Dakota Access pipeline protesters arrested at ND mall

Dakota Access pipeline protesters arrested
Dakota Access pipeline protesters are arrested inside and outside the local mall in Bismarck, N.D., Friday following a prayer ceremony in the busy shopping center.
Doualy Xaykaothao | MPR News

Police say at least 33 opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline have been arrested for criminal trespass at the local mall in Bismarck, N.D.

A spokesperson for the Bismarck police say dozens of protesters formed a prayer circle at the center of Kirkwood Mall on Black Friday, and were warned numerous times to leave private property or be arrested.

Among those arrested was 27-year-old Chelsea Moxley of New Jersey. Her mother, Diane, said she and her daughter followed police orders to move, but claims her daughter was tackled for filming with her phone.

"I was actually on the other side of them and didn't get tackled, so I was really surprised when they grabbed her, because there were lots of people on the other side of them, the blue line, with cameras out," she said.

Chanting "water is life," activists said they're trying to raise awareness about the $3.8 billion pipeline that will carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others fear it will threaten the tribe's drinking water and American Indian cultural sites.

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners disputes that and says the pipeline will be safe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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