NEAR CANNONBALL, ND (KELO-AM) The Dakota Access Pipeline protest keeps adding star power. On Wednesday, the Reverend Jesse Jackson pumped up the crowd in the massive camp of tents and teepees near the Missouri River in North Dakota, near the South Dakota border. He even rode a horse.
Jackson led protesters in a chant:
"We'll hold out...one day longer" intoned the veteran civil rights leader, in his signature style, and the crowd chanted back "one day longer". "One day longer" repeated Jackson. "One day longer" repeated the crowd.
Don Haney with KELO Radio's sister station, KFGO, has been reporting from the scene, camped out himself apparently, as the protest site near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation is remote.
Haney reports that there is a wide difference of opinion on how the protesters have behaved.
"People here tell me that a lot of the incidents that have been reported in the media, they're false. They said there has been no violence. Law enforcement differs loudly on that. There have been in excess of 250 people arrested since this protest began." reports Haney.
Haney says the concern now is a smaller group of protesters camped out on private property. The police have told them to leave, but, so far, they haven't budged. They were also blocking a public highway at last report. Officers from several states, including South Dakota, have been helping enforce the law.
The protesters - they call themselves protectors - claim when the pipeline is constructed under the Missouri River, it could leak, damaging water quality for tens of thousands of people. Many of the protesters are Native American, concerned about treaty rights and sacred sites.
The pipeline builder, Energy Transfer Partners, says it has abided by all laws and has all necessary permits in the states the pipeline will cross. The pipeline will take North Dakota oil across eastern South Dakota, right by Sioux Falls, through Iowa to Illinois. The company says the pipeline project is nearly completed in South Dakota.