SOLWAY, Minn. – Police moved selectively to remove groups of protesters a few at a time at scattered Line 3 pipeline construction sites. Protesters were marched in handcuffs to buses and vans and driven off. Tara Houski, an attorney with the Treaty People Gathering, believed 200 arrests had been made. Houska called the arrests “an act of violence on tribal land.” Beltrami Sheriff Ernie Beitel declared a media backout and turned away news reporter questions about the number of arrests. The inmate roster at his 140-cell Bemidji jail showed itself only half full, mostly with locals with no protest connection. There was talk of pre-arranged bullpens at the National Guard’s Camp Ripley 45 miles away at Park Rapid
Beitel. Sheriff too busy to talk with news people.
Houska. Protest spokesperson. From of Couchiching First Nation in Ontario.