Footing the $15 Million Bill for the #DakotaAccessPipeline's #PrivateArmy

Sen. John Hoeven added monies to the Department of Justice’s budget for FY 2017 to reimburse #NorthDakota for incurred costs.

By Ruth Hopkins ,
IndianCountryTodayMediaNetwork

Published: May 23, 2017

“Last fall, the eyes of the world were fixated on #StandingRock.

“Among the images burned into the brains of so many abroad were those of Morton County sheriff’s department, joined by law enforcement officers from across the country, bedecked in military gear and armed to the teeth, brutalizing defenseless water protectors for expressing their first amendment rights and freedom of religion. Eyes were opened when mercs sicced vicious attack dogs on women and children guarding sacred burial grounds with their lives. Folks thousands of miles away watched in horror as they witnessed concussion grenades being thrown into crowds and elders being maced in the midst of sweat lodge raids. People will never forget live stream video picked up by mainstream media, showing hundreds of civilians being shot with water cannons in subzero temperatures by a corporate police state army. Some photos of injuries were judged too graphic to post by social media, as they revealed a young woman with a near severed limb and another who’d been blinded in one eye.

“This was not Iraq or Afghanistan. There was no foreign enemy invading our shores. These events occurred in the middle of the United States, on Lakota treaty lands; and the only thing these innocent people had done was dare to stand in the way of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the same one Bismarck, North Dakota residents rejected due to fears it would contaminate their water supply. This war zone created by Dakota Access and Morton County was meant to subdue Standing Rock residents and water protectors and force them to accept an unwarranted risk to their fresh water and the desecration of ancestral graves, under the barrel of a gun.

“Here in the states, hundreds of Native Nations and the American public sided with Standing Rock. Scores came to camp along the shores of the Mni Sosa (Missouri River). Others rallied in the local cities, signed petitions, and called the White House. Millions were outraged by the injustice.

“Yet who is paying for the corporate police state brutality I just mentioned? You are.

“Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), who accepted money from Energy Transfer Partners (the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline) and has been vocal in his support of both the Dakota Access Pipeline as well as the Keystone XL pipeline, has announced that North Dakota will receive $15 million in federal funds to reimburse the state for costs incurred as a result of militarizing Barney Fife and company while they pushed the pipeline through for ETP and engaged in the violent, forced removal of water protectors. Hoeven slid said monies into the Department of Justice’s budget as part of Fiscal 2017 funding legislation.

“By the way, Hoeven sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee and is now the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Welcome to Custer’s wet dream.

“The distinguished Senator from North Dakota would have us believe his state was alone in its mission to extinguish #NoDAPL. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“When Morton County requested backup, law enforcement officials from across the nation came to North Dakota via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). The Sheriff’s Association also showed up in full force.

“New York Daily News writer Shaun King obtained audio where #EnergyTransferPartners freely admitted that they worked closely with the Sheriff’s Association, and wow, did they ever. They became one and the same.

“#WaterProtectors who lived at camp can attest to #ETP and law enforcement’s collusion and fraternization, but the record speaks for itself.

“The Sheriffs’ Association has a $3.46 million budget, according to tax forms. Some of this funding comes from corporate sources, like TigerSwan. TigerSwan maintains offices in Iraq and Afghanistan. TigerSwan’s CEO is a former adviser to the multinational private security firm, Blackwater. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, a Trump campaign donor and the brother of Betsy DeVos, the US Secretary of Education. Besides funding the Sheriff’s Association, TigerSwan is in charge of Dakota Access intelligence and supervising overall security for the company. Tigerswan works for Dakota Access, while funding and partnering with the Sheriffs’ Association.

“The Sheriff’s Association purchased military gear from the US Department’s Defense Logistics Agency thanks to the Defense Department’s 1033 program. Think corporate welfare for the defense industry.

“Wait, there’s more. #EnergyTransferPartners CEO #KelcyWarren offered to reimburse North Dakota and Morton County for costs due to defending the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“So why are US taxpayers forking over $15 million to North Dakota?

