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US: Lasers aimed at aircraft surveying North Dakota pipeline protest

Laser beams were twice aimed at aircraft monitoring the site of a protest over construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline.

The first incident occurred August 17 2016 at about 5:15 am. The light went into the pilot’s eye, leaving his vision “dangerously obstructed”, according to Cecily Fong, public information officer of the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.

The second incident happened on August 21 2016 at about 12:45 am. The pilot looked away in time to avoid the laser light, according to the Morton County Sheriff’s department.

News reports are unclear, but it appears the same aircraft and same pilot were involved in both incidents.

The flights were being done by the North Dakota Highway Patrol to monitor approximately 3,000 persons — most Native American tribal members — who wanted to block construction of the pipeline until a court hearing could take place over its impact to sacred sites and culturally important landscapes.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in to try and find the laser perpetrator(s).

Tara Houska, speaking on behalf of Honor the Earth, a non-profit organization supporting indigenous peoples’ environmental justice, said “Why launch a federal investigation into a laser pointer instead of asking what right the U.S. government has to fly surveillance planes over sovereign nations in the first place?”

From KELOland TV, Snopes, Forum News Service, Belleville News-Democrat and Intercontinental Cry magazine