Local law enforcement grappling with violent protests to a now-stalled oil pipeline project in North Dakota is charging that Obama administration has abandoned them, ignored requests for funds and security personnel, and even empowered violent protests.
In a letter to President Obama, 12 officials said that all of the demands for help have gone unanswered and that Washington will be to blame if continued protests turn violent again.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle L. Kirchmeier said that Washington has refused requests for funding and manpower requests. AP Photo.
“It is our concern that if we do not receive federal assistance, the safety and well-being of law enforcement officers, citizens of the community, and the protestors themselves are at grave risk,” wrote the 12 in a letter organized by Morton County, N.D. Sheriff Kyle L. Kirchmeier.
“After months under siege by near daily protest actions, community sentiment has turned volatile and there are too many discussions where local groups speak of the possibility to take matters into their own hands. We have repeatedly spoken out against these ideas, but genuinely fear emotions are running too high and this situation could lead to tragic consequences,” they wrote in a letter provided to Secrets.
They renewed their request for 100 border agents and funding to handle the protest on federal land that has lingered despite a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to kill the pipeline. Protesters of the pipeline, which drew support from Hollywood and Washington celebs, have not listened to requests to go home, raising concerns President-elect Trump will revive the pipeline over sacred Native American land.
A procession makes its way down to the Cannonball River to take part in a Native American water ceremony at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Even local tribal leaders have called for an end to the protests.
The protests have turned violent in the past and the local police fear that will continue without any help from Washington. “Instead of embracing us as partners in an effort to defend the rule of law, the federal government has treated us as though we are not to be trusted.”
The sheriffs are especially frustrated with Obama’s team because the fight is on federal land.
“Time and time again we have answered the call to come to the aid of the federal government. But when seeking a modicum of reciprocity, we have been completely and utterly abandoned,” they wrote adding:
The federal government’s response to the events in our community has been appalling, and it is abundantly clear they have no interest in helping the citizens of North Dakota. Frankly, our federal leaders should be ashamed of their lack of response to a dangerous crisis currently in progress on their own soil. Each day this lack of response continues only serves to empower criminal protestors and support lawlessness in the name of radical political agendas.
As our law enforcement officers are forced to spend countless days away from their families – missing holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries – the knowledge that the federal government could supply assistance, but refuses to do so, is unbelievably disheartening. Our officers are facing direct and overt threats, not just to themselves but to their families, and the lack of intervention or sympathy from the federal government is truly staggering.
The full letter is below.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
