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Police pull the bridge apart with a boat after receiving orders from Army Corps of Engineers
Dakota Access LLC bought 6,000 acres of the Cannon Ball Ranch, according to media reports
Wednesday brought another spell of Dakota Access Pipeline demonstrations in North Dakota, with protesters employing a little civil engineering by building a footbridge across Cantapeta Creek, just west of the Missouri River, authorities said.
“Law enforcement is currently engaged in a standoff with protesters on the banks of the Cantapeta Creek,” said a news release from the Morton County Sheriff’s Department. “Protesters are trying to gain access onto private property also known as the Cannon Ball Ranch.”
Police saw protesters building “a handmade, wooden pedestrian bridge” early Wednesday morning, police said.
The US Army Corps of Engineers ordered the Morton County Sheriff’s Department to remove the makeshift bridge and arrest protesters trying to cross it with criminal trespass.
Sacred land at center of dispute
“Officers responded and ordered protesters to remove themselves from the bridge and notified them that if they cross the bridge they would be arrested,” the news release said.
Once police pulled the bridge apart with a boat, protesters swam and used their own boats to cross the river, police said.
Protesters are being warned that anyone crossing the river to enter private or Corps of Engineers property will be arrested and could be charged with violating numerous federal and state laws.
