Date: December 12, 2016
Agency: Morton County Sheriff's Department
Contact: Morton County PIO (701) 426-1587 or (701) 595-3596
Mandan, N.D. – North Dakota Law Enforcement leaders frustrated with an unresponsive Obama Administration during ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline protests submitted a letter to Washington on December 9 outlining the requests that have gone unanswered by the federal government.
“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,” the letter states. “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.”
In the letter, 12 officials tell President Barack Obama that his administration has not only abandoned law enforcement, but the peaceful citizens of North Dakota who no longer move freely throughout their communities without fear of intimidation, harassment and violence. The officials say that Washington will be to blame if continued protests turn violent again.
“Perhaps those individuals at the highest levels of our government who have repeatedly refused our requests for help should reread the oath of office they once took and recall who and what it is they swore to protect and defend,” the letter states.
A copy of the letter sent to the Obama Administration is attached.
###