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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 Runaway1956 on Thursday November 24 2016, @07:03PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 24 2016, @07:03PM (#432515) Journal

    All of that may very well be. But, there's a cop out on the corner. Big burly guy, wearing riot gear, carrying a club, a gun, mace, a taser. If I go out and pick a fight with him, are you going to feel sorry for me when he breaks half the bones in my body, then shoots me? FFS - it's very damned difficult for me to work up a lot of sympathy for protestors who get hurt. The cops didn't drag the protestors to the protest. Rather, government dragged the cops out because the protestors were there.

    Anyone who challenges an armed man, and doesn't expect to get shot is just plain stupid.

    Now - do you want these protestors rememberd for bravery, or for stupidity? Stupid people hurt themselves all the time, you know, but we don't honor them for it. We do honor brave people.

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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by https on Thursday November 24 2016, @07:50PM

    by https (5248) on Thursday November 24 2016, @07:50PM (#432539) Journal

    If you think the protestors picked a fight with riot police, your understanding of the situation is wrong. Next time, don't call until you're ready to play.

    --
    Offended and laughing about it.
  • (Score: 3, Touché) by mhajicek on Thursday November 24 2016, @08:36PM

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday November 24 2016, @08:36PM (#432570)

    Yes, the Indians should have stayed away from the native police reservation.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
  • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday November 29 2016, @11:18PM

    by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday November 29 2016, @11:18PM (#434726) Journal

    If I go out and pick a fight with him, are you going to feel sorry for me when he breaks half the bones in my body, then shoots me?

    The cops didn't drag the protestors to the protest. Rather, government dragged the cops out because the protestors were there.

    So explain how they're "picking a fight" with someone who wasn't even there when they set up. They weren't trying to battle with the cops, they weren't trying to get maced, they were trying to build a damn tent on their own goddamn land. And the government dragged the police out to attack them in response, as you've accurately described. The protesters have no desire to go up against the cops, the cops are the only ones initiating the interaction and are therefore the only ones responsible for whatever force they are using.

    It's not at all like going out and picking a fight with the cop on the street; a better analogy would be sitting in your living room when a bunch of cops show up with a bulldozer and an armory and a SWAT team breaks through your front door.