS ARE INTERESTING, HA HA.
TO ME YOU WOULD KNOW THAT THE COPS ARE UNBIASED IF THEY LIGHT
UP ON BOTH SIDES.
IF THEY SAID HEY, COMPANY, YOU ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO BUILD IN CERTAIN AREAS, WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU
DON'T.
BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOLD US YOU WERE NOT
ALLOWED TO BUILD THERE.
AND PROTESTERS, YOU ARE ON PRIVATE
LAND, I'M LINING UP TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT IN THE WRONG PLACE.
BUT NO, THE ASSUMPTION IS, CITIZENS?
NO, THIS GIANT COMPANY
ALREADY GAVE ME MY MARCHING ORDERS, AND I WILL BRING THINGS
THAT LOOK LIKE TANKS, AND PRETEND THAT YOU HAVE SNIPERS
AND PIPE BOMBS AND ARE PLANTING MINES.
IT'S BECAUSE OF YOUR
CLEAR, OBVIOUS ONE SIDEDNESS.
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PROTECT AND SERVE THE CITIZENS?
>>ONE SIDE IS BREAKING THE LAW HERE, TO BE HONEST.
>>TO BE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
>>SO EVERY TIME SOMEONE CALLS AND SAYS THERE ARE TRESPASSERS
ON MY LAND, THE COPS ARE WORKING IN CONCERT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO
MADE THAT CALL.
THAT HAPPENS LITERALLY THOUSANDS AND
THOUSANDS OF TIMES EVERYDAY.
SO I GET THAT YOU CAN MAKE AN
ARGUMENT THAT THEY ARE WORKING IN CONCERT BUT IS A LEGITIMATE
ARGUMENT.
WHAT IS AN ILLEGITIMATE ARGUMENT IS THE
NOTION THAT THE COMPANY THINKS IT HAS PROSECUTORIAL POWERS.
ALL
YOU GET TO DO IS SAY, THEY ARE ON MY LAND AND I'D LIKE YOU TO
REMOVE THEM.
>>AND I WANT TO PRESS CHARGES.
>>THEN THE COPS CAN SAY, OKAY, THEY CAN DETERMINE -- THEY CAN
TRY AND WORK OUT A DEAL, OR THEY CAN SAY OKAY, WE WILL REMOVE YOU
FROM THE LAND, WHICH TO ME INVOLVES BRINGING AS MANY COPS
AS THERE ARE PROTESTERS AND PUTTING HANDCUFFS ON THEM AND
ESCORTING THEM OFF THE LAND, AND IT RUINS YOUR WHOLE DAY.
BUT YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE WHETHER THESE PEOPLE GET
PROSECUTED TO ANY EXTENT OF THE LAW.
>>AND THAT DOESN'T WHEN YOUR DAY, THAT'S YOUR JOB.
>>IT'S YOUR JOB, TODAY I SPENT IT ARRESTING A BUNCH OF NATIVE
AMERICANS WHO WERE ON WHAT THEY BELIEVE IS THEIR OWN LAND.
>>WE WILL TURN IN A BIT TO THE MILITIA IN OREGON AND THEIR
ACQUITTAL, I DON'T REMEMBER WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THEM TAKING
OVER THE LAND 300 POLICE OFFICERS AND MINE RESISTANT
VEHICLES SWEEPING IN WITH DOGS AND CANNONS AND VEHICLES.
>>AND THOSE GUYS, IT WAS NOT SPECULATION, IT WAS NOT MAYBE A
PRAYER STICK -- THEY HAD HEAVY WEAPONRY, THEY SHOWED IT ON
VIDEO AND THREATENED TO MURDER THE COPS WHO CAME, BUT THE COPS
DIDN'T COME FOR 41 DAYS.
THEY LET THEM TAKE OVER FEDERAL
BUILDINGS, THEY ONLY CAUGHT THEM WHEN THEY LEFT THAT AREA.
>>WEREN'T THOSE GUYS WHITE?
>>GOOD POINT.
>>BUT REAL QUICK, WHAT IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT IS THOSE GUYS HAD
THE GUNS.
NOW, I DON'T WANT THEM TO, BUT THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX,
THEY WOULDN'T HAVE COME AS QUICKLY IF THEY HAD GUNS.
BUT I DON'T WANT THEM TO HAVE GUNS.
>>THIS HAPPENS WITH OUR INSANE FOREIGN POLICY AS WELL.
WHEN WE
INVADED IRAQ THERE WAS SOME GOOD CHANCE, AND I'M PUTTING THIS SO
LIGHTLY, THAT WE KNEW THEY'D ALREADY DISARMED AND HAD NO
WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRUCTION.
