A contingent from the Ohio State Highway Patrol left Dayton this morning to assist North Dakota officials with security in protests over a pipeline.
Thirty-seven Ohio troopers from all over the state are en route to the site, officials said this morning.
Pipeline protesters staying near camp after tense standoff
More than 140 people have been arrested in recent days in the dispute over Native American rights and the project’s environmental impact.
“Our mission there is just to provide support for the state of North Dakota,” said Lt. Robert Sellers, public affairs commander for Ohio patrol. “We’ll be providing safety and security for everyone. And we’re going to help law enforcement there protect property and to protect everybody’s rights.”
Teepees removed ffrom cleared protest camp
Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners is working to complete the 1,200-mile pipeline to carry oil from western North Dakota to Illinois. But the route skirts near reservation land of the Standing Rock Sioux, who say it could endanger water supplies and disturb cultural sites, though state officials say no sensitive sites have been found on the route.