Pipeline protesters under investigation for terrorism

Guardian:
The FBI is investigating political activists campaigning against the Dakota Access pipeline, diverting agents charged with preventing terrorist attacks to instead focus their attention on indigenous activists and environmentalists.

The Guardian has established that multiple officers within the FBI’s joint terrorism taskforce have attempted to contact at least three people tied to the Standing Rock “water protector” movement in North Dakota.

The purpose of the officers’ inquiries into Standing Rock, and scope of the task force’s work, remains unknown. Agency officials declined to comment. But the fact that the officers have even tried to communicate with activists is alarming to free-speech experts who argue that anti-terrorism agents have no business scrutinizing protesters.

“The idea that the government would attempt to construe this indigenous-led non-violent movement into some kind of domestic terrorism investigation is unfathomable to me,” said Lauren Regan, a civil rights attorney who has provided legal support to demonstrators who were contacted by representatives of the FBI. “It’s outrageous, it’s unwarranted … and it’s unconstitutional.”
...
The investigation is not unwarranted.

The protestors attempted to barricade a bridge to the site of the protest and when law enforcement approach at least five men ran forward with gas and set the barricade on fire blocking access to the officers.  The five have been indicted and two have been arrested.  The alleged conduct is far from the "non-violent movement" described by the ACLU.  many of these protesters may just be using the Standing Rock tribe as a means of blocking a legitimate business.

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