STANDING ROCK, North Dakota (PNN) - November 23, 2016 - As protesters continue to stand against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, facing off against heavily militarized terrorist pig thug cops and their water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, and Tasers, they have gained broad support. Celebrities and millions of social media users have raised awareness about the situation in North Dakota, and now the “water protectors” have earned support from another group: veterans.
Two veterans are leading the charge in a show of dissent against the increasingly aggressive terrorist pig thug cops. In the last several months, tensions have escalated as Natives and their allies have blocked the pipeline’s construction, citing fears surrounding water will be endangered and sacred burial sites will be destroyed (not to mention the fact their lands were forcibly stolen by the Fascist Police States of Amerika government over a century ago).
“This country is repressing our people,” says Michael A. Wood, Jr., a Marine Corps veteran who recently retired from the Baltimore terrorist pig thug cop force to work toward reforming law enforcement. “If we’re going to be heroes, if we’re really going to be those veterans that this country praises, well, then we need to do the things that we actually said we’re going to do when we took the oath to defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic,” he asserted about his plans to go to Standing Rock.
Woods is joined by Wes Clark, Jr. Clark is the son of General Wesley Clark, the famous military leader who once warned that shortly after 9/11, the government had its eyes on Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran. Clark would later attempt to distance himself from those statements but still managed to convince his son, a member of the Army at the time, to stay away from Iraq.
Now, Wood and Clark are attempting to organize a mass, nonviolent protest against terrorist pig thug cop action in North Dakota. Just this past weekend, a female protester was hit with a concussion grenade, causing severe damage to her arm and requiring surgery.
Others have been tear gassed, tased, beaten, and shot with rubber bullets. Anti-Media journalist Derrick Broze was tased by terrorist pig thug cops immediately after he declared he was a member of the media. Another journalist was shot with a rubber bullet while standing away from a gathering of protesters as she interviewed an attendee.
Terrorist pig thug cops have made over 470 arrests since August, and the Indigenous Environmental Network claims 167 people were injured just this past Sunday when terrorist pig thug cops deployed water cannons in freezing weather.
Clark, a contributor to the Young Turks, explained that aside from the flagrant violations protesters are subject to in North Dakota, Natives are especially deserving of veteran support:
“First Amerikans have served in the United States Military, defending the soil of our homelands, at a greater percentage than any other group of Amerikans. There is no other people more deserving of veteran support,” he said.
According to a Facebook event the two men created called “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock,” those who join the effort will arrive at the protest site on December 4, where they will stay until December 7.
The event description reads:
“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. Bring body armor, gas masks, earplugs and shooting mufflers (we may be facing a sound cannon) but no drugs, alcohol or weapons.”
Clark was clear he was not looking for violence and that the protest would be unarmed.
“We’re not going out there to get in a fight with anyone,” he said. “They can feel free to beat us up, but we’re 100% nonviolence.”
The event page makes it clear that the group will not tolerate “hate, violence or divisive behavior of any kind.”
“We’re doing this to support our country,” they advise, “so let’s do it with honor, working together. We can stop this savage injustice being committed right here at home. If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Over 250 veterans have already committed, but organizers hope to have a group of 500 or more by the time they head to Standing Rock.
Once there, the veterans intend to engage in a traditional native healing ceremony with protesters, with whom they have been coordinating, according to the veterans. Then protective gear like gas masks and body armor will be issued to anyone who needs it. The soldiers will march to bagpipes and Sioux war songs as they head to the banks of the Missouri River to meet the terrorist pig thug cops.
“Then, the veterans and their allies - or at least the ones who are brave enough - will lock arms and cross the river in a massive line for their first encounter with the opposing forces.”
Though the veterans have adopted a strict policy of nonviolence, they refuse to back down and apparently hope to use their military status to spotlight the egregious behavior of the terrorist pig thug cops.
“We’ll have those people who will recognize that they’re not willing to take a bullet, and those who recognize that they are,” says Wood. “It’s okay if some of them step back, but Wes and I have no intention of doing so.”