US Navy Veteran Joins North Dakota Oil Pipeline Protesters
WASHINGTON, DC (Tasnim) – A retired US Navy veteran has joined Native Americans in the state of North Dakota to protest construction of a controversial oil pipeline.
According to Tasnim dispatches, Kash Jackson joined protesters in North Dakota on Saturday and expressed his wrath over the oil project by holding an upside down American flag.
“Based on what I have witnessed occurring here in Standing Rock, I do not think there is any question whether or not there is risk to life and property here,” he said.
Jackson added, “I have never witnessed this caliber of militarization against people throughout (US) history.”
“The government and big businesses continue to exploit the citizens of this country, to exploit its resources,” he further said, stressing that the US government will abandon its exploitative plans if all Americans stand together united.
Hundreds of activists have moved onto the site in the past month to fight the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline, which they fear could harm cultural sites and drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
Protests supporting the Standing Rock Sioux have been ongoing for months, with more than 260 people arrested so far in North Dakota.
The pipeline is to carry oil from western North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois, where shippers can send it on to Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. Energy Transfer Partners has said the pipeline is nearly complete other than the work in south central North Dakota.
The protest has drawn the attention of activists and celebrities, including actress-activist Shailene Woodley and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and actor Mark Ruffalo were at the protest camp earlier. Jackson said he was there "to pray together, protest together and if necessary go to jail together."
