MINNEAPOLIS, MINN – Today at 2:00 p.m., Hennepin County members of the Minnesota Legislature will meet with Sheriff Rich Stanek to discuss his office’s deployment of special operations personnel and equipment to protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. Legislators planning to attend include, among others, Reps. Karen Clark, Susan Allen, Peggy Flanagan, Frank Hornstein, and Sen. Scott Dibble.
“We, along with our constituents, have grave concerns about the manner in which the Sheriff’s office is using taxpayer funded, Hennepin County resources to disrupt a peaceful protest in a neighboring state. Environmental and treaty rights issues are at stake, as well as fundamental first amendment freedoms,” Rep. Clark said. “Reports as to the level of force utilized by law enforcement personnel at this protest are extremely troubling, and my colleagues and I have many questions about the Hennepin County Sheriff’s involvement in this activity, which I hope can be answered today.”
ATTACHED: Letter sent last Friday from 25 members of the Minnesota Legislature to Sheriff Rich Stanek requesting a meeting to discuss his office’s operations at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota.