#NoDAPL Solidarity Rally & Sit-In in Minneapolis Prods Sheriff into Removing Deputies
Minneapolis, MN – An estimated one thousand people rallied at Minneapolis City Hall on Friday, October 28th, to protest Hennepin County’s resources and deputies being deployed by Sheriff Rich Stanek to suppress water protectors opposing Dakota Access Pipeline construction near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, North Dakota, a project transiting nearby unceded treaty lands.
The rally started at 2:30 p.m. and turned into a sit-in in front of Stanek’s office on the first floor of City Hall that lasted until 10:15 p.m. CDT.
Unicorn Riot was live to document the events that transpired.
#LIVE from #Minneapolis at #MniWiconi #NoDAPL Solidarity Rally https://t.co/zcDC9t5ZR5 pic.twitter.com/J21oQbJ0MT
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
The City Hall rally was the second in four days; the community gathered there on Tuesday with the same message of condemnation towards Stanek.
On Tue, a day after confirmation that Hennepin County resources were sent to ND, hundreds condemned decision https://t.co/To6vmlKilh #NoDAPL
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
In similar fashion to Tuesday, people from a wide array of communities rallied on the south side of the City Hall and then went into City Hall for symbolic actions.
The rally on Friday featured a song by “American troubadour” Larry Long and many speakers, including family members of water protectors on the frontlines, faith leaders, politicians, and more. All the speakers came with messages of condemnation towards Stanek and in solidarity with water protectors.
Many signs here express explicit displeasure w Sheriff Stanek & his decision to send resources to N.Dakota against #NoDAPL water protectors. pic.twitter.com/VU3wM2jXje
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
“These are our tax dollars that are paying for them to beat our elders!” Another elder at #noDAPL protest speaks of violent repression. pic.twitter.com/XuM9Dw5ESy
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
Some of the political figures that spoke at the rally standing in solidarity with water protectors were US Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-MN5), Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls), and Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano.
LIVE: US @keithellison (DFL-MN5) compares #DakotaAccessPipeline route to going thru Arlington National Cemetary, calls to pressure @POTUS pic.twitter.com/6DhpJZmsZK
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
Letter says 17 state legislators demand immediate meeting with Sheriff Stanek as deployment happened without consulting elected officials pic.twitter.com/UcplfeH2u4
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
Young family members of water protectors in Standing Rock discussed the links between their beliefs, emotions and the #NoDAPL movement throughout the rally.
Live in Mpls: sobbing, the youth is talking about how their grandpa went to jail https://t.co/zcDC9sOoZx tune in now pic.twitter.com/FkiUTbt40T
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
Youth cries as she requests for Hennepin County to release her relatives from jail. #noDAPL protest at #mpls city hall pic.twitter.com/xIhSrv8Wwr
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
To watch the rally in its entirety, watch the videos below:
After the rally, they flooded into City Hall as they did on Tuesday when they delivered petitions demanding Stanek call back his forces and resources.
On Friday, they delivered voting ballots (pictured below) for 2018 Governor (Stanek is rumored to be positioning for a run) with two voting options, “big oil” or “water“. [Unicorn Riot takes no position and makes no endorsements in elections.]
As the masses streamed into City Hall’s rotunda, a large drum circle and round dance began.
Demonstrators have streamed into #Mpls city hall. Drumming, dancing, and chanting "water is life." #NoDAPL protest #WaterIsLife #MniWiconi pic.twitter.com/zgFfNHpRcc
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
The large crowd chanted “Mni Wiconi – Water is Life!” and time was given to a few speakers as the ballots were brought to an officer sent to accept them on behalf of Stanek and the Sheriff’s Office. We were live on and off throughout the rally inside City Hall, below are the videos.
Unicorn Riot ventured outside around 5 p.m. and captured some great and informative interviews with community members.
talking about how violence becomes justified towards Indigenous of this land https://t.co/zcDC9sOoZx following many decades of precedence pic.twitter.com/j54iqkt1wy
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
LIVE: talking w Jacob about solidarity https://t.co/zcDC9sOoZx talking about how the Buffalo Nation showed up, the prophecy is real pic.twitter.com/ybmMKMPm2K
— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
To watch the interviews, see below.
As 6:00 p.m. approached and City Hall closed to the public, a wide array of faith leaders, youth, Indigenous folks, Council Member Cano, and more, chose to risk arrest by sitting outside of Stanek’s office to wait for him to meet with them.
Slightly after 6:00 p.m., security officers locked the doors. Around twenty minutes later, building management told those who were still indoors they had to leave, or else a manager would call 911 to have Minneapolis Police dispatched to arrest people.
