Taxpayers Spending $10 Million on Dakota Pipeline Crackdown

By teleSUR

04 November 16

North Dakota just approved another US$4 million to spend on law enforcement efforts, which have already led to the arrests of about 400 protesters.

orth Dakota is paying US$10 million in tax dollars to fund the police crackdown against the thousands of Native Americans and allies impeding the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Governor Jack Dalrymple convinced an emergency spending panel to borrow US$4 million from the state’s public bank on Tuesday, reported the Rapid City Journal.

The law enforcement effort against the protesters — self-dubbed “water protectors” against what they consider a culturally and environmentally disastrous pipeline — has included private contractors, the National Guard and officers from out of state. About 400 have been arrested, mostly for vandalism, rioting and criminal trespass on company land, which protesters say is rightfully tribal land or illegally usurped through eminent domain.

Dalrymple declared a state of emergency in August to be able to access extra funds. His argument rested on the accusation that protesters were violent and carrying weapons, which every group there denied.

He said that spending on the crackdown, which has in some cases involved military-grade equipment, has mostly come from the state, but that he has also appealed to the federal government, the pipeline company, a Native American tribe and "any entity we can think of," reported the Rapid City Journal.

About US$8 million has been spent by the National Guard and US$3 million by the county where the camps are centered, it added.