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posted by martyb on Thursday November 24 2016, @11:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the disproportionate-force dept.

Snopes reports

On 20 November 2016, the Dakota Access pipeline protests reached new proportions when an ongoing demonstration turned into a violent [assault on protesters by] law enforcement officials.

Pipeline protesters say 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky was critically injured when she was struck with a concussion grenade thrown by Morton County sheriff's deputies while she was handing out water. As a result, she has been hospitalized and now faces the prospect of having her left arm amputated.

On 21 November 2016, Wilansky's father, Wayne Wilansky, [...] told reporters that she may need as many as 20 surgeries and that, aside from her arm injury, Sophia had welts all over her body from being shot by rubber[-coated steel] bullets, and that it took hours for an ambulance to reach her because of roadblocks.

Heavy.com continues

A statement from The Standing Rock Medic & Healing Council stated:
"Sophia was heading to bring water to the unarmed people who were being attacked for several hours by Morton County Sheriff forces. The Morton County Sheriff's Department has stated that she was injured by a purported propane explosion that the Sheriff's Department claimed the unarmed people created.

"These statements are refuted by Sophia's testimony, by several eye-witnesses who watched police intentionally throw concussion grenades at unarmed people, by the lack of charring of flesh at the wound site, and by the grenade pieces that have been removed from her arm in surgery and will be saved for legal proceedings."

Snopes also notes:

A total of 26 protesters were hospitalized and more than 300 were injured.

Previously:
Water Cannons Used in Sub-Freezing Temperatures at Standing Rock


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday November 24 2016, @05:24PM

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday November 24 2016, @05:24PM (#432468) Journal

    You were on a ship in the arctic. You were expecting cold and plenty of water. You understood hypothermia.

    The protesters certainly should have been expecting cold, but did they expect water? How much understanding of hypothermia do you suppose they had?

    But yes, cops shouldn't be using grenades. Even from the practical side (neverminding civil society) they have proven insufficiently disciplined and trained to use grenades of any kind. Like 'blanks', flash bangs and concussion grenades can (and have) maim or kill when not used responsibly.

    And of course, once police get to the point of preventing ambulance service to protesters, they have gone all the way over the line. There's no shades of grey left.

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  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday November 24 2016, @06:21PM

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday November 24 2016, @06:21PM (#432491)

    Is it or is it not legally assault to spray someone with a firehose? If it isn't, than can people do it to cops without repercussion? What would an officer do if you shot him with a rubber coated steel slug?

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek