Date: October 5, 2016
Agency: Morton County Sheriff's Department
Contact: Morton County PIO (701) 426-1587
Mandan, N.D. - Authorities responded to another day of mobile protest activities. Protesters made coordinated efforts to disrupt traffic and work along the Dakota Access Pipeline. Authorities witnessed between 100-150 protesters in a convoy heading to worksites.
Authorities blocked Morton County road 136 off Highway 6 near St. Anthony. Under North Dakota Century Code 11-15-03 the Morton County Sheriff has the duty to preserve the peace and to prevent breaches of the peace and riots. Officers advised protesters they could not drive through St. Anthony due to the concern that the amount of traffic would interfere with emergency response to the community and school.
Residents in the St. Anthony area were alerted to the activity and road closure. In addition, the school in St. Anthony was placed on lock-down.
Protesters moved to other sites in the area. Work was being conducted at sites along the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) west of Highway 6 outside of the 20 mile exclusion area. DAPL work was temporarily stopped at several construction sites.
Morton County authorities received information Wednesday evening that protesters planned to caravan to sites and set construction equipment on fire. While this information is unconfirmed, authorities take every threat seriously.
Also, as an update to Monday’s news release; Marcus Redwing who was wanted on felony terrorizing and reckless endangerment charges turned himself into the Morton County Law Enforcement Center Tuesday morning. Redwing saw a Judge, posted bond and was released. To date, authorities have arrested 96 individuals for illegal protest activity. Of those individuals, 14 are from North Dakota 82 are from outside the state.
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