Security milling around #Mpls City Hall as those risking arrest have been ordered to leave. @People4Alondra speaks w bldg
personnel. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/KmIJs28YKh— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 28, 2016
Interviews below feature some of the folks who chose to risk arrest.
Although the political machinery behind the EMAC and the State of Emergency declared in North Dakota aren’t crystal clear, many in the community believe that Stanek has the power to decline providing North Dakota with resources and personnel, simply by saying “no” at his discretion. Read more about this in our report from Tuesday’s rally.
The law which permitted the resources and personnel to enter North Dakota under the operational command of an external hierarchy is the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, or EMAC, codified in MN Statute 192.89.
Throughout the night, many of the politicians, including Rep. Clark, Rep. Ray Dehn (DFL-Mpls), and council members Jacob Frey and Cano, stood in solidarity with the water protectors, and worked on procuring a meeting with Stanek.
As the crowd stayed, City Hall building management was reluctant to call 911 to report trespassing and have police arrest the faith leaders and Cano. At one point, seen in video below, Minneapolis Police Department’s Deputy Chief Arneson spoke with Council Member Cano and Representative Clark.
Bldg caretakers are reluctant to call for police – have #Mpls CC member @People4Alondra & MN Rep Karen Clark call MPD
superior. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/P9LczpUDBm— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 29, 2016
The Deputy Chief refused to send Minneapolis police officers to make arrests. Chief Arneson was overheard saying something similar to ‘I’m not going to have MPD cleaning up Sheriff Stanek’s mess.’
The participants of the sit-in then chose to dub their action #WhereIsStanek and called for a sleepover until they were able to meet with Sheriff Stanek.
#WhereIsStanek sleepover at City Hall announced as MPD Deputy Chief refuses to dispatch officers to arrest water protectors in front of HCSO pic.twitter.com/q6J0dvgO9G
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 29, 2016
20 or so folx inside Mpls City Hall at #WhereIsStanek sleepover that is going on condemning Sheriff Stanek sending HCSO resources to #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/L4h8JTEK2s
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 29, 2016
Security officers continued guarding the doors, preventing the entry of people or food. However, City Council members have 24/7 access to the building; Cano had massive difficulties attempting to retrieve food, and trying to get access for others outside who wanted to participate in the attempted meeting with Stanek.
Security officers contracted to Hennepin County from Barton Allied accosted Cano multiple times. Unicorn Riot filmed the ending of one of them pushing her into the door in what seemed like an attempt to push her out of the door.
Mpls City Council member @People4Alondra accosted by Hennepin County security ofcrs while trying to open the door for someone #WhereIsStanek pic.twitter.com/Io8ea8tTMW
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 29, 2016
During the night, people re-decorated the front windows of Sheriff Stanek’s office with #NoDAPL signs and #WhereIsStanek tape. This was later removed by the water protectors before they left.
#NoDAPL water protectors’ posters are up as #WhereIsStanek tape is wrapped around Hennepin County Sheriff
Stanek’s office in #Mpls City Hall pic.twitter.com/HvTexdqD80— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 29, 2016
While in the City Hall, speakers discussed the recent Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s approval of an environmental review for Line 3, a pipeline that’s over a half-century old, emergency meetings for standing in solidarity with Standing Rock, and political updates on efforts to bring HCSO personnel and resources back. View these speeches in their entirety here.
Representative Clark spoke about 16 representatives that signed a letter demanding Stanek to withdraw his personnel and resources from North Dakota.
Stanek’s office called Clark back and she recapped the conversation:
“I talked to him and to summarize, here is what he said …’Well, I can’t bring the deputies back without the Governor agreeing to get out of the contract that we have with North Dakota.’ And I said, ‘So, you want us to work on that huh?’, and he said, ‘yes’ … So, I sent a text to the Governor and the Lt. Governor to say, ‘hey, Sheriff Stanek is saying if you will dissolve that contract with North Dakota then he can bring the folks back’.” – Karen Clark, MN State Rep.
Furthermore, Clark said that she and others were attempting to get the Governor and Lt. Governor to intervene, saying:
“It’s not their fault, they did not approve Sheriff Stanek to do this but their department, their administration is being used as a excuse and the reason why he can’t call back the deputies. So we’re gonna try to take that reason away.” – Karen Clark, MN State Rep.
