An advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement is working with a Los Angeles screenwriter to assemble 2,000 veterans in North Dakota. The goal is a four-day protest action against law enforcement over the Dakota Access Pipeline.
An “operations order” for those participating in the event “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock” lists Wes Clark Jr. and Michael Wood Jr. as initial organizers of the December 5-7 activist action.
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Protesters have been camped out for months in North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their numbers reach into the thousands on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, according to Reuters.
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Wood equated the Standing Rock protest action and Black Lives Matter as the “same thing!” in a November 14 tweet:
Michael A. Wood Jr. ✔ @MichaelAWoodJr
Why am I involved in #BlackLivesMatter and #VeteranStandingRock? Because it's the same thing! That's what we've been trying to tell you.
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) will join the protesting veterans on Sunday.
The event listing on Facebook instructs protesters, “Bring Body armor, gas masks, earplugs AND shooting mufflers (we may be facing a sound cannon) but no drugs, alcohol or weapons.” It went on to state that “hate, violence or divisive behaivor [sic]” would not be tolerated. Also on the packing list was a note to not bring “medical cannabis” as the list states it is illegal where the group will be.
The operations order refers to the Morton County Sheriff’s office, state police agencies and “private security contractors” as the “enemy” and “opposing forces.”
The order goes on to state that protesters are putting their “bodies on the line” and that the “Water Protectors” are leaders against what they call the “evil” they face “globally, saving ourselves and our children from the apocalyptic outcome of climate change.”
