Unicorn Riot closely covered the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock. Our free full-length documentary: Black Snake Killaz: A #NoDAPL Story (2017). See also the DAPL and standing rock tags for coverage.
Denver, CO – On Friday, March 10, 2017, along with nearly 10,000 other marches and rallies around the world, a crowd of 1,000 people marched from Sunken Gardens park to the Colorado State Capitol.
The global call to action came from the Standing Rock Sioux…
Lee County, IA & Morton County, ND – Three Unicorn Riot journalists who were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing while documenting #NoDAPL direct actions have had their charges dropped in court dates set for the first three days of March.
On Wednesday, March 1,…
Morton County, ND / Lee County, IA – A week after a heavily militarized police force evicted the main #NoDAPL encampment, three Unicorn Riot journalists are set for trial facing criminal trespass charges stemming from our fall 2016 coverage of direct actions intended to stop…
Cannon Ball, ND – The water protector camp that for months formed a beachhead against Dakota Access Pipeline construction was destroyed midday Thursday, February 23rd. A combination of law enforcement and military units forced aside the last inhabitants so the remaining structures could be demolished,…
Cannonball, ND – After nearly a year of struggling against the Dakota Access Pipeline’s construction underneath the Missouri River, water protectors are now scheduled to be evicted from their main encampment. [Watch our LIVE updates below]
UPDATE Thursday, February 23rd, 11:45AM: Our full report from…
Oceti Sakowin, ND – On the morning of Thursday, February 16th, Ladonna Brave Bull Allard, Standing Rock tribal member, landowner and founder of Sacred Stone Camp, was served an eviction notice for Sacred Stone Camp by agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She reportedly…
Cannon Ball, ND – On February 7th, 2017, the Army Corps of Engineers stated its intent to grant an easement to Dakota Access LLC, to cross Lake Oahe with the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The easement is north of the location where tens of thousands…
Denver, CO – On January 28th, 2017 Denver joined the day of Global Prayer Actions “to carry the prayer from Standing Rock to the steps of Banks around the World funding harmful Oil Extraction.”
The day of action was initiated by Unify, United We Rise,…
Oval Office / Washington, D.C. – On January 24th, 2017, President Donald Trump signed two memorandum in hopes of pushing forward the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline & the Keystone XL Pipeline. Following the announcement, protests took place across the United States. Thousands took…
Minneapolis, MN – Two days after Sunday’s high-profile #NoDAPL banner drop at US Bank Stadium during the Vikings game, we spoke with one of the participants regarding the #DefundDAPL campaign that led to the 10 foot by 40 foot banner reading “US Bank DIVEST #NoDAPL”…
Minneapolis, MN – Water protectors climbed hundreds of feet up a ladder in the top section of US Bank Stadium and unfurled a 10 foot by 40 foot banner that read “US Bank DIVEST #NoDAPL” in the second quarter of the last Minnesota Vikings game…
Morton County, ND – On Monday, December 19th, water protectors charged with disorderly conduct stemming from their August 11th arrests made their first appearances in Morton County court. The results of the appearances was Judge Cynthia Feland granting a continuance till January 31st, 2017.
The…
Minneapolis, MN – In single digit weather, a dozen or so water protectors disrupted the grand opening of a new Wells Fargo bank in uptown Minneapolis on the morning of December 12th, demanding Wells Fargo divest from funding the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Water protectors w…
Morton County, ND – Documents acquired through a series of public records requests shine light on ongoing out-of-state law enforcement assistance to the Morton County Sheriff and the state of North Dakota in their militarized police operations to protect construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.…
Standing Rock / Oceti Sakowin, ND – Thousands of water protectors and veterans woke up to snow falling on December 5th, the day after the pipeline easement denial. In the early morning veterans amassed themselves at Prairie Knights Casino in Standing Rock, apologized to the…
Update: December 9, 2016 – Responding to a cross-claim filed by Dakota Access last month seeking to green-light pipeline construction under the Missouri river, U.S. District County Judge James Boasberg announced today that a hearing on the matter would not be held until early February…
Minneapolis, MN – Wells Fargo’s corporate office and two banks were targeted in three well-coordinated concurrent actions in Minneapolis, starting the Global Month of #NoDAPL Action on December 1st. Actions across the globe have occurred, with more upcoming events planned, demanding that funders of the…
Boone County, IA – While tensions in North Dakota build as the Oceti Sakowin camp defies state orders to evacuate, Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) construction is still incomplete in Iowa and pipeline opponents are continuing to cause delays. For months the group Mississippi Stand has…
Morton County, ND – The Oceti Sakowin #NoDAPL encampment near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, located on unceded land of the Sioux Nation under the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, is a long-contested area and considered by the U.S. government to be property of the…
Update: December 2, 2016 – On Thursday, December 1, Judge Daniel Hovland denied the motion for an emergency restraining order on the procedural grounds that Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier had not yet been served notice of the lawsuit. According to a motion filed by…
Morton County, ND – In August, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple declared a State of Emergency in reaction to ongoing direct actions and demonstrations against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in Morton County, near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal reservation.
Dalrymple’s State of…
UPDATE: Sunday, November 27, 2016 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a public statement reaffirming they plan to officially close the land which includes the Oceti Sakowin camp. However, the Corps also states that it “has no plans for forcible removal” of the…
Cannonball / Mandan, ND – On Thursday, November 24th, water protectors held an intersection in Mandan, North Dakota to commemorate Indigenous genocide, saying “No Pipelines, No Prisons, No Problems“. Later, water protectors held space on Turtle Island, the site of a major action on November…
UPDATED: November 23, 2016 Cannonball, ND – On the November 20th Highway 1806 standoff, police forces injured over 300 unarmed water protectors.
Among those injured was Sophia Wilansky, a 21-year-old from New York, who was attempting to exit the bridge when police fired multiple rounds…
Oecti Sakowin, ND – On the night of Sunday November 20, the Morton County Sheriff deployed large amounts of tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and other ‘less-lethal’ ammunition, including a water cannon, upon #NoDAPL water protectors. This happened north of the Backwater Bridge on…
St. Paul, MN – A #NoDAPL national day of action occurred on November 15th, 2016 along with actions across the globe in solidarity with the water protectors struggling to prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline from poisoning of the water supply of millions.
Unicorn Riot was…
As the struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline continues after fresh battles in North Dakota, where police injured over 300 unarmed water protectors, land defenders and water protectors are momentously standing firm in the face of corporate fossil fuel extraction across ‘Turtle Island’. [‘Turtle Island’…
UPDATE (6/12/17) – Emails released by The Intercept as part of their investigation into leaked documents from DAPL security contractor TigerSwan include an “Intel Group” email thread which took place in real time the night of November 20, 2016. The emails show local, state, and…
Bismarck-Mandan, ND – On Thursday morning, a convoy of water protectors drove from the main Oceti Sakowin encampment to hold demonstrations in the nearby Bismarck-Mandan area.
The caravan first arrived in Mandan, to demonstrate outside a Wells Fargo bank branch demanding Wells Fargo withdraw its…
Jamestown, ND – Emails obtained by Unicorn Riot through a public records request to the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ND DOCR) raise questions about the deployment of personnel from various state agencies to protect the Dakota Access Pipeline from the water protectors…