“Despite the fossil fuel industry’s wishes, America is not an oil company with an army. We should not be bankrolling our own oppression.”

https://truthout.org/articles/footing-the-15-million-bill-for-the-dakota-access-pipeline-s-private-army/

#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#colonialism #Genocide #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux #TigerSwan #ErikPrince #Blackwater #DAPL #ACAB #ErikPrinceColonialism

#TigerSwan Former Delta Operator sought to incite violence at the #DakotaAccessPipeline

by Jack Murphy Feb 26, 2018

“’Everyone just saw #oil and saw dollar signs,' a security contractor who worked on the #DAPL project told SOFREP before commenting that Reese, 'wants to be the next #ErikPrince.' At one point, TigerSwan was making a million dollars in profit per month while working on DAPL. No one at the company wanted to see that spigot turn off so some employees provoked the protesters in order to prolong the conflict. ETP was unaware of this as their director of security, Eric Lyons, was inexperienced and took whatever TigerSwan said at face value.

“Another incident took place when Porter ordered several ex-Rangers to do penetration tests of the protester camps by driving a pickup truck right through their perimeter lines. The former Rangers blasted into Camp 3 where many of the more radical #NativeAmericans were known to be and made a loop through the camp. As protesters moved their vehicles to close off the entrance and trap them, the Rangers drove over a snow bank and escaped. Next, they drove down to Camp 1 and repeated the same tactic. This time the Native Americans drove after them and they got into a high-speed pursuit down the road.

“This action resulted in the women and children vacating the camps, while those remaining went up to 100% security and prepared for law enforcement and security contractors to come clear the camps, which was never going to happen. The #protesters simply burned through resources and the native American tribe was not in a position to help them since they had spent the water protector donations to the tune of 3.2 million dollars in order to settle their casino debts.

“‘I know for a fact that the money went into a lot of people’s pockets,' said Eddie Stormcloud who was a leader in one of the #WaterProtector camps and attended many closed-door sessions with the tribal council. Stormcloud also told SOFREP that the true amount of money was closer to nine million dollars rather than the 3.2 reported.  At the end of the day, it seemed that everyone was cashing in on the situation at #StandingRock.

“‘Porter’s real goal was to keep this thing going as long as possible,' a former TigerSwan employee told SOFREP. 'Some of the protesters wanted to do big actions because they would get more media coverage and more funding. TigerSwan wanted it to happened because their contract would be prolonged. Meanwhile, ETP had no idea.'

“One of the first contractors on the ground at #DAPL told SOFREP that, 'when TigerSwan came on that was when the shit show started. They came in with this military ideology when it was a police operation. They were almost willing to go in and do things that RGT [Russel Group] would never do because you can’t by law. So the oil company looked to TigerSwan as the authority and a lot of guys went over to them.'

“The security contractor continued, saying that TigerSwan had an attitude of, 'we are going to walk into a room with a bunch of thugs and will be the biggest thug in the room.'

“‘They are trying to prolong this as a cash cow,' another contractor lamented.

“TigerSwan sent an unsigned and undated document from a nameless e-mail address to SOFREP denying the contents of this article.  It reads in part, 'The claims you make have no basis in reality and are completely made up.'  The document goes on to state, 'At no time were there any approved operations outside of the scope of the contract. Just like any dynamic organization, the client’s enterprise team for DAPL would come up with creative ideas to do their jobs differently, but nothing outside the scope of the contract was ever approved.'

"A legacy brought home from #Iraq and #Afghanistan: The conflict at Standing Rock created a number of precedents for the future of #protests and #counterprotest actions. While companies like #Blackwater were private military companies operating abroad, TigerSwan brought the tactics that contractors and soldiers use in Baghdad to American soil for the first time.

“'Someone is going to get shot, and then a bunch of people are going to get shot, and then we are going to have a #WoundedKnee III. That’s going to reflect badly on the national guard, on law enforcement, and certainly on private security contractors,' Landon Steele said. 'Guys need to be really leery and really careful and ask the really hard questions when a contract holder calls them and says we have a contract here in the US.'

“Today, TigerSwan employs contractors running static and roving security patrols for the #MarinerEast2 #ME2 pipeline being built in #Pennsylvania by #ETP. The company also has eyes on the Atlantic pipeline and would like to bid on upcoming security contracts that will need to be fulfilled for the project.

“TigerSwan’s internal security assessments anticipate protests when the Atlantic pipeline is run through North Carolina and West Virginia.”

Full article:
https://sofrep.com/news/tigerswan-former-delta-operator-sought-to-incite-violence-at-the-dakota-access-pipeline/

#WaterIsLife #BigOil #OilAndGasIndustry #NoDAPL #HumanRights #Covert #Corporatism #Corporatocracy #Corruption #Capitalism #Colonialism #ACAB #Activism #ClimateChange
#EnvironmentalJustice
#ErikPrinceColonialism #CorporateColonialism #Blackwater #TigerSwan