Clark later stated that they “probably need to change the law, we need to go back next legislative session and take out the part of the law that says that our paid officers can somehow be required to participate in this.“
State Rep. Dehn said they were seeking an agreement that they could then say to Sheriff Stanek, “the mutual aid agreement that you responded to, we’re gonna allow you to not continue through and carry through on it.“
To see State Reps. Clark’s and Dehn’s speeches, see below.
Conversations in political channels continued throughout the night and Stanek ultimately refused to meet with the community if Lt. Governor Tina Smith was not present at the meeting (despite her low public profile, Smith is regarded by many political insiders as the key deal broker in the Dayton Administration and has been rumored as possible DFL candidate for 2018 Governor).
Sheriff Stanek and Lt. Governor Smith have been known to have a shaky relationship as pointed out in this article by the Minneapolis Patch.
The Hennepin County Sheriffs Office facebook page singled out Tina Smith in a post on Friday that explains their side of the agreement with North Dakota.
Smith was not answering calls or responding to Minneapolis politicians reaching out to her for the meeting, so the community members gave an ultimatum to Stanek to show up or face looking like he doesn’t care about them. He again refused to meet without Smith.
The water protectors risking arrest, and those that had gathered in solidarity with them, made a statement around 10:15 p.m. Environmental justice organizer Mahyar Sorour summarized what happened:
“We’ve been here at Minneapolis City Hall since early this afternoon. We’ve been camped outside of Sheriff Stanek’s office calling on him to come down here and talk with us to find a way to bring these deputies back home from inciting violence on these peaceful water protectors out at Standing Rock. Sheriff Stanek has made an offer to us, that he’ll meet with us only if Governor Dayton or Lt. Governor Tina Smith will come with him. We don’t understand why he needs to have the people come him, he’s our Sheriff, he’s the Hennepin County Sheriff, he answers to his constituents, not to the Governor, not to the Lt. Governor, not to anyone else. So, we’re declaring victory here because we have declared Sheriff Stanek does not have the guts to come down here and talk to his own innocent, peaceful constituents himself.” – Mahyar Sorour, Environmental Justice organizer, MPIRG
Below is video of the speech.
After the crowd left the City Hall, Unicorn Riot interviewed Council Member Cano, covering her visit to Standing Rock as well as the need to recall Hennepin County personnel aiding in suppressing water protectors. After discussing what had transpired, Cano stated:
“What we found out through that process, is that it is very unclear who has the direct authority to bring those deputies home and what we need is public statements from both Sheriff Stanek and the Governors office, explaining this agreement that was signed by the state to aid other states in cases of quote-unquote crisis.” – Alondra Cano, Ward 9 City Council Member, Minneapolis
Watch the interview below.
To watch Hennepin County officers in the frontline attack on water protectors on October 27th, particularly with batons, see below.
On Monday, October 31st, it was reported by MPR News that Hennepin County resources and deputies have been withdrawn from the engagement with North Dakota authorities in their suppression of peaceful water protectors.
While many people, including Unicorn Riot reporters, suffered violence at the hands of Stanek’s deputies last week, according to at least one fossil fuel industry analyst, the interstate policing operation and the brutality meted out to the water protectors by Stanek’s deputies and other law enforcement officials, seems to have backfired, and has created a disaster for the industry.
“The national “soul searching” around the energy narrative will not be aided by violent confrontation between Native Americans. … and heavily militarized police forces enforcing the rule of law on behalf of a pipeline company. That is a losing scenario for the American oil and gas industry already plagued by declining political legitimacy. … Images of armored vehicles and SWAT teams and young women hit in the face with rubber bullets and rumors of arrested [water protectors] being held in dog cages – and so much more – are buzzing around the world on social media. … The Dakota Access protests have the making of a disastrous political and public relations debacle for the industry. One it brought on itself at time when its legitimacy with voters is on the wane.” – Markam Hislop – TheAmericanEnergyNews.com, “Dakota Access protests poised to become political debacle for American oil and gas industry“
Although Hennepin County has pulled its resources and manpower back, two other counties in Minnesota, Anoka and Washington, continue to provide support to the state of North Dakota.
Unicorn Riot will continue to regularly provide direct updates about resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Follow our media on Twitter, Facebook, and our website for more information surrounding the ongoing struggles against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
To support our volunteer-operated, horizontally-organized, non-profit media collective please consider a tax-deductible donation:
Unicorn Riot’s coverage of the anti-Dakota Access Pipeline struggle #NoDAPL from early summer 2016 to present:
March – May 2016
- March 29th, “Tribal Citizens Prepare to Blockade Bakken Oil Pipeline“.
- April 3rd, “Tribal Citizens Build Camp in Path of Oil Pipeline“.
