More than 80 protesters arrested Saturday near Dakota Access Pipeline
BISMARCK -- Law enforcement officers used pepper spray Saturday as 200 to 300 protesters gathered during the early morning hours at a Dakota Access Pipeline construction site in Morton County.
"We want to use the most nonlethal method possible," said Rob Keller, a spokesman for the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
The confrontation off N.D. Highway 1806 south of Mandan lasted more than five hours and resulted in 83 arrests. Among those detained were two legal observers, according to Bruce Ellison, a attorney with the protest camp. As of 6 p.m., none had bonded out.
Kellie Berns, a protester who hung back behind a fence at the scene, said she received reports of people being pepper-sprayed and thrown to the ground and described law enforcement as being more aggressive than in past incidents. She said protesters were encircled by police as they walked onto the site.
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