The fight over transporting crude oil has spread across the northern U.S., with protesters disrupting pipelines that carry crude from Canada into the U.S. At least one protester has been injured and dozens have been arrested since Monday.
The unrest, in communities from Minnesota to Washington state, is connected in each case to the ongoing battle over an oil pipeline under construction in North Dakota. Since it was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the summer, more than 1,000 people have protested against the Dakota Access Pipeline — specifically the portion that is slated to run under a river near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposes the pipeline because they say the route crosses sacred sites and burial places, and they are concerned that if the pipeline ruptures, an oil spill could pollute drinking water.
Construction had temporarily halted while the courts reviewed the tribe's complaints, but on Sunday a federal appeals court paved the way for building to resume.
That was when two days of clashes began.