On December 1, fifty protesters assembled in downtown Billings, Montana around a wells fargo building to protest the bank's investment in the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which has attracted protesters (referred to as water-protectors) to oppose its construction. While there have already been ongoing Protests over the past several months, the latest news that pipeline investors were gathering for a symposium has also triggered small pockets of protest nationwide.

While these protesters are not at the Standing Rock site, some of the demonstrators in downtown Billings have identified themselves as having some association or once living near the Standing Rock Sioux.

For instance, Don Medicine Horse said he was a registered member of the Standing Rock Sioux and once lived ten miles away from the tribe's location.

Protests at other Wells Fargo locations

One report from ABC 5 news affiliate out of Minneapolis covered a group of protesters at Wells Fargo offices in the city, who blocked elevators in the lobby, which were also shut down during the protest on the same day. It was reported that the protests in that building lasted for four hours until the protesters received a letter from the bank, saying that they would meet with a select number of tribal leaders to discuss their investment in the project.

Pipeline investors don't care about indigenous people

According to Democracy Now!, more protesters -- reported to be about a hundred -- also gathered outside of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, where the mentioned pipeline symposium was taking place.

Rachel Marco-Havens of "Earth Guardians" says that they spoke with three different investors, but said that she spoke with one, prior to being questioned by a reporter, who said: "They all say they don't care what happens to the people along the lines of the extracted industry."

The incoming Trump administration vows to complete the pipeline as part of their effort they say is to create more jobs.

It's also been reported that Donald Trump has invested in DAPL before, but denies that those investments have anything to do with his decision to support it, saying that it's to promote policies that benefit all Americans. Incumbent president Obama has already made demands that the DAPL should be halted, which was followed by the recent order by the Army Corp of Engineers.

Both demands seem to have been ignored by the owner of the Energy Transfer Partners, knowing that the Trump administration will fully support the project after he is inaugurated in January.

The battle between water-protectors and pipeline builders continues

Democracy Now! also spoke with Rocio Velandia of the International Native Tradition Interchange, an organization that is associated with the United Nations, who acknowledged that the Army Corp of Engineers "forced" the temporary shutdown of construction of the pipeline, but she referred to it as a war tactic designed to disperse and confuse the protesters. After the news broke, the chairman of the Standing Sioux Dave Archambault II, was also on Democracy Now!

after the news to applaud the decision, asking that the water-protectors go home and pick up the fight after the holidays.

Velandia isn't the only demonstrator to be suspicious that leaving would only increase the building of the project, but there have been reports of a second massive blizzard hitting the resistance camps. If anything, the weather has also played a role in dispersing the protectors, as they seek shelter away from the camp with some going to community centers nearby, and the Sioux tribe casino. Both sides are still determined to fight this out. When the Energy Transfer Partners CEO was asked about the project going through sacred lands in November, he accused the Standing Sioux tribe of lying and that he was committed to completing the pipeline no matter the obstacle. The Keystone XL President Obama cancelled last year, vows to also return after the new administration begins.
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