Presidential Candidate Visits Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters, Assists in Vandalizing Construction Equipment

Some of the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters chained themselves to construction equipment. Again.

They also got a visit from Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein who assisted the protesters with some petty vandalism:

For what it’s worth, Stein is currently polling at about 2 percent in North Dakota.

UPDATE: The Morton County Sheriff’s Department says they plan to pursue charges against Stein for the vandalism:

Here’s photos of the protesters:

Here’s a report from Mike Nowatzki:

MORTON COUNTY, N.D. — More than 100 protesters gathered at a Dakota Access Pipeline construction site Tuesday where two people bound themselves to bulldozers and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was meeting with pipeline opponents.

A woman and a man attached themselves to equipment east of State Highway 6 using the same type of casting material used by demonstrators last week. The gathering began about 10 a.m. Tuesday northwest of the main pipeline protest site. About 75 people remained by 12:30 p.m.

Witnesses said pipeline construction workers were in the area when protesters arrived but are no longer working in the area. …

Law enforcement monitored the situation from the top of a hill but was not working to cut the protesters free, as they did last week during a similar demonstration.

I suspect that the pipeline company and law enforcement are in something of holding pattern until some of the legal knots surrounding construction are unraveled. Which is for the best, I suppose, though it seems the more room the protesters are given for unlawful activities the harder it’s going to be when the time comes to start instituting the rule of law.

Because believe it or not, that’s what should hold sway these sort of situations. Law, not the will of violent mobs.

UPDATE: