Amy Goodman, an award-winning American journalist of "Democracy Now!",is facing prison charges aftercovering the protest on October 10, Indigenous People’s Day, as people of the Sioux Tribe gathered to protestagainst the Dakota Access Pipeline at standing rock sioux. This pipeline being built by a Texas-based company is planned to carry thousands of barrelsof crude oil to reach refineries, alleviating some of the rail and truck transport. However, this pipeline will also run its course through the ancient burial grounds of the Standing Rock Reservationand cause extreme pollution to their only source of water, the Missouri River.
Sacred land.
The Standing Rock Sioux has been home to the Sioux Tribe for over a century. They have made treaties with the United States for nearly 150 years, of which many have been broken. Consent was never given by the Sioux Tribe to construct the pipeline on their land which has led to the huge controversy.
The video
Amy Goodman was one of the first people to attempt to get coverage as hundreds of activists stood in protestafter the U.S. Court of Appeals denied the injunction of the halt on the Dakota Access Pipeline. As bulldozers were tearing up the earth, Goodman was able to capture the scene while hundreds of protesters attempted to halt the event only to be attacked by police dogs and sprayed with pepper spray.
While Goodman was conducting interviews, you could hear the wailingof others astheywere bitten by dogs, thrown on the ground, and fighting to secure their land.Subsequently, Goodman released avideoof the eventsthat made its way all oversocial media.Receivingover 14 million views, it created a tremendous increase in the exposure of what was occurringon these sacred lands that otherwise most did not have knowledge about.
Five days after releasing the video, Goodman was notified of an arrest warrant in Morton County forcriminal trespassing by prosecutor Ladd Erickson who believed Amy was not acting as a journalist, but as a protestor.
Not the only star facing jail time.
Goodman is not the only star thathas been facing charges. Shailene Woodly, former actress in "Secret Life of the American Teenager" and "Divergent,"was also arrested and put in jail after being identified while protesting at Standing Rock.
She too posted a live video on Facebook during the protest that received over4.7 million views. You can hear the cries, chants, and screams of the indigenous people protesting to protect their land as police are walking, some with handcuffed individuals and others with batons and pepper spray in their hands. Hours later, she was released from jail withevery intention to keep fighting for the rights of the Sioux Tribe, their land, and their water.
Months of protest.
As this protest has been going on for months, over 100 tribes across the United States and Canada have gathered at Standing Rock Sioux. The charges againstGoodman and Woodley have notonly raised awareness for the harm the Dakota Pipeline is causing, but also for those in the career field of journalism.
As far as many are concerned, Goodman never committed a crime, she was just doing her job as a journalist generating exposure on a subject large news agencieshave yet to cover and was charged by Erickson due to an opinion of events that clashed with his own. After the release of videos, the Sioux Tribe has finally gained some type of support in their protests.
Those at Standing Rock Siouxcontinue to gather in support against the Dakota Access Pipeline as they attempt to protectthe ancestral lands, water, history, safety, and culture.
