A fake news article that began circulating on Facebook Thursday morning falsely accused law enforcement personnel of setting fire to tents at one of the anti-pipeline protest camps in North Dakota.

The story, which led with the headline,”Police Raid Standing Rock Camp, Dismantle Tipis and Are Burning What Remains,” cited a screenshot from the HBO film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (a historical drama about Native Americans) as evidence.…

A new analysis by the National Sheriff’s Association shows that many of the professional protesters arrested in connection with anti-pipeline riots in North Dakota have had prior run ins with the law.

Those arrested have criminal records that include domestic violence, theft, driving while under the influence, and drug possession. The national law enforcement group further found that only 6 percent of the protesters that have been arrested are actually from North Dakota.…

North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp announced Thursday that she has asked the Trump administration to provide necessary federal funds and resources to support local law enforcement dealing with ongoing protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In a Jan. 25 letter, Heitkamp held the federal government for the continued chaos and noted the enormous burden that that has been placed on law enforcement to ensure the safety of local communities.…

New photos the front lines disprove any notion that protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline are “peaceful and prayerful.”  On a daily basis, professional agitators continue to engage in violent, unlawful behavior, endangering the lives of others and themselves.

Masked protester wearing body armor advances toward police.

Protesters form a line on Backwater Bridge.…

The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that the total number of arrests linked to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests has risen to 603 following an uptick in unlawful activity. Over the holiday weekend, law enforcement arrested 16 individuals on charges of “criminal trespass, engaging in a riot, possession of marijuana, fleeing, assault on a police officer and preventing arrest.”…

MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens issued the following statement following news that the Obama administration has sent the Federal Register a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on the Dakota Access Pipeline:

“Despite the policies of the last few years being soundly rejected by the American people, the Obama Administration is using its final hours to allow detainees out of U.S.…

As Standing Rock Fact Checker has previously reported, the illegal Dakota Access pipeline protest by the numbers is simply staggering. With hundreds of out of state protestors costing North Dakota communities tens millions in taxes, the protests represents an embarrassment to the rule of law and a wildly ignorant tactic of opposing a fully approved infrastructure project.…

Ron Ness, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, penned an op-ed highlighting the key facts about North Dakota’s embattled energy project and the surrounding protests. According to Ness, the entire ‘debate’ has become one of “emotion and politics rather than reason, logic or science.”

Ness notes that he is consistently asked the same question about those unfamiliar with the project: “Why not make the pipeline extra thick?’…

The Washington Times followed numerous other media outlets in criticizing the Obama Administration’s handling of the Dakota Access pipeline. Their editorial blasts the clearly political move and calls for the project’s completion.

Below represents noteworthy critiques worth emphasizing:

“The rule of law matters, and enabling a few radicals, or even a few thousand, to overrule the will of the American people would be a tyranny of the minority.”…