Police barricades still stand between DAPL protesters and emergency services

On December 4th, the US Army ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline, planned to run underneath the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s water source, would not be allowed to cross the Missouri River. In the wake of the decision, community leaders and authorities encouraged protesters — who prefer to be called water protectors — to claim their victory, and disband. Yet many still remain, camping on the river’s edge, worried that the pipeline operator might ignore the order to halt construction. They point to a concrete and razor-wire barricade that has become a focal point for the community here as a sign that their fight is not yet won.

The barricade stands on the Backwater Bridge between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota and the closest big city. Massive concrete blocks typically used to wall off lanes of traffic span the bridge’s northern end, linked with razor wire and lit by floodlights. More blocks run lengthwise down the the snow-covered bridge, askew where a white car plowed into them. The car is still there.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/22/14064412/police-barricade-oil-dapl-protest-nodapl-north-dakota-access-pipeline