Minnesota Officers Return from Pipeline Protest

Hennepin Co. Sheriff's Deputies have left the front lines

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputies have left the front lines of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in North Dakota and are headed back to the Twin Cities, where hundreds of people last week called for the withdrawl.

Sheriff Rich Stanek says 30 of his deputies have fulfilled their duties under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a national system for sharing personnel during a state of emergency.

For months, hundreds of people have been protesting in southern North Dakota to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to the $3.8 billion pipeline that would extend from North Dakota to Illinois. Protests continue on, as tribal leaders say that the pipeline would destroy the Native American burial sites and artifacts, and threatens the environment.

Officers from several states have been helping North Dakota Authorities with the response effort.

Some, including Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, think Minnesota’s aid wasn’t called for. State Representative Tony Cornish accused Smith of “playing politics.”