Comment by nimbius | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nimbius | Hacker News Reader

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This whole protest always seemed pretty dystopian to me. The fact that the government of North Dakota is still combing the scene for DNA leads to prosecute additional protestors 3 years later after having acquitted or probated nearly 400 of them seems to imply this is quite a witch hunt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Access_Pipeline_protest...

> In September 2016, construction workers bulldozed a section of land the tribe had identified as sacred ground and when protesters entered the area security workers used attack dogs which bit at least six of the protesters and one horse.

>At least six protesters were treated for dog bites, and an estimated 30 were pepper-sprayed before the guards and their dogs left the scene in trucks.

>In May 2017, internal TigerSwan documents leaked to The Intercept and other documents obtained through public records requests revealed a close collaboration between the pipeline company and local, state, and federal law enforcement as they carried out "military-style counterterrorism measures" to suppress the protesters.

>> The fact that the government of North Dakota is still combing the scene for DNA leads to prosecute additional protestors 3 years later

I doubt this DNA was combed from the scene three years later. This was a cigarette that was taken three years ago and has been in an evidence locker for years. Finally, today, an arrest is being made. We don't know whether it took three years to do the testing or whether they knew of the match years ago and only now decided to arrest. Three years is a common statute of limitations limit. They could have been working on this from day one and now, with a SOL looming, they have decided to move forwards.

Or maybe the DNA is the announced link and they had an identification by other means. Maybe by relying upon the cigarette they aren't announcing that they have been talking to witnesses/informers. The cigarette is enough to get the warrant, without the need to divulge the existence of informers just yet.

But why bother with a DNA test for vandalism and protesting?

Especially if you haven't mandated DNA tests for Rape Kits and still have a backlog:

Rape, Murder, and Battery are one thing. Protesting and vandalism are quite another.

http://www.endthebacklog.org/north-dakota

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/30/tigerswan-infiltrator-da...

like something straight out of The East

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1869716/

Oh man. It WAS wild.

I was in Joels hotel room the night Trump got elected. I guess I was just an easy target. I was loud mouthed and easily singled out. All I can remember was being a little tipsy and ranting about how I hated the news, the presidents, etc...Months later I find out he was an infiltrator. All I could think was "oh crap I hope I didn't threaten the president or anything under the influence". I thought it was hilarious actually because Joel couldn't ever get any good information from anybody. We all knew the drill. What was our secret? To keep no secrets. Everything was planned out in the open and everyone involved in anything knew they would be going to jail.

So I'm not really sure how he became known as an infiltrator because he never infiltrated anything. After thinking about things a while, I think he, deep down, understood how silly his job was at the time...."infiltrating" a bunch of peaceful protestors. I'm talking grandpas, grandmas (and damn brave ones let me tell you), college students, etc...The people they wanted to "infiltrate", to this day, cook meals EVERY DAY for homeless and poor people in our community.

> security workers used attack dogs which bit at least six of the protesters and one horse.

How many years did the security workers get in jail? In my country that would be quite a few for "intent to cause grievous bodily harm"

I can't remember wasn't this the same protest that after they left they left the entire place full of garbage?

It's very difficult to clean up after yourselves when you are forcibly evacuated.

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