WEBVTT - Episode 1: Netizens Assemble 0:00:17.242 --> 0:00:25.202 Pushkin Hi, folks, Amy here, Before we get into this episode, 0:00:25.242 --> 0:00:27.002 I wanted to let you know that you can hear 0:00:27.202 --> 0:00:31.162 all episodes from this mini season of Drilled the propagandist 0:00:31.762 --> 0:00:35.282 ad free right now by signing up for Pushkin Plus. 0:00:35.442 --> 0:00:38.721 We're only able to continue doing our research and reporting 0:00:38.882 --> 0:00:41.402 on these important climate stories with the help of you 0:00:41.722 --> 0:00:45.202 are listeners, and we appreciate your support so much. With 0:00:45.282 --> 0:00:48.402 a Pushkin Plus subscription, you'll also get ad free listening 0:00:48.602 --> 0:00:53.522 for all pushkin shows, plus other series, binges, full audiobooks, 0:00:53.562 --> 0:00:56.682 and more. Find Pushkin Plus on the Drilled show page 0:00:56.762 --> 0:01:02.602 in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm, slash plus. Okay, 0:01:02.682 --> 0:01:08.282 let's get into it. It's been a decade now since 0:01:08.362 --> 0:01:11.482 members of the Standing Rocks to Tribe launched a historic 0:01:11.522 --> 0:01:15.202 movement to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, but 0:01:15.362 --> 0:01:19.202 somehow details of the pipeline company's efforts to undermine the 0:01:19.241 --> 0:01:23.081 movement are still coming to light. I'm Amy Westervelt and 0:01:23.122 --> 0:01:26.521 this is Drilled. Last year we brought you Slapped from 0:01:26.601 --> 0:01:30.321 reporter Alan Brown, the story of the pipeline company Energy 0:01:30.362 --> 0:01:35.282 Transfers massive lawsuit blaming Green Peace for the Standing Rock movement. 0:01:35.722 --> 0:01:38.562 Energy Transfer won that suit, and the judgment was so 0:01:38.801 --> 0:01:41.441 large it puts the future of green Peace in the 0:01:41.601 --> 0:01:46.122 US at risk. Standing Rock started out as one indigenous 0:01:46.202 --> 0:01:50.322 nation's attempt to protect their drinking water, sacred sites, and 0:01:50.442 --> 0:01:54.762 treaty rights. Then thousands of people showed up to camps 0:01:54.882 --> 0:01:57.722 at the edge of the reservation to support them. But 0:01:57.842 --> 0:02:02.082 for Energy Transfer's brand, the story of Standing Rock was 0:02:02.122 --> 0:02:07.041 as dangerous as any protest, so Energy Transfer's lawsuit wasn't 0:02:07.082 --> 0:02:10.282 just about sticking it to green Peace. The company used 0:02:10.322 --> 0:02:13.122 a big swing legal case to retell the story of 0:02:13.162 --> 0:02:17.442 an indigenous led water protector movement. And that effort didn't 0:02:17.442 --> 0:02:20.522 start in the courtroom, but in an incredibly well documented 0:02:20.562 --> 0:02:24.362 ground campaign. Alien's back to tell you the story of 0:02:24.442 --> 0:02:25.762 that campaign. 0:02:33.202 --> 0:02:36.722 Is this Do Hi, Doug. My name is Ellen Brown. 0:02:36.882 --> 0:02:40.362 I'm a reporter working in a story related to the 0:02:40.602 --> 0:02:43.642 protests back in twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen against the 0:02:43.722 --> 0:02:49.762 Dakota Access Pipeline, And some guys at Rusty's tavern said 0:02:49.762 --> 0:02:51.682 that you would be a good person to talk to. 0:02:53.322 --> 0:02:56.562 Well, I can't believe we were begging in the stores 0:02:56.602 --> 0:02:59.762 and rushies. 0:03:00.002 --> 0:03:02.882 This past spring. Some guys at a bar in Morton County, 0:03:02.882 --> 0:03:05.562 North Dakota told me that if I wanted to understand 0:03:05.562 --> 0:03:08.882 the impact the Standing Rock movement had on nearby communities, 0:03:09.402 --> 0:03:12.762 I should call up the rancher, Doug Hilly. And Doug 0:03:12.802 --> 0:03:14.882 got right to the point, what is the place like 0:03:14.922 --> 0:03:15.602 where you're from? 0:03:16.442 --> 0:03:21.282 Not many people live here, and we had strangers driving around. 