Protesters Hit The Streets In Protest, This Time Over Proposed Dakota Access Pipeline

AUSTIN, TX — Another day in Austin, another protest march. On Tuesday, motorists dealing with rush-hour traffic had the added challenge of negotiating around protesters marching against banks funding the Dakota Access pipeline.

Since the election of Donald Trump — who lost the popular vote in the race for president to Hillary Clinton but secured the electoral vote — there have been several marches decrying the rise of the real estate mogul to the nation's highest executive office. On Sunday, those supporting immigrant rights staged a rally fronting City Hall and then marched to the Capitol in solidarity. Later that evening, another group took to downtown streets also to voice displeasure over the election.

Tuesday's group was for a different cause but just as polarizing. The propsed $3.7 billion, 1,172-mile pipeline would stretch from the oil-rich Bakken Formation — a vast underground deposit at a site where Montana and North Dakota meet Canada — southeast into South Dakota, Illinois and Iowa. An estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered oil are believed to be in the U.S. portion alone, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

But many oppose the project, including members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who say the proposed pipeline threatens the tribe's environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious and cultural significance to them, according to their lawsuit seeking to halt the project.

The Austin Police Department put out a statement saying the group did not secure the needed permit to protest in the streets. But the nature of the city as the capital of Texas and its history of protests enabled the police to make allowances for the spontaneous march, APD said in a statement.

The protest started with a 4 p.m. rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol building with a march through the downtown area starting about an hour later.

"Marches and political protests on city streets normally require the securement of a permit," police wrote. "However, as a state capital, the City of Austin has had a long history of spontaneous and non-permitted protests."

Either way, police are tasked to safeguard the streets and keep motorists and march participants safe, the APD said.

"Whether an event is permitted or not, the Austin Police Department’s mission is to safeguard lives and property, while minimizing the impact to traffic," APD said in a prepared statement. "In the spirit of the First Amendment, the Department regularly attempts to coordinate these events with protesters to ensure a balanced policing approach."

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