- May 5th, “Sacred Stone Camp Resists Dakota Access Pipeline“.
- May 27th, “Dakota Access Pipeline Blockade Enters 2nd Month“.
August 2016
- After covering the camp in the spring of 2016, Unicorn Riot returned to Standing Rock Reservation on Wednesday, August 10th, when Standing Rock tribal members and allies blocked the entrance to the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site.
- On Thursday, August 11th, a dozen or so people were arrested blocking the construction site entrances.
- Day 3, Friday, the fight to protect land & water intensified around the construction sites of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
- On the 4th day, the pipeline resistance encampment swelled and prepared for more action.
- Monday, August 15th, land defenders stormed the construction site halting construction, and the next day construction was halted as well.
- August 17th saw State Police begin checkpoints, roadblocks, and psyops as protesters united to defend water.
- August 24th, camps prepared as Federal injunction hearing looms.
- Camps Organize to Stay as Injunction Postponed.
- On August 31st, Non-Violent Direct Action Stopped DAPL Construction for Over 6 Hours.
September 2016
- September 6, indigenous water protectors swarmed Dakota Access Pipeline site, stopped work
- September 7, Uŋpa Nuŋpa was interviewed about ongoing #noDAPL actions
- North Dakota highway patrol refused to release email correspondence with Energy Transfer Partners
- September 8, ND National Guard took over Dakota Access Pipeline checkpoints
- Friday, September 9, US Govt. overruled federal judge and requested pipeline construction halted at Lake Oahe
- Meanwhile, cultural activities continued at #NoDAPL camps despite more arrests/warrants
- September 13, 20 were arrested during #NoDAPL lockdown, including 2 Unicorn Riot journalists
- September 14, direct actions continued against Dakota Access Pipeline while legal repression intensified
- On September 16 a federal judge dissolved the unconstitutional temporary restraining order Dakota Access, LLC had filed against Stranding Rock tribal members
- September 19, as solidarity protests spread nationwide, the federal appeals court ordered construction temporarily stop on Dakota Access segment as Solidarity Protests Spread Nationwide
- September 21, #NoDAPL noise demo demanded freedom for jailed water protector Olowan Martinez
- September 22, water protectors disrupted the annual meeting of the North Dakota Petroleum Council
- September 25, water protectors planted trees on DAPL construction site
- In Iowa on September 26, a non-violent direct action from the Mississippi Stand camp stopped DAPL construction for the day
- September 26, a caravan of water protectors stopped work at DAPL site
- September 27, militarized police arrested 23 water protectors in DAPL work stoppage
- September 29, a #NoDAPL solidarity action took place at MN Enbridge office
October 2016
- October 3rd-4th saw the “Toxic Tour,” Governor debate disruption, and water protectors attend their court arraignment
- October 4, we learned North Dakota Governor Dalrymple’s email inbox was full of support for #NoDAPL
- October 5, Buffer Zone Holds as Caravans Continue to Disrupt DAPL – New Felony Charges
- October 7, 6 Arrested in Iowa #NoDAPL Action, Including Unicorn Riot Journalist
- October 8, Iowa Water Protectors Blockade DAPL Drill Site Twice in 24 Hours
- October 9, Federal Appeals Court Rules to Allow DAPL Construction
- October 10, 27 Arrests After Water Protectors Pray at DAPL Site on Indigenous People’s Day
- October 12, Lockdown Stops DAPL Construction in Iowa, 3 Arrested, Including Unicorn Riot Journalist
- October 14, Emails Show North Dakota Budget Bureaucracy Behind #NoDAPL Policing
- October 16, Direct Actions Continue to Stop DAPL Construction in Iowa and North Dakota
- October 17, Four Unicorn Riot Journalists Face Charges For Covering #NoDAPL
- October 17, Water Protectors Blockade Highway in Bismarck, Some Charges Dropped
- October 20, As DAPL Construction Advances, Water Protectors Continue Direct Action
- October 22, Water Protectors’ Prayer Walk Ends up with 127 Arrests, Including Unicorn Riot Journalist
- October 23, Law Enforcement Attack Private Drone as Water Protectors Erect Blockade & New Winter Camp
- October 24, Mississippi Stand Blockades Iowa DAPL Drill Waste Site, Drilling Stops
- October 25, Records Release: Morton County’s Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Assistance Agreement
- Hundreds Flood Minneapolis City Hall to Demand Local Sheriff Withdraw from North Dakota
- October 26, Tensions Rise as Pipeline Construction Nears #NoDAPL Blockade
- October 27, Police and Military Attack Oceti Sakowin Treaty Camp