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At Least 2,000 Veterans Arrive at Standing Rock to Protest Dakota Pipeline
At least 2,000 U.S. military veterans have arrived at Standing Rock amid frigid cold to help battle against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
The vets, led by Wesley Clark Jr., son of retired general and former presidential candidate Wesley Clark, began arriving in force today to help protest against the controversial crude oil pipeline project in North Dakota.
They are joining the months-long demonstration at a moment of heightened drama: The North Dakota governor has issued an emergency evacuation order for protesters around the site, which follows a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deadline for demonstrators to leave the area by Monday, Dec. 5.
But protesters and their supporters have shown little inclination to back down. Donations to a GoFundMe account launched by Clark in support of Veterans for Standing Rock, a group he claims will "assemble as a peaceful, unarmed militia at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation," have passed the $1 million dollar mark, coming from more than 24,000 individual donors, according to a page promoting the cause.
Standing Rock protesters have described the veterans' mission as serving as a kind of "human shield" between peaceful demonstrators and police.
Clark posted an image to his Twitter account Dec. 1 with a photo of the American flag folded along his dashboard with a wintry Western sky in the background. Accompanying the image, Clark wrote: "We're coming."
Chicago native David Hulse, 34, a Navy veteran who served in Iraq told ABC News that he decided at the last minute to join the protests, describing his involvement as "not a mission of war, but a mission of peace."
"Seeing so many veterans show up," Hulse said. "Out here, it's brotherhood."
Hulse added that the goal of protecting Native American protesters at the site is "a frightening task," but he said he hopes to serve as a witness.
"Violence will not end violence," he said. "Peace will end violence."
Hulse said a 90-year-old man is among the veterans who have arrived at Standing Rock.
Among the veterans are some high-profile names, including U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawaii, who gained prominence when she left the Democratic National Committee to campaign for Sen. Bernie Sanders during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination this year. Gabbard has frequently voiced support for the Dakota Access protest movement over social media.
