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Navajo Leaders Speak Out Against Police Use of Force At Standing Rock Protests

Fibonacci Blue
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Creative Commons
Protesters gather in Minneapolis in late October to rally against the Dakota Access Pipeline. As clashes have intensified this winter, Navajo Nation officials have described police use of force as "uncalled for and excessive"

The Navajo Nation’s top elected officials are calling on President Obama to intervene in the dispute over the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota opposes the pipeline, saying it endangers their water supply. According to a release, Navajo President Russell Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez sent Obama a letter after learning about law-enforcement actions the night of November 20th. Sheriff’s deputies and  state police reportedly sprayed protesters with water despite below-freezing temperatures and peppered them with rubber bullets. Some two dozen people were hospitalized with hypothermia or bone fractures. President Begaye said the use of military-style force was “uncalled for and excessive.” He wants Obama to permanently halt construction on the pipeline in that area. It’s unclear how the new president may look upon the issue if it is still in dispute when he takes office. According to published reports, Donald Trump holds stock in the Texas company building the pipeline, though only a small amount.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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