0:03:21.482 --> 0:03:24.282 I'll that's Doug lives on a dead end road and 0:03:24.362 --> 0:03:28.322 part of the Dakota Access Pipeline route runs nearby. Unusual 0:03:28.362 --> 0:03:29.522 stuff started to happen. 0:03:30.002 --> 0:03:30.922 There was a. 0:03:30.922 --> 0:03:34.322 Group out of street car, somebody sitting. 0:03:34.002 --> 0:03:37.082 In the back seat with a big cameral and sticking out. 0:03:37.722 --> 0:03:39.322 I asked him what they were doing on the road 0:03:39.362 --> 0:03:42.802 here and they said it's a public road and I said, well, 0:03:42.842 --> 0:03:46.962 we watched drives in this neighborhood and we. 0:03:46.922 --> 0:03:49.322 Want to know the reason that you're here. 0:03:49.762 --> 0:03:52.402 The strangers wouldn't answer many questions, so. 0:03:52.722 --> 0:03:53.322 I went. 0:03:54.842 --> 0:03:57.682 Come back into the yard and picked up a rifle. 0:03:58.202 --> 0:04:01.202 They were taking pictures of the yard in a mailbox 0:04:01.282 --> 0:04:06.002 and everything, and I said I think you should leave, 0:04:06.042 --> 0:04:09.122 and they said, are you going to make us? I 0:04:09.162 --> 0:04:10.802 said no, but my friend here and. 0:04:11.242 --> 0:04:14.202 My rifle will probably helped me and they left. 0:04:16.162 --> 0:04:18.801 Doug told me that they posted images of him online. 0:04:19.601 --> 0:04:23.282 He began hearing other stories from his neighbors. A group 0:04:23.322 --> 0:04:26.562 of protesters blocked a school bus from taking their normal route. 0:04:27.202 --> 0:04:29.642 A grandma and her grandkids hid in the safe room 0:04:29.682 --> 0:04:33.442 for four hours because they were worried about protesters. The 0:04:33.522 --> 0:04:35.922 new traffic made it difficult for Doug and people he 0:04:36.002 --> 0:04:39.202 knew to drive semi trucks loaded with hay down narrow 0:04:39.242 --> 0:04:40.082 country roads. 0:04:40.602 --> 0:04:44.202 I and several other people just out in the habit 0:04:44.282 --> 0:04:48.041 that we carried the weapons for personal protection. 0:04:47.682 --> 0:04:50.962 With us, Doug said, Even a decade later, those wounds 0:04:51.002 --> 0:04:51.722 haven't healed. 0:04:52.162 --> 0:04:56.402 Some of us, myself included, have not been on Standing 0:04:56.522 --> 0:04:58.002 Rock since. 0:04:58.562 --> 0:05:00.682 On my trips to North Dakota, I've spent a lot 0:05:00.722 --> 0:05:02.802 of time trying to figure out what this place was 0:05:02.842 --> 0:05:06.002 all about. I wandered the streets of Bismarck and the 0:05:06.002 --> 0:05:08.842 town across the River Mandan, and drove down the county 0:05:08.922 --> 0:05:12.722 highways that connect the cities with the reserv The roads 0:05:12.722 --> 0:05:17.122 are bordered by grassy, rolling hills and occasionally these dramatic buttes. 0:05:17.682 --> 0:05:20.682 It's really pretty. There are a few tiny towns on 0:05:20.722 --> 0:05:23.442 the way and dirt roads leading to ranches like Dugs. 0:05:23.922 --> 0:05:27.682 When Energy Transfers private security contractors first touched down in 0:05:27.722 --> 0:05:31.242 this area in twenty sixteen, they found a community that 0:05:31.322 --> 0:05:34.882 was already pretty angry and freaked out about the pipeline protests, 0:05:35.482 --> 0:05:38.842 and the company developed a social media campaign aimed at 0:05:38.922 --> 0:05:45.962 hardening those divisions. This all went down at the start 0:05:46.002 --> 0:05:49.522 of an era of social media misinformation that would transform 0:05:49.642 --> 0:05:53.802 American's relationships with each other these days. Versions of the 0:05:53.802 --> 0:05:57.642 Facebook propaganda campaign that hit North Dakota get used around 0:05:57.682 --> 0:06:00.802 the world. But what's different in this case is that 0:06:00.882 --> 0:06:05.682 I got a hold of the receipts through a public 0:06:05.722 --> 0:06:09.361 records request. I obtained over one hundred pages of internal 0:06:09.402 --> 0:06:13.882 email and WhatsApp chat records where Energy Transfers propagandists talk 0:06:13.922 --> 0:06:17.282 about exactly what they were trying to do and why 0:06:17.922 --> 0:06:21.361 I'm Aline Brown for drilled and this is the propagandist. 