Shailene pleads not guilty in Dakota pipeline protest

Actress Shailene Woodley pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges stemming from her high-profile arrest with 27 other people while protesting construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, court documents show.
The 24-year-old film star was not in court for the brief hearing in Morton County District Court, in North Dakota, where her attorney entered the pleas to misdemeanor counts of trespassing and engaging in a riot, according to the documents.
Woodley, who had been broadcasting the Oct. 10 protest on Facebook Live at a Dakota Access pipeline construction site about 3.2 km south of the town of St. Anthony, was seen on camera being taken into custody.
The actress narrated her own arrest, saying she had been heading peacefully back to her vehicle when, “They grabbed me by my jacket and said that I wasn’t allowed to continue ... and they have giant guns and batons and zip ties and they are not letting me go.”
Police said at the time that Woodley was among the last people arrested and was taken into custody after she left private property.
Woodley, who aside from her acting is known for her environmental activism, has previously joined members of North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to demonstrate against the $3.7 billion project.
The group behind the pipeline, called Dakota Access, had planned to start operations in the fourth quarter of this year, but construction has been hampered by demonstrations.
The tribe believes the pipeline would leave its land vulnerable to contamination from oil spills and would damage historic and culturally significant sites.

Source: Arab News