Petition Obama to stop the atrocities at Standing Rock

From Other98:

There is a human rights crisis at Standing Rock in North Dakota, and we do not have time to call it anything else. It’s time for President Obama to take real action and stop the human rights abuses being perpetrated against Indigenous people at Standing Rock.

Just two weeks ago, the Morton County Sheriff's department used concussion grenades and water cannons against unarmed water protectors; multiple people were treated for hypothermia after being soaked with water in freezing temperatures. One woman is facing possible amputation after her arm was ripped apart by a concussion grenade.

Using state powers to violently suppress nonviolent dissent is a human rights violation. United Nations members have already condemned these abuses. Please join us in demanding President Obama mobilize whatever forces are necessary to remove Dakota Access Pipeline equipment and employees from Standing Rock, and stop the human rights abuses in Standing Rock.

I’m so grateful to be working directly with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. After building their beautiful new StandWithStandingRock.net website, helping them raise over a million dollars, and launching a petition together with over 400,000 signatures, the Tribe invited Team Other98 members out to camp. They brought back reports of elders hit with tear gas and horses shot with live ammunition, but they also saw determination like they’d never seen before. The Sioux never ceded this land; after multiple treaty violations, it was illegally seized by the federal government in 1875. The Indigenous people and allies camped out in North Dakota are not going anywhere.

There is no compromise here. So the question is: can a state use public resources to brutalize Americans on behalf of a private corporation? Does a state have the right to unleash real physical violence on unarmed people, to pave the way for a billion-dollar corporate project?

The answer is no. So this isn’t just about drinking water or stopping a pipeline anymore. This is about stopping a human rights crisis in our own backyard. This should be the President’s priority. Obama just declared November “National Native American Heritage Month.” That’s a great gesture, but we need action, and we need it now. Tell President Obama to call off North Dakota’s dogs and stop the abuse at Standing Rock.

Thank you for everything you do.

John Sellers
Other98

P.S. Please consider making a donation directly to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. We’re super proud of the website we built together with them.