0:06:21.802 --> 0:06:24.802 The inside story of a narrative war between a pipeline 0:06:24.842 --> 0:06:35.762 company and an environmental movement. Back in twenty sixteen, a 0:06:35.802 --> 0:06:39.842 private Facebook group called Defend Bisman became the place for 0:06:39.882 --> 0:06:44.082 neighbors to exchange their negative experiences with the Standing Rock protests. 0:06:44.762 --> 0:06:48.762 BISMAN stands for Bismarck and Mandan and kay Lecoe was 0:06:48.802 --> 0:06:51.322 the administrator of the group. At that time, she was 0:06:51.362 --> 0:06:54.442 also a spokesperson for a coal industry group. I met 0:06:54.442 --> 0:06:56.481 her at a locally owned coffee shop in Bismarck. 0:06:57.162 --> 0:06:59.601 Stick this in your face a little bit on a rom. 0:07:00.962 --> 0:07:03.482 And my voice projects quite well, so great. 0:07:03.642 --> 0:07:07.242 Yeah, I just wanted to ask you about two things 0:07:07.242 --> 0:07:12.522 about your own biography. One is, you know, just because 0:07:12.562 --> 0:07:16.282 I think people who understand that you work for this 0:07:16.482 --> 0:07:20.002 cool company might be like, well, you know, clearly she 0:07:20.202 --> 0:07:21.922 was doing this out of her like love for the 0:07:21.922 --> 0:07:26.522 fossil fuel industry. The other thing is you do horse 0:07:26.602 --> 0:07:27.442 riding with guns. 0:07:28.682 --> 0:07:32.242 So to your first point, I love coal, I love 0:07:32.322 --> 0:07:36.802 my community. Coal and oil are completely different things. I 0:07:36.842 --> 0:07:40.522 had no stance on the pipeline. There was a void 0:07:40.522 --> 0:07:43.042 that I could help fill with my skill set of 0:07:43.762 --> 0:07:52.642 helping create and shape constructive conversation on a Facebook group. Again, 0:07:52.722 --> 0:07:56.082 I'm about my community and my people, and so yes, 0:07:56.242 --> 0:07:59.442 my favorite pastime what I do in my free time 0:07:59.602 --> 0:08:02.202 is I shoot guns off of horses at high speeds 0:08:02.242 --> 0:08:04.482 and it's just the coolest thing in the world. 0:08:05.362 --> 0:08:08.562 He tells me. The protest did cause some genuine disruptions. 0:08:09.002 --> 0:08:12.962 There was vandalism, There was fences that were cut, there 0:08:13.002 --> 0:08:18.882 were animals that were run around pastures and stuff like that. 0:08:18.962 --> 0:08:25.042 So there were things. There was just enough truth that 0:08:25.202 --> 0:08:28.442 you could really blow it up if you wanted to. 0:08:29.962 --> 0:08:33.922 Facebook Live had launched publicly that same year, and pipeline 0:08:33.962 --> 0:08:37.442 opponents and movement journalists were streaming videos from the frontlines 0:08:37.442 --> 0:08:40.802 of protests where cops were sometimes firing teargas or rubber 0:08:40.842 --> 0:08:45.482 bullets at unarmed demonstrators. It hit different when people could 0:08:45.521 --> 0:08:49.562 watch police violence unfold in real time, and the posts 0:08:49.561 --> 0:08:55.961 were getting reshared by people around the world. But a 0:08:56.002 --> 0:08:58.602 lot of people in Bismarck and Mandan are pretty conservative. 