AND ONE THEORY IS, THAT'S WHY WE
ATTACKED THEM.
NOT BECAUSE THEY HAD WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION,
BUT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T.
THAT PROVIDES AN INCENTIVE FOR NORTH
KOREA AND PEOPLE LIKE THAT TO GET NUKES, BECAUSE THEY WILL
COME AND GET PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE WEAPONS OF MASS
DISTRACTION.
SO IF YOU SAY THE BUNDY GUYS GET TO PUT A GUN TO
THE COPS' HEADS AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE DON'T BOTHER THEM, THAT
IS A TERRIBLE MESSAGE.
>>I REMEMBER CONSISTENTLY PRAISING THE COPS DURING THE
BUNDY THING.
I DON'T WANT ANYONE SHOT, AND IF YOU HAVE TO WAIT 41
DAYS OR 82 DAYS, YOU WAIT AS LONG AS YOU REASONABLY CAN TO
MINIMIZE BLOODSHED.
YOU WAIT AND YOU DO IT RIGHT.
BUT HERE WHEN
THERE IS NO THREAT EXCEPT FOR THE DANGEROUS PRAYER STICK,
THEY'VE GOT TO MOBILIZE AND GO.
>>VERY QUICKLY, ONE OTHER THREAT -- OBVIOUSLY THE WHOLE POINT OF
THESE PROTESTS, AND THERE ARE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT PROBLEMS THE
TRIBES AND THEIR SUPPORTERS HAVE, ONE OF WHICH IS THE
POSSIBLE DESTRUCTION OF NEWLY FOUND SACRED GROUND, BUT THE
MOST IMPORTANT IS THE POSSIBLE THREAT TO THE WATER SOURCES OF
THAT AREA, THE FACT THAT THE PIPELINE WILL TRAVEL DIRECTLY
UNDER A LAKE, AND THEY ARE CONCERNED THAT IF THERE IS LEAKS
THAT COULD CONTAMINATE THEIR SOLE SOURCE OF WATER.
MANY
PEOPLE HAVE MADE THEM OUT TO BE FEAR MONGERS OVER THAT, BUT
NEWLY RELEASED INFORMATION MAKES THEIR CASE SEEM A LITTLE BIT
MORE UNDERSTANDABLE --
>>SOME OF THOSE ARE SMALL IN THAT 20 OR 30 BARRELS OF OIL ARE
SPILLED, SOME OF THEM WERE SMALL IN THAT 20,000 BARRELS WERE
SPILLED.
AND ALMOST UNIVERSALLY, THE ONE THAT WAS REPORTED WAS
WHEN AN OIL TRUCK COLLIDED WITH SOMETHING.
BUT IN CASES WHERE
THE PIPELINES LEAKED, ALMOST UNIVERSALLY, THEY WERE NEVER
REPORTED TO THE PUBLIC.
SO IF THEY LEAKED INTO A LAKE OR
CONTAMINATED A PORTION OF THE WATER, WOULD THE PEOPLE IN THE
REGION EVEN KNOW UNTIL THEY DRANK THE CONTAMINATED WATER?
WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THEY WOULD NOT.
>>I WOULD ADD THAT WHAT IS WORSE ABOUT THAT IS THIS IS NOT A
LIBERAL ORGANIZATION REPORTING THIS, THIS IS THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS, THE MOST RESPECTED NEWSGATHERING ORGANIZATION IN
THE WORLD.
THEY ARE OUT THERE, AND THEY ASK STATE OFFICIALS,
HAVE THERE BEEN OIL SPILLS?
BLESS THEIR HEARTS FOR DOING
REAL INVESTIGATION, AND MAYBE THERE WERE NONE, THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS DID NOT PREJUDGE THAT.
THE STATE WOULDN'T GIVE AN ANSWER.
AP IS LIKE, WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT IS GOING ON?
THERE ARE NO OIL
SPILLS, OR YOU DON'T KNOW IF THERE ARE OIL SPILLS?
FOR 11
DAYS, STATE AND COMPANY OFFICIALS WOULD NOT ANSWER.
FINALLY AFTER ALL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PRESSING ON IT, THEY SAID
FINE, THERE WERE 300 OIL SPILLS.
AND 750 OIL SPILL INCIDENTS.
>>ALMOST 100 A YEAR, IN FOUR YEARS.
>>AND THE STATE'S TOP OIL REGULATOR IN NORTH DAKOTA SAID
THE REGULATORS WORRY ABOUT, QUOTE, OVERREPORTING SPILLS.
