As many as 2,000 veterans plan to gather next week at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to serve as "human shields" for protesters who have for months clashed with police over the construction of an oil pipeline, organizers said.
The effort, called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, is planned as a nonviolent intervention to defend the demonstrators from what the group calls "assault and intimidation at the hands of the militarized police force."
The veterans' plan coincides with an announcement Tuesday by law enforcement officials that they would begin blocking supplies, including food, from entering the main protest camp after a mandatory evacuation order from the governor. But protesters have vowed to stay put.
Opponents of the 1,170-mile Dakota Access Pipeline have gathered for months at the Oceti Sakowin camp, about 40 miles south of Bismarck. The Standing Rock Sioux and other American Indian tribes fear the pipeline could pollute the Missouri River and harm sacred cultural lands and tribal burial grounds.
The evacuation order issued Monday by Gov. Jack Dalrymple cited "anticipated harsh weather conditions." It came before a winter storm dumped about 6 inches of snow and brought strong winds to the area on Monday, making roads "nearly impassable at the campsites," said Doualy Xaykaothao of Minnesota Public Radio.
The governor's statement said, "Any person who chooses to enter, re-enter or stay in the evacuation does so at their own risk."
The veterans' effort will also run up against a plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to close off access to the protesters' campsite and create a "free-speech zone." Federal officials said anyone who is found on the land after Monday could be charged with trespassing. "Yeah, good luck with that," Michael Wood Jr., a founder of the veterans' event, said in an interview.
Wood, who served in the Marine Corps, organized the event with Wesley Clark Jr., a screenwriter, activist and son of Wesley Clark, the retired Army general and onetime supreme allied commander in Europe for NATO.
Wood said he had initially hoped to attract about 500 veterans; he had to stop sign-ups when they reached 2,000. He said volunteers are from diverse backgrounds: "We have every age, we have every war."
An online fundraiser drew over $570,000 in pledges as of Tuesday afternoon to pay for food, transportation and supplies for the veterans' "muster," which was planned for Sunday through Dec. 7.
One veteran, Loreal Black Shawl, said the mission to support the protesters was intensely personal.
Black Shawl, 39, of Rio Rancho, N.M., is a descendant of two indian tribes, the Oglala Lakota and Northern Arapaho. She served in the Army for nearly eight years, finishing her career as a sergeant.
"OK, are you going to treat us veterans who have served our country in the same way as you have those water protectors?" Black Shawl said, referring to the protesters. "We're not there to create chaos. We are there because we are tired of seeing the water protectors being treated as nonhumans."
Authorities have used rubber bullets, pepper spray and water cannons against demonstrators, hundreds of whom have been injured, according to protest organizers. The clashes have been highly contentious, with police and demonstrators leveling accusations of violence at each other.
Black Shawl acknowledged that the operation could prove difficult because the veterans and police both have military or tactical training. She said she had a "huge, huge nervousness and anxiety" about possibly being injured and what could happen to other veterans.
An "operations order" for participants outlined the logistics with military precision and language, referring to opposing forces, friendly forces and supporting units. Organizers encouraged attendees to wear their old uniforms.
Wood said they were discouraging active-duty service members from attending. "There's no reason for them to get into hot water," he said.
A Section on 11/30/2016