0:08:59.202 --> 0:09:02.602 Many have family or friends who are police officers. When 0:09:02.602 --> 0:09:05.922 they watched that footage, what they noticed was pipeline opponents 0:09:05.962 --> 0:09:10.761 defying police orders, yelling at cops or throwing things. At 0:09:10.761 --> 0:09:17.041 one point, people lit a bridge on fire. Hey and 0:09:17.161 --> 0:09:20.002 other local folks felt like their voices were being drowned 0:09:20.041 --> 0:09:23.722 out online, and some got docksed for taking a position 0:09:23.801 --> 0:09:25.242 against the Standing Rock movement. 0:09:25.641 --> 0:09:31.002 I experienced it was I was dockxed big time too. 0:09:31.161 --> 0:09:35.962 I received the death threats and there was several locations 0:09:35.962 --> 0:09:36.761 that I got followed. 0:09:38.002 --> 0:09:40.961 But then another Facebook page appeared that seemed to be 0:09:41.002 --> 0:09:44.921 aligned with K's group. It was called Nedicines for Progress 0:09:45.041 --> 0:09:45.761 and Justice. 0:09:46.322 --> 0:09:49.522 I remember Nedicins came on the scene and it was 0:09:49.561 --> 0:09:50.602 like boom boom. 0:09:50.641 --> 0:09:52.402 I mean like it was like this bam boum. 0:09:52.962 --> 0:09:56.242 They had a dramatic logo with an N and all 0:09:56.322 --> 0:09:59.482 these videos with titles like four reasons why Standing Rock 0:09:59.602 --> 0:10:03.122 is the worst protest in the last century. It hit 0:10:03.122 --> 0:10:05.002 a nerve for a lot of locals who felt like 0:10:05.082 --> 0:10:07.922 they didn't have media representing their views the way the 0:10:07.962 --> 0:10:11.281 movement had. Who did you think they were at the time? 0:10:11.681 --> 0:10:14.722 Kate told me Nedicines presented itself as a counterweight to 0:10:14.801 --> 0:10:16.401 all that pro movement media. 0:10:17.202 --> 0:10:22.322 They have all of these this is your counter Where 0:10:22.161 --> 0:10:23.122 are your friends? 0:10:23.602 --> 0:10:28.201 Trust us? A couple months earlier, after a video went 0:10:28.322 --> 0:10:32.881 viral of security dogs attacking pipeline opponents, Energy Transfer had 0:10:32.962 --> 0:10:38.322 hired the private security company Tiger Swan. Tiger Swan was 0:10:38.362 --> 0:10:40.921 founded by an ex commander of the Army Special Missions 0:10:41.002 --> 0:10:45.282 Unit Delta Force. Its contractors were mostly veterans. The more 0:10:45.322 --> 0:10:48.401 you understand this company's background, the more it makes sense 0:10:48.442 --> 0:10:51.482 that they would be doing propaganda. Tiger Swan was started 0:10:51.561 --> 0:10:53.922 during this post nine to eleven era, where something called 0:10:53.962 --> 0:10:58.161 counterinsurgency was the reigning military doctrine. One of the things 0:10:58.161 --> 0:11:00.921 that blew my mind about some of these internal documents 0:11:00.921 --> 0:11:04.482 I obtained is that Tiger Swan explicitly called its efforts 0:11:04.482 --> 0:11:10.041 at Standing Rock a counterinsurgency approach. Counterinsurgency doctrine emphasizes that 0:11:10.082 --> 0:11:13.801 convincing local people to take on the military's priorities can 0:11:13.842 --> 0:11:17.322 be as important as armed force. In this case, a 0:11:17.322 --> 0:11:19.761 big part of the battle for hearts and minds was 0:11:19.801 --> 0:11:24.002 being fought on Facebook. The guy Tiger Swan brought on 0:11:24.041 --> 0:11:26.841 to lead that effort didn't serve in the military, though. 0:11:27.442 --> 0:11:29.482 His name is Robert Rice and he's more of a 0:11:29.521 --> 0:11:33.682 tech guy. His big thing is virtual reality, and he 0:11:33.801 --> 0:11:39.041 even attempted to develop a virtual universe called Omniscape. Propaganda 0:11:39.122 --> 0:11:42.402 might also be about changing people's perception of reality, but 0:11:42.442 --> 0:11:45.282 it's not totally clear why he was the guy for 0:11:45.322 --> 0:11:50.082 the job. When Robert Rice joined Tiger Swan's anti protest effort, 0:11:50.482 --> 0:11:53.482 he started searching for a new narrative that could replace 0:11:53.482 --> 0:11:57.562 the story of peaceful indigenous water protectors fighting for the environment. 