U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard plans to join an anticipated 2,000 fellow veterans in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota next week.
The event is planned for Sunday through Dec. 7 at Standing Rock Indian Reservation and is being organized by veterans Wes Clark Jr., the son of retired U.S. Army general and former presidential candidate Wesley Clark, and Michael Wood.
“Come to Standing Rock Indian Reservation and hold the line with Wes Clark Jr., Michael Wood Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and hundreds of other veterans in support of the Sioux nation against the DAPL pipeline,” invites the Facebook page Opens in a new tab Veterans Stand for Standing Rock. “Bring body armor, gas masks, earplugs and shooting mufflers (we may be facing a sound cannon) but not drugs, alcohol or weapons.”
The organizers have called for veterans “to assemble as a peaceful, unarmed militia” to “defend the water protectors from assault and intimidation at the hands of the militarized police force and DAPL security,” according to their fundraising website, GoFundMe.
The group had raised more than a half-million dollars as of Monday to assist veterans with transportation, food and supplies.
“The congresswoman will be joining thousands of veterans from across the country this weekend to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota who are protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through their tribal lands, with grave concerns about the contamination of their major water source,” according to a statement provided by Gabbard’s office.
The 1,172-mile pipeline that is designed to transport about 470,000 barrels of oil daily from North Dakota to existing pipelines in Patoka, Ill., has spurred months of protests from Native Americans and others opposed to the project. The pipeline is designed to run under the Missouri River and within a mile of of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, raising concerns that it could pollute drinking water. Opponents have also argued that the pipeline would destroy important cultural sites.
Gabbard has been outspoken in the past about her criticism of the pipeline, sending out a petition to supporters several months ago urging them to oppose the project.
“We cannot remain silent while so many of our brothers and sisters continue to stand up against a greedy oil company and an Army Corp (sic) of Engineers that have failed to properly follow the law or actually address the important issues of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and neighboring communities,” according to her petition.
In September, Gabbard was among 19 House Democrats who wrote to President Barack Obama expressing concerns about what they described as the Army Corps of Engineers’ lack of tribal consultation on the project.
“The federal government has a moral and legal trust responsibility to ensure that federally permitted projects do not threaten historically or culturally significant tribal places, the trust lands of tribal nations, or the waters that run through them,” according to the letter.
Dakota Access, the company developing the pipeline, has maintained that the $3.7 billion project will meet or exceed all state and federal safety requirements. The project, which is almost complete, is designed to enable domestically produced oil to to reach major refining markets “in a more direct, cost-effective, safer and environmentally friendly manner,” according to the company’s website.
