'Dakota Access Pipeline' Protest in NYC: Thousands Block Street, Some Arrested

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — A peaceful protest at Foley Square against the Dakota Access Pipeline, an under-construction oil pipeline that would run from North Dakota to Illinois through Native American territory, had grown to include around 2,000 protesters by 6 p.m., some of whom banded together to block the street in front of the federal court building, witnesses told Patch. That's when the New York City Police Department (NYPD) began making arrests.

One of the protesters, Naila Smith, said she watched more than a dozen of her peers — including elderly women — detained for apparently "standing or walking into areas the police don't like."

Candace Bryan, a freelance writer at the scene, said she saw nearly 40 people detained.

As is standard, the NYPD's press office would not immediately confirm any arrests were being made at the demonstration.

"We are aware that there's a protest," a police spokesman said. "As for arrests... try back later." (We'll update this post with the arrest numbers when we have them.)

Photos taken by activists and reporters at the scene showed a large crowd of police officers holding zip-tie handcuffs and corralling detained protesters into white NYPD vans — all beneath the glittering skyscrapers of Manhattan's Financial District.

According to Smith, cops told protesters they were being arrested because they were blocking the roadway.

But "the roadway is blocked by the police vans first," she said via text message. "They've shut the side of the street down....where they are making arrests!"

Around 7:30 p.m., the remaining protesters marched a few blocks south to NYPD headquarters at 1 Police Plaza, where they continued protesting and showing support for their friends who'd been detained.

The Dakota Access Pipeline opposition movement, #NoDAPL for short, has gained significant steam in the past few weeks, even as Donald Trump's freak appointment to the White House has consumed the nation's consciousness.

Here's what they want, according to NYC organizers on Facebook:

"We demand that Indigenous rights, treaties, sovereignty, and self-determination be honored. We demand that the U.S. Justice Department begin a formal investigation of human rights abuses at Standing Rock. We demand the protection of water everywhere. We demand that fossil fuels be kept in the ground. We demand that the Obama Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers immediately and permanently cease construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the AIM pipeline in New York."

Lead photo courtesy of Naila Smith/Twitter