Politics & Government
'No Dakota Access Pipeline' Support Rally Planned for Columbus Circle
An NYC activist nearly had her arm torn off this week in clashes with North Dakota sheriff's forces.
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — It's been a traumatic few days for the group of Dakota Access Pipeline protesters (or "water protectors," as they call themselves) trying to hold off police from breaking up their protest camp in Standing Rock, North Dakota.
They're there to try and halt construction on a massive oil pipeline that would run through the Standing Rock Native American Reservation, tearing up sacred land and possibly dirtying the water supply.
And the local sheriff's department hasn't taken kindly to their presence. At least 26 activists were seriously injured Sunday night, according to the Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council, after Morton County Sheriff’s forces allegedly used grenades, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and water cannons — sprayed amid below-freezing temperatures — to try and disperse the crowd. (Sheriff's officials have denied using the grenades and the cannons.)
One of the injured activists has since been identified as NYC resident Sophia Wilansky, 21, a familiar face in the social-justice scene back here in the city. Wilansky's arm was grossly mutilated — and almost had to be amputated — after she was hit Monday morning with what her fellow protesters believe was a police grenade. (Again, sheriff's officials have denied using grenades, and have blamed activists for accidentally blowing stuff up on their side of the protest line.)
Photo via GoFundMe
Wilansky and her comrades' ordeal at Standing Rock — along with the increasingly high stakes of these now nationwide demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline — will be the driving force behind a support rally planned in Columbus Circle, at the southwest edge of Central Park, this Wednesday night, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m.
"We cannot sit back and watch our indigenious brothers and sisters as they are brutally repressed for trying to protect water!" event organizers wrote on Facebook. "THE TIME IS NOW, TO STAND UP AND FIGHT!"
Here's the when, what and how. And here's how to help Wilansky and her family cover her mounting medical costs.
Lead photo by Revolution Messaging/Flickr
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