0:11:58.362 --> 0:12:01.881 I know because I've read his emails. In one of them, 0:12:02.002 --> 0:12:04.881 he asked if security contractors on the ground could take 0:12:04.921 --> 0:12:08.242 pictures of the wastewater drainage system for the tribe's casino. 0:12:09.161 --> 0:12:11.722 The idea was to claim the tribe was one polluting 0:12:11.761 --> 0:12:12.082 the river. 0:12:12.842 --> 0:12:15.682 They all lead directly to the river, so if we 0:12:15.681 --> 0:12:18.362 can show a link or a very close proximity, we 0:12:18.401 --> 0:12:21.002 can take the wind out of the water protector's line. 0:12:21.401 --> 0:12:23.362 That's the voice of an actor we hired to play 0:12:23.442 --> 0:12:27.562 Robert Rice. Robert also wanted photos of any dogs that 0:12:27.602 --> 0:12:29.561 got injured the day of the dog attacks. 0:12:29.962 --> 0:12:31.921 I want to create a few fault lines between all 0:12:31.921 --> 0:12:36.362 the third party activists and the tribes. Highlighting animal abuse 0:12:36.521 --> 0:12:39.322 and attacking dogs will have some effect with a few groups. 0:12:39.761 --> 0:12:42.242 At the same time, he seemed aware that it's not 0:12:42.442 --> 0:12:45.321 actually a great look to go after an indigenous movement. 0:12:45.761 --> 0:12:48.321 We want to be careful of public opinion and sentiment 0:12:48.362 --> 0:12:50.602 towards Native Americans, so we want to focus on the 0:12:50.641 --> 0:12:54.242 issues specifically, or wiggle around to take the side of 0:12:54.242 --> 0:12:54.801 the tribes. 0:12:55.161 --> 0:12:57.522 In other words, he wanted to attack a movement that 0:12:57.641 --> 0:13:00.521 was started by indigenous people and supported by hundreds of 0:13:00.561 --> 0:13:05.282 tribal nations while also avoiding the appearance of antagonizing native people. 0:13:05.881 --> 0:13:08.521 Robert Rice wasn't just off alone in a weird corner 0:13:08.521 --> 0:13:11.682 coming up with this stuff. He was deep in conversation 0:13:11.842 --> 0:13:15.322 with other Tiger Swan contractors, and those guys had a 0:13:15.362 --> 0:13:19.761 lot going on. Tier Swan was flying aerial surveillance drones 0:13:19.801 --> 0:13:23.282 over the camps, listening in on water Protectors radios, and 0:13:23.401 --> 0:13:27.401 even sending Tiger Swan operatives into the anti pipeline camps undercover. 0:13:28.322 --> 0:13:32.161 They weren't just collecting information. In a WhatsApp chat that 0:13:32.242 --> 0:13:35.962 included Tiger Swan's founder as well as Robert Rice, another 0:13:36.041 --> 0:13:39.802 Tiger Swan contractor floated the idea of sabotaging the porta 0:13:39.842 --> 0:13:43.682 potties by somehow removing the anti freeze element so waste 0:13:43.722 --> 0:13:47.122 would freeze. He told Robert that they should make lots 0:13:47.161 --> 0:13:49.921 of noise all the time and maybe pay some kids 0:13:49.962 --> 0:13:53.281 to fly drones over the camp with speakers playing Scandinavian 0:13:53.322 --> 0:13:56.522 death meedal. This is the kind of stuff the US 0:13:56.602 --> 0:13:59.082 government has done when they want to break down groups 0:13:59.122 --> 0:14:03.202 they see as dangerous. In fact, this Tiger Swan contractor 0:14:03.401 --> 0:14:08.362 described his ideas as psychological warfare, and Robert Rice chimed 0:14:08.401 --> 0:14:10.842 into personally. 