Key Leader of Protest Camp Faction Removed From Sacred Stone Camp by Tribal Leaders Seeking Peace

Cody Hall of Eagle Butte, S.D., a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, was removed as spokesman of the Red Warrior Camp and from the camp itself following last week’s protest violence.

Hall did nothing to curb last week’s protest, attempted murder, and other acts of vandalism according to Frank Archambault—a member of the camp security team at the main Oceti Sakowin Camp where hundreds and sometimes thousands of mostly Native American pipeline opponents have been camping since August—“We are not condoning anything like that. We are trying to get a hold of the radicals and get them dismissed.”

This is not the first instance of protest action upsetting other Tribal leaders. Earlier this week, Robert Fool Bear Sr. admonished the violence and radical tendencies he has seen and called on Chairman Archambault to solve it. “If he had any balls, he’d tell [the protesters] to go home,” Fool Bear says.

Standing Rock Fact Checker, Tribal leaders, law enforcement and elected officials have all called on Chairman Archambault to regain control of his so-called peaceful protest before, but he has yet to do so. Hall’s departure is a start, but should certainly be far from the last radical activist to be removed from the contentious environment.