Thread by @UR_Ninja

#LIVE Keystone, South Dakota: #Indigenous Activists Assert Right to Unceded Land At Anti-Trump Protest pscp.tv/w/cc5CbTFheVFW…

#NEW post — learn more about today's event here

Indigenous Activists Assert Right to Unceded Land At Anti-Trump Protest

unicornriot.ninja/2020/thousands…

"Even natives have been extracted from their own sacred land."

A young #Indigenous woman who's been protesting since she's a baby heatedly explains the situation.
pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

We are #live in Keystone, South Dakota

People were blocking the road with their bodies for 15 minutes. #Police opened zip tie containers, and people dispersed from the road.

More people blocking the road further ahead, using vans.

We are #live in South #Dakota

pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BRKj…

Indigenous protesters have blocked the road leading to tonight’s Trump event at so-called Mount Rushmore (a sacred Lakota site in the Black Hills)

The land "Mount Rushmore" was constructed upon is unceded treaty land that was illegally invaded & seized by the #UnitedStates once gold was discovered in the Black Hills.

The @USSupremeCourt ruled in favor of the Great Sioux Nation in 1980.

Read more: unicornriot.ninja/2020/thousands…

A more intensive vehicle blockade has also gone up, blocking the road to Trump’s event in South Dakota. Indigenous people gathered here are invoking their unceded rights to the land - police preparing to make arrests.

We’re live: pscp.tv/w/cc5PtzFheVFW…

Road is blockaded with vehicles and people holding flags & signs. Red flag of the Oglala Sioux Tribe is visible in one photo, along with one sign, "#LandBack."

Demonstrators are chanting "Bring our sisters home." #MMIWG

We are #live

Police have just announced the gathering is an unlawful assembly.
we are #live in South Dakota
pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

Image: vehicles, #Indigenous demonstrators block the road. A sign reads, "You Are On Stolen Land"

Our field correspondent reporting state troopers have given 1 verbal warning so far. Officers have metal handcuffs.

Many #Trump supporters are waiting to get through the roadblock.

"OUR LAND. OUR HOME."

#Indigenous demonstrators repeat this call, saying Trump supporters are the unlawful assembly. Troopers continuing to face off with the blockade.

A Trump supporter tried to break through the blockade a few minutes past

#live in SD
pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BRKj…

#Indigenous demonstrators honoring the #BlackLivesMatter mvmt by chanting "#WeCantBreathe"

#live frm a roadblock at an anti-Trump demo — the 1868 Fort Laramie treaty guaranteed "undisturbed use and occupation" of this land to the Great Sioux Nation.

pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

A second arrest warning has been given. Police claim that demonstrators will be allowed to return to their original protest location.

National guard soldiers are approaching the blockade. We are #live

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25+ Nat'l Guard soldiers met the blockade line with riot shields & helmets. Demonstrators trying to prevent Guard from pushing through. One shield was taken from Guard.

#live where #Indigenous activists are asserting their rights to unceded treaty land

pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BRKj…

Line of soldiers approached from the other direction, has moved fwd towards demonstrators.

More officers headed this way, Nat Guard visibly preparing for use of chemical agents

We are #live near the small town of Keystone, South Dakota in the Black Hills
pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

Land where demo is happening is unceded treaty territory.

Soldiers firing pepper balls at ppls' feet & lower limbs in attempts to force them back from the state highway, which leads to "Mount Rushmore" where Trump & Pence are scheduled to speak tonight.

pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

Some demonstrators were already arrested 20+ min ago.

One of the sheriff's officers, holding a can of pepper spray, followed one person off the road.

It is still nearly 90°F — activists have been protesting in the sun for hours.

"The Black Hills are sacred to our people. I've lived my whole life dreaming of seeing this resistance & defense of this most sacred place on Earth by our people, and to be joined by so many allies... this is one of the happiest days of my life."

#live

pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

Uŋpa Nuŋpa described witnessing his daughter & other young people rise up in resistance, along w allies "from the Atlantic to the Pacific".

We interviewed Uŋpa in 2016 — his daughter was injured by dogs unleashed by private security at #NoDAPL protests.
unicornriot.ninja/2016/ongoing-n…

The blockade is ongoing. Law enforcement is surrounding demonstrators on both sides of the highway. We are #live

Officers have pushed their way past the white vans that are blockading the road.

we are #live

pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

Mace, pepper spray have been used by officers against demonstrators.

Law enforcement officers downhill from the blockade may be Sioux Falls city police rather than Nat Guard soldiers.

we are #live — pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpxw

Law enforcement officers were waiting for tow trucks to arrive to remove the white vans.

For hours the #Indigenous-led blockade has prevented #Trump supporters from reaching "#MountRushmore" where Trump & Pence are scheduled to speak in 2 hrs.

#live now
pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

An #Indigenous man explains: for a negotiation to begin with armed officers asking #NativeAmericans to move off a road on their own territory is unacceptable.

Says demonstrators' demand is for officers to stand down & officials to truly negotiate.

#live
pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

A male Trump supporter reportedly struck a female anti-Trump demonstrator. Though at first the police did not intervene, our correspondent on the ground reports that he is now in handcuffs.

"While they were attempting to negotiate with us, they were moving our blockade."

Reportedly ~25 min remaining until armed officials attempt to force demonstrators from the road.

#live now

pscp.tv/w/1BRKjYOAEMpx…

Demonstrators blocking the road just heard 4 minutes remain until arrests will begin.

We are #live from an #Indigenous land blockade on unceded Great Sioux Nation territory

pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BRKj…

Arrests are beginning.

We are reporting #live where #Indigenous activists have been asserting their land rights under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, blocking the road to #MountRushmore before a scheduled Trump/Pence rally there.

pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BRKj…

So far only the people directly in the road have been arrested so far, ~15 people.

Some #police now removing their gas masks.

pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BRKj…

20+ people total have been arrested (~30 minutes ago, as well as a few hours earlier). We just took the stream down.

As police were withdrawing, they took with them a riot shield that had been redecorated by a demonstator to read "Land Back."