via Democracy Now!

NORTH DAKOTA – Governor Jack Dalrymple has activated the National Guard ahead of Friday’s ruling on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit against the U.S. government over the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg will rule on an injunction in the lawsuit, which is challenging the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to issue permits for the pipeline, arguing it violates the National Historic Preservation Act.

Thousands of people representing more than 100 Native American tribes have traveled to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to resist the pipeline’s construction.

On Saturday, September 3, the Dakota Access pipeline company unleashed dogs and pepper spray on Native Americans as they attempted to stop the company from destroying a sacred tribal burial site. The bulldozers and company security guards were forced to retreat. The company was also forced to halt construction on Tuesday after two indigenous land defenders, Victor Puertas and Julz Richards, locked themselves to heavy machinery.

On Thursday, Governor Jack Dalrymple said the National Guard will be deployed Friday to a checkpoint along Highway 1806. As many as 100 additional Guardsmen from the 191st Military Police Company will be on standby and could be deployed at any moment.

The opening sentence has been slightly altered from the original.

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