0:14:10.801 --> 0:14:13.482 I think twenty four hour floodlights are good. I would 0:14:13.482 --> 0:14:16.681 also get some directional jammers to disrupt WiFi, but not sell. 0:14:17.362 --> 0:14:19.282 They may need that for emergency calls, and if they 0:14:19.322 --> 0:14:21.762 want the Internet, let them chew up their data. 0:14:22.282 --> 0:14:26.002 Despite his spicy suggestions, Robert gives off kind of a 0:14:26.042 --> 0:14:29.482 try hard energy. Like when a well known military veteran 0:14:29.522 --> 0:14:32.762 announced he was joining the Standing Rock movement, Robert made 0:14:32.802 --> 0:14:35.602 a point to complain, I mean shit. 0:14:35.681 --> 0:14:38.082 I did four years of JROTC and I feel like 0:14:38.122 --> 0:14:40.321 I got more out of it playing soldier than he did. 0:14:40.681 --> 0:14:43.642 Now he wants to fight against law enforcement. Kind of 0:14:43.681 --> 0:14:46.522 pisses me off. I missed my chance to serve and 0:14:46.561 --> 0:14:51.081 this nutjobs going to shit on things. Sorry, this sort 0:14:51.122 --> 0:14:52.482 of thing really annoys the hell out of me. 0:14:53.402 --> 0:14:55.681 All of this was happening right around the time Donald 0:14:55.722 --> 0:14:56.682 Trump was elected. 0:14:57.322 --> 0:15:07.002 We're going to rescind all the job destroying Obama executive actions, 0:15:08.722 --> 0:15:12.202 including the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the 0:15:12.322 --> 0:15:13.482 United States Rule. 0:15:14.082 --> 0:15:17.802 Okay, I remember that Trump held investments in both energy 0:15:17.842 --> 0:15:21.162 transfer and Phillip sixty six, another company behind the Code 0:15:21.162 --> 0:15:24.882 Access pipeline. As he was going around yelling about American 0:15:25.002 --> 0:15:29.882 energy dominance. Social media disinformation was flooding the Internet like 0:15:30.042 --> 0:15:33.042 never before, and a lot of it was favorable to him. 0:15:33.482 --> 0:15:35.162 I don't know if it was intentional or not, but 0:15:35.242 --> 0:15:38.962 Tiger Schwan's propaganda team launched the Netizin's Facebook page the 0:15:39.042 --> 0:15:42.842 same day that Trump declared victory. They posted videos featuring 0:15:42.882 --> 0:15:46.802 plaintext over images with the kind of sappy, inspirational music 0:15:46.962 --> 0:15:49.282 you might hear in a video by a yoga influencer 0:15:49.882 --> 0:15:55.402 like this. Its first videos claimed the pipeline post no 0:15:55.522 --> 0:15:58.162 risk to water or sacred sites, and the movement was 0:15:58.202 --> 0:16:02.842 full of paid protesters and criminals. One early video flashed 0:16:02.842 --> 0:16:06.242 a bunch of mugshots of water protectors, which were actually 0:16:06.282 --> 0:16:08.722 sent to Robert by a pr guy for the National 0:16:08.762 --> 0:16:13.122 Sheriff's Association. The video hit their mark. Here's from one 0:16:13.122 --> 0:16:15.802 comment from a couple of weeks after the Nedison's launch. 0:16:16.802 --> 0:16:19.202 Thank you Nediicans for getting the rest of the story 0:16:19.242 --> 0:16:23.202 out there. Exclamation mark, exclamation mark, exclamation mark, exclamation mark. 0:16:23.561 --> 0:16:26.441 North Dakotins are so fed up with being invaded by 0:16:26.442 --> 0:16:30.242 the violent protesters, and Robert Rice started to notice that 0:16:30.322 --> 0:16:32.642 a lot of the traffic was coming from the Bismarck 0:16:32.681 --> 0:16:33.642 and Mandan area. 0:16:34.482 --> 0:16:37.602 Jim, we are pushing various things on Facebook primary and 0:16:37.681 --> 0:16:41.802 website secondary, definitely contributing to some infighting and factions, both 0:16:42.242 --> 0:16:45.802 internal and on the bigger scope. Like anti protesters in Bisman. 0:16:46.442 --> 0:16:49.162 Robert had a cool idea about how they could increase 0:16:49.202 --> 0:16:51.242 traffic further, if we had. 0:16:51.042 --> 0:16:54.282 Some Kardashian or celebrity nudes, we would have a half 0:16:54.322 --> 0:16:57.441 a million followers. Of two seconds just saying. 0:16:57.442 --> 0:17:01.961 He maybe got something even better than celect nudes. I 0:17:02.002 --> 0:17:04.162 don't know if Robert Rice knew it, but his timing 0:17:04.242 --> 0:17:08.842 was pretty good. Not long after Nedison's launched Locