#NoBlackSnakeFriday: Water Protectors Fighting Dakota Access Pipeline Declare Global Day of Action

As reported by Democracy Now!

Hundreds more across the U.S. are planning protests on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which is considered a major shopping day in the United States. In Chicago, activists are planning a Black Friday boycott along Michigan Avenue to demand police accountability. Water protectors fighting the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota have also declared a global day of action on Friday, calling for protests at banks financing the $3.8 billion pipeline and at the offices of sheriff’s departments who have sent deputies to police the ongoing resistance, which is led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota.

[The photo above shows Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps (with the ball cap on; Kevin's tee shirt reads "I Stand with Standing Rock"), and Ted Conwell, Founder & Lead Organizer, Climate First!, Inc. (like Beyond Nuclear, also based in the Nuclear-Free Zone of Takoma Park, Maryland!), after delivering a letter to, and speaking briefly with, management at a Citi Bank branch in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. Climate First! organized a day of action on Nov. 14th in solidarity with Standing Rock, which included handing out fliers to passersby about the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance. The call has gone out from many -- including actress Susan Sarandon, a Beyond Nuclear Launch Partner -- for divestment from and boycott of banks providing the capital for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.]

Father of Activist Injured at Standing Rock Calls on Obama to Stop Dakota Access Pipeline Drilling

As reported by Democracy Now!

[And, given the 47th National Day of Mourning, a.k.a. Thanksgiving, Democracy Now! has also run this story: Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz on Thanksgiving: "It Has Never Been About Honoring Native Americans"]

Update on November 23, 2016 by admin

The New York Daily News has also interviewed the father of the critically injured water protector.

Sophia Wilansky Critically Injured During Police Attack at Standing Rock

As reported by Democracy Now!:

In Minneapolis, 21-year-old activist Sophia Wilansky is in critical condition and has been undergoing a series of surgeries, after reportedly being hit by a concussion grenade during the police attack against water protectors fighting the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota Sunday night. Sunday’s attack at Standing Rock included police firing rubber bullets, mace canisters and water cannons in subfreezing temperatures. The Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council reports as many as 300 people were injured in the attack, with the injuries ranging from hypothermia to seizures, to loss of consciousness, to impaired vision as a result of being shot by a rubber bullet in the face. Water protectors say at least 26 people were evacuated from the area by ambulances and hospitalized. Sophia Wilansky was evacuated and airlifted to a Minneapolis hospital. After hours of surgery, she posted on Facebook early this morning that her arm has not been amputated, but she will not know for another week whether amputation might be required. The Morton County Sheriff’s Department is claiming the police are not responsible for her injury. Wilansky is from New York City and has organized against the construction of pipelines, including the AIM Spectra pipeline, in New York and across the East Coast [which passes within just a hundred feet of safety-significant systems at Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point nuclear power plant near New York City on the Hudson River]. A prayer vigil is slated for 4 p.m. today outside the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Update on November 22, 2016 by admin

And, given Native American Heritage Month (see web post below), we point out that, on the same day's broadcast, Democracy Now! reported on related subject matter, in a story entitled "Sweeping New Rutgers Report Reveals University's Ties to Slavery & Displacement of Native Americans."

Update on November 22, 2016 by admin

USA Today, as well as the LA Times and EcoWatch, have reported that the critically injured water protector is at risk of losing her left arm to the injury.

Teaching for Change: Teaching #NoDAPL during Native American Heritage Month

Check out this announcement from Teaching for Change! (Beyond Nuclear has collaborated with Teaching for Change on numerous events -- such as a Chernobyl novel event, as well as the book launch of Helen Caldicott's Crisis Without End, about Fukushima, both held at Busboys and Poets at 14th and V Sts. NW, Washington, DC).

Politico: SERIOUS INJURIES AT DAKOTA ACCESS PROTESTS

As reported by POLITICO's Morning Energy:

SERIOUS INJURIES AT DAKOTA ACCESS PROTESTS: Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, called on President Barack Obama to condemn the actions of North Dakota police on Monday after a violent night in which tribal health authorities said 300 protesters sustained injuries. Video shows demonstrators being sprayed by fire hoses in below-freezing temperatures and rubber bullets being fired at them. "We are deeply saddened that despite the millions of Americans and allies around the world who are standing with us at Standing Rock, a single corporate bully - backed by U.S. government taxpayer dollars through a militarized law enforcement - continue to be sanctioned by aggressive, unlawful acts," Archambault said in a statement. "President Obama, this cannot be your legacy."

Former Vice President Al Gore called the police actions "inhumane" in a Monday tweet, while Sen. Bernie Sanders asked the president "in any and every way that you can, stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and keep the water protectors safe." Medics treating injured protesters said there were 26 serious injuries requiring hospitalization, including an "elder who lost consciousness and was revived on scene."

Sheriff defends tactics: During a Monday press conference, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said police officers were responding to protesters acting "very aggressively," throwing rocks at authorities and setting fires in the area. "In this circumstance, it was the best option that we had at that point," Kirchmeier said of the decision to spray protesters with water. "When it was no longer necessary, it was no longer used." He admitted it was unusual to deploy fire hoses on demonstrators.

[EcoWatch has also reported on this story.]