MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota sheriff leading the response to the Dakota Access oil pipeline protests won’t apologize for the recent disputed action against demonstrators who he believes have become increasingly aggressive.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier says he won’t “allow people to become unlawful.”
The months of protests over the $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline have him and his 34 deputies working 12-hour days, even with help from other law enforcement.
But the Standing Rock Sioux’s tribal chairman says his numerous meetings with Kirchmeier have been tense and unproductive and that officers’ use of rubber bullets, tear gas and water hoses on Sunday night and early Monday morning were an act of terror.
Kirchmeier has the full support of Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple and state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.