4 Arrested During Protest Against Dakota Access Pipeline In Loop Bank
By aaroncynic in News on Feb 8, 2017 11:00PM
A group of water protectors chained together inside a Citibank branch in the Loop. Citibank is one of 17 banks that have provided funding for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Photo by Tyler Lariviere/Chicagoist. 
Citibank is one of 17 banks that have directly funded the pipeline.
“As a major funder of DAPL, Citibank is directly sponsoring the ongoing genocide of Native peoples and endangering the waters, lands and living communities of the entire Missouri River watershed,” representatives of the group wrote in a press release sent out shortly after the activists chained themselves together inside the bank branch, at 69 W Washington St. “Banks that fund fossil fuels are directly responsible for climate change - the social and environmental violence they perpetuate represents a clear example of ecocide.”
Video from #Citibank. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/jkCCdOykOR
— Tyler LaRiviere (@TylerLaRiviere) February 8, 2017
About 2 dozen police at #CitiBank as activists are still chained together inside. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/nrvzhSIvqj
— Tyler LaRiviere (@TylerLaRiviere) February 8, 2017
The action comes just days after several hundred people rallied in the Loop over the weekend to show their solidarity with indigenous peoples who have been fighting to keep the DAPL from pushing through the area of Standing Rock in North Dakota.
According to documents published by ABC in early November, a previously proposed route had the pipeline crossing the Missouri River north of Bismarck, ND, but that was rejected due to concerns raised by engineers over the potential contamination of drinking water. It was instead rerouted on lands belonging to indigenous peoples, who are concerned for the contamination of their drinking water. Activists nationwide, dubbed "water protectors," have been protesting both at the site and across the country for months.
A water protector is wheeled away on an office chair at a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at a Citibank branch in Chicago. The bank is one of 17 that has provided funding for the pipeline. Photo by Tyler Lariviere/Chicagoist.
On Tuesday, the US Army said it would cancel an environmental study and move forward with construction, according to the Chicago Tribune. Water protectors in North Dakota and their allies around the country have vowed to fight the move.
A Chicago Police Tactical Unit was dispatched to cut the chains that locked the activists together, who were then arrested and wheeled out on chairs.