US veterans have reportedly returned to Standing Rock Indian Reservation, vowing to shield indigenous protesters and activists opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline from likely attacks by a militarized police force.
Army veterans from across the US have either arrived in Cannon Ball area of the northern state of North Dakota, or are currently en route after press reports that President Donald Trump’s administration has allowed the oil corporation to finish drilling across the Missouri river, the UK-based Guardian reported Saturday.
According to the report, the increasing inflow of the military veterans into the area may make it more difficult for police and government authorities in their efforts to remove hundreds of activists, who remain camped near the construction site amid hopes that the move will limit the use of excessive force by police officers during protest rallies.
“We are prepared to put our bodies between Native elders and a…