Jill Stein charged for spray-painting bulldozer in Dakota pipeline protest
When Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein joined in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, she may have gone too far. Stein is accused of criminal trespass and criminal mischief, along with her vice presidential pick Ajamu Baraka.
Morton County Police announced on Facebook on Tuesday that they have issued an arrest warrant for both Stein and Baraka. Both face charges of criminal trespass and mischief after Baraka spray painted “decolonization” on a bulldozer with Stein spray painting, “I approve this message” on another, according to court affidavits posted on Facebook.
The charges are both Class B misdemeanors, which carry a maximum penalty of $1,000 and 30 days in jail.
Stein joined an estimated 150 to 200 people Tuesday in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, which has been fighting to keep the Dakota Access Pipeline from endangering the tribe’s water supply and destroying sacred lands.
No arrests were made at Tuesday’s protest, and Kirchmeier seemed to express a downgrade of police presence.
“At this point ... I don’t believe that we need to go in there and have physical altercations with the protesters,” Kirchmeier said.
In the run-up to the campaign stop, Stein’s poll numbers hovered around 3 percent in four-way presidential polls, according to Real Clear Politics.
