Standing Rock: Private Security and Police Attack Dakota Access Pipeline Water Protectors

On September 3, 2016, Standing Rock Sioux tribal members and water protectors reported the destruction of sacred burial sites by Dakota Access Pipeline construction crews, leading to violent confrontations between private security contractors and demonstrators. Security workers deployed attack dogs on protesters, with video footage showing dogs biting demonstrators and dogs with blood on their faces and mouths.

The incident occurred the day after the tribe filed documentation with the federal court identifying specific sacred sites in the pipeline’s path. Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline’s developer, proceeded with construction through the identified sacred areas despite the pending legal challenge and the sites’ cultural significance to the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes.

The confrontation marked a turning point in what would become the largest Indigenous demonstration in decades, with thousands eventually gathering at protest camps near Lake Oahe to oppose the 1,172-mile pipeline that threatened the tribe’s water source and sacred lands. The use of private security forces with attack dogs against peaceful water protectors demonstrated the willingness of corporate actors to employ violence to advance pipeline construction, while regulatory agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers failed to adequately protect Indigenous sacred sites or consult meaningfully with affected tribes as required by federal law.

This event exemplifies regulatory capture in the environmental review process: the Army Corps of Engineers had determined in April 2016 that “no historic properties affected” would be impacted—a finding directly contradicted when the tribe’s own archaeologist identified five or more cultural sites in the impact zone, including burial grounds destroyed on September 3.