Standing Rock:New camp blocks route, pepper spray and rubber bullets used,water protector's drone shot down

The situation at Standing Rock has escalated again. On the 24th of October, a new #NoDAPL camp was set up directly across the route of the pipeline. The tribe has claimed the land under eminent domain and an 1851 treaty, using one of the pipeline builder's own tactics against them in doing so. The police have responded with rubber bullets and pepper spray in an attempt to break this new front line.

The only other thing stopping unpermitted drilling under the Missouri River right now is the ongoing occupation of a crucial waste disposal site the drilling cannot proceed without. This occupation was set up on the 23ed of October. Also on Oct 23, police shot down a drone used by protesters, claiming it was taking on their surveillance helicopter.

There is video posted to Facebook said to show the police firing on the drone while it is not very close to their helicopter. The Washington post reports the damaged drone was landed and presumably recovered for repairs. If it is even true that the drone operator was trying to keep the dangerous and armed police helicopter from approaching protesters, most likely this would have involved simply arriving first in the claimed airspace, then staying there just like a locked-down protester would.

The police for their part have used aircraft to spray pepper spray on water protectors, only the water protectors are nonviolent. If the rubber bullets that downed the drone were fired from a police helicopter, that proves police are still arming their aircraft to fire on protesters from the air, as this is the kind of ammunition their ground troops have been using.

With the Washington Post talking like an air battle took place over Standing Rock, it may be time to consider the high probability that this will soon happen somewhere else and may in time become common. At Standing Rock the tribe has set strict rules of engagment, there are a lot of battles fought between police and protesters in places like Baltimore and Baton Rouge where no such rules apply. Drones are cheap and swarms of drones can make an air denial strategy available to anyone. If they get to the sky first, they can even do so without using any kind of violence themselves. No pilot will voluntarily fly his manned aircraft into a swarm of well-marked stationary drones holding space. The days of police controlling the skies and using high-tech toys to track everyone on the ground may be coming to an end.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/10/24/dapl-crackdown-cont...