The overwhelming response to my recent OpEdNews article about Standing Rock shows that this nation must have a reasonable solution soon, and will not tolerate more brutality and violence on the part of the repressive North Dakota police.
This article was like taking the pulse of our nation, despite the lackadaisical mainstream media coverage and the indifference of both presidential candidates.
I am both honored and gratified to inform OpEdNews readers, thanks to the Standing Rock Defenders, to you the reader, and to Facebook Bernie Sanders groups, that my recent article on the North Dakota protests against DAPL (with the embedded video from Unicorn Riot and Red Lightning at Standing Rock) now with 180,695 page views, thus becoming the #1 page views in articles since OEN started in 2004!
[This is the article: NYC Council "STANDS UNITED" WITH N.DAKOTA PROTESTERS, 2 new videos of police using pepper spray and rubber bullets
located here: click here ]
New video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0XMgGuVHQ0
I want to thank above all others the folks at Unicorn Riot for their gripping footage filmed right in the middle of that horrible conflagration last week, shared on Facebook last Friday, written about by me in a state of shock, shame, and horror at what I was seeing, and then published that evening in a lightning quick response by Rob Kall, publisher of OpEdNews.
I later added an very powerful video update from Red Lightning Video of police on the shore of the river shooting rubber bullets and pepper spraying defenseless Natives entirely in the water, to show their defense of the water that gives us live, who point out that 17 million people (at least!) get their water from this river.
I also added the Proclamation by the New York City Council standing with the Standing Rock Defenders, an astonishing hgh level governmental affirmation of the Defenders and a total repudiation of the Governor of North Dakota and his state police.
I am reminded of Colorado Governor Evans ordering the Sand Creek Massacre of innocent tribal members in November 1864, solely in order to test out some new weapons, the Hotchkiss cannons, which led to him having to step down.
Maybe, in time, that is precisely what the Governor of North Dakota will have to do, especially if the Police response becomes more violent at his request, or if he cannot control their excessive response.
All of these defenders are facing an overwhelming, well-equipped, and very costly military/police presence, heavily armed with batons, 50 caliber machine guns, huge pepper spray containers the size of fire extinguishers, rubber bullets, intrusive cell phone monitoring devices, powerful sonic devices, snipers, shooting of horses, and some new weapons we can't describe because they are as yet unidentified.
While watching the videos coming out of North Dakota, I was also reminded of what the South African Police did during Apartheid.
Others have mentioned that this makes them think of the Nazis' oppression of the Jews, especially when the ND Police wrote numbers on the forearms of those arrested and put them in dog kennels as a temporary jail.
Further, a very wise 89 year old friend of mine here in Santa Fe, Maurice Webster (who has also published here at OpEdNews, an article analyzing Donald's Demagoguery) said that he recalled his earliest disturbing memories of news coverage of Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia, when modern weapons and modern well-equipped armies faced down humble people armed only with spears.
There is another important article (one that is clearly more thought out and deeper than my own) here at OEN by Georgianne Neinaber, which should be forwarded, please, to the White House and to US Senators and Congressman by you, the reader!
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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