WHY
WOULD A REGULATOR WORRY ABOUT OVERREPORTING SPILLS THAT
ACTUALLY HAPPEN?
THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT THE
GOVERNMENT IS WORKING HAND-IN-HAND WITH THE PRIVATE
CORPORATIONS WHO ARE RUNNING THESE PROJECTS.
IT'S GLARINGLY
OBVIOUS WHEN THEY GO I DON'T WANT TO REPORT WHAT A PRIVATE
CORPORATION DID.
IF YOU ARE THE STATE, WHY DON'T YOU WANT TO
REPORT IT?
>>IS THAT THE WORD, LITTLE INCIDENTS, THEY WERE SAYING THEY
DON'T WANT TO REPORT?
BUT THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT.
MAYBE IT WAS MINOR LOCATIONS -- THAT ADDS UP.
>>LET'S SAY, FOR CONSERVATIVES WATCHING, LET'S DO AN ANALOGY.
IMAGINE IF THAT LAKE WAS A BOWL OF SKITTLES, AND THREE OF THOSE
SKITTLES WERE COVERED IN OIL.
>>SOME OF THEM WERE NOT LITTLE.
THEY ARE PROTECTING THE
COMPANIES, NOT THE CITIZENS.
THAT IS THE HEART OF THE
PROBLEM.
FINALLY, I WANT YOU TO BE CLEAR ON THE TWO MAIN ISSUES
THAT THE FOLKS AT STANDING ROCK ARE FIGHTING FOR.
ONE IS TO
PROTECT THE WATER -- I DIDN'T KNOW THE DEGREE TO WHICH IT
SPILLED, WE DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL TODAY.
SO THANK YOU, ASSOCIATED
PRESS, FOR DOING JOURNALISM.
IT TURNS OUT, IT SPILLS A LOT.
AND
IF IT SPILLS INTO THE RIVER AND THAT'S YOUR DRINKING WATER, EVEN
A LITTLE SPILL IS DEEPLY PROBLEMATIC.
A LARGE SPILL IS
DISASTROUS.
IT TURNS OUT THEY WERE RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT
THE WATER, AND BY THE WAY THAT WATER DOESN'T JUST SERVE THE
RESERVATION, THAT'S THE MISSOURI RIVER.
IT SERVES A LOT OF
PEOPLE.
IN FACT THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS IT, THE PIPELINE WAS
ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO GO NEAR BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, BUT THE
STATE SAID NO, SPILLS THERE WOULD ENDANGER A LARGER AMOUNT
OF PEOPLE IN BISMARCK.
SO YOU KNOW THERE IS A DANGER.
SEND IT
BY THE RESERVATION -- BUT THE MISSOURI RIVER GOES EVERYWHERE.
>>HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE LIVE IN BISMARCK THAN THE RESERVATION?
>>ONE, IT APPEARS THEY WERE MORE CORRECT TO THERE THEN THEY WERE
GIVEN CREDIT FOR.
NUMBER TWO, THEY SAY THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY
OF 1851 DID NOT CEDE THAT TERRITORY SO IT MIGHT STILL BE
TRIBAL LAND.
AND ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THAT, NO, AMERICA
WOULDN'T HAVE TREATED NATIVE AMERICANS IN A TREATY IN 1851,
THAT'S INCONCEIVABLE.
IF YOU SAY THAT, YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING OF
HISTORY AND YOU ARE PURPOSELY BEING BLIND TO IT.
I KNOW IT'S
FRUSTRATING THAT IT TAKES A WHILE FOR THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM TO
WORK, I THINK ONE OF THE RULINGS WAS UNCONSCIONABLE AS WELL, BUT
WE'VE GOT TO FIGURE OUT, ARE THEY RIGHT?
ARE YOU TELLING ME
NATIVE AMERICANS DIDN'T GET SCREWED OVER ON TREATIES, AND
IT'S NOT CONCEIVABLE?
I'M NOT SAYING THEY DID -- WE HAVE TO
ADJUDICATE IT.
WE HAVE TO HAVE DUE PROCESS TO SEE WHOSE LAND IT
IS, AND WE HAVE TO HAVE DUE PROCESS ON THE INJUNCTION THE
GOVERNMENT PUT ON BUILDING AROUND THE MISSOURI RIVER.
YOU
CAN'T JUST HAVE THESE GUYS LITERALLY BULLDOZE EVERYONE AND
THE GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE AND THE COPS WORK WITH THEM AND
AGAINST THE CITIZENS, THAT IS NOT THE WAY YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO
DO IT.
>>THIS IS WHY WE NEED REGULATORS.
THIS IS WHY
REGULATORS MATTER, AND REGULATORS ABOUT A BILLION
THINGS.
>>INDEPENDENT REGULATORS.
>>AND REGULATORS NEED TEETH, AND THEY GET THAT THROUGH POLITICS,
AND POLITICIANS WHO BELIEVE IN REGULATION OF INDUSTRY DON'T WIN
IN NORTH DAKOTA, AND DON'T WIN IN MOST STATES, AND ONE OF THE
REASONS THEY DON'T WIN IS BECAUSE DEMOCRATS HAVE RUN
POORLY IN RACE AFTER RACE AND STATE AFTER STATE AND GOT
OUTCLASSED AND OUTSPENT AND OUTMANEUVERED BY THE KOCH
BROTHERS AND BY ALEC SO WHEN REPUBLICANS GET IN THERE, THEY
DON'T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TO DO.
THIS IS IT, THIS IS
INDUSTRY WINNING, AND WE'VE GOT REGULATORS WHO ARE AFRAID TO
REPORT THE THING THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO REGULATE.
IT IS LIKE
SOMEONE AT OSHA GOING SOMEONE FELL OFF A RAFTER AND DIED AT
WORK -- SHH.
>>THESE REGULATORS, THAT'S WHY.
THEY ARE SAYING WE DON'T WANT TO OVERREPORT.
>>I'M NOT MAKING SOME CASE THE DEMOCRATS WOULD COME IN AND BE
WHITE KNIGHTS, BUT WE WON'T EVEN KNOW BECAUSE IN STATES LIKE
NORTH DAKOTA THEY ARE NOT WINNING OR PARTICIPATING OR
INVOLVED.
>>AND THE SIOUX THERE AND LOTS OF NATIVE AMERICANS AROUND THE
COUNTRY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE, OUR
COURT SYSTEMS.
SO THEY SAY A DISTRICT JUDGE RULED, NOT ON THE
MERITS OF THE CASE BUT ON AN INJUNCTION -- THE TRIBES SAID
DON'T BUILD A PIPELINE UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT IS YOUR LAND, AND
ACCORDING TO FEDERAL LAW YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY CONSULT WITH
THE TRIBES NEARBY, EVEN IF IT IS NOT THEIR LAND, IF THEY ARE
NEARBY, AND HERE THERE IS NO QUESTION THEY ARE NEARBY,
ACCORDING TO TREATIES THE U.S. HAS SIGNED.
THAT IS INARGUABLE.
AND IN THIS CASE THE U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE SAID ONE THING
THAT IS DEFENSIBLE, THE OTHER THING I DON'T THINK IS.
HE SAID
THE ARMY CORPS GAVE THE TRIBES A REASONABLE CHANCE TO RESPOND.
MAYBE THEY DID OR DIDN'T, WE WILL FIND OUT AT A LONGER TRIAL.
THE SECOND THING IS THAT THE TRIBE HAS NOT SHOWN IT WOULD
SUFFER INJURY THAT WOULD BE PREVENTED BY AN INJUNCTION THE
COURT COULD ISSUE.
BUT IF YOU LIFT THE INJUNCTION AND THEY
BUILD A PIPELINE, THE CASE OF THE TRIBES IS YOU ARE BUILDING
IT OVER BURIAL GROUNDS AND IT IS OUR PROPERTY --
>>AND IT MIGHT AFFECT OUR WATER.
>>WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE INJUNCTION DOESN'T AFFECT -- OF
COURSE IT DOES.
>>SO IN THREE YEARS WE COULD WIN WHEN THE PIPELINE IS ALREADY
THERE?
>>AND ALREADY SPILLED AND ALREADY DESTROYED OUR PROPERTY
AND IT TURNS OUT IT'S OUR LAND.
>>THEN YOU PUT BACK THE SACRED SITES.
>>EVEN IF YOU ARE SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, AT A
MINIMUM, AND I SAY THIS TO THE DISTRICT JUDGE, YOU'VE GOT TO
LET THAT PLAY OUT.
BEFORE YOU DECIDE THE MERITS OF THE CASE
YOU CAN'T DECIDE THE ACTUAL ACTION THAT WILL HAPPEN.
GO
AHEAD AND BUILD THE PIPELINE, WHO CARES?
LATER, I GUESS I WILL FIGURE OUT IF YOU WERE RIGHT TO BUILD IT.
THAT IS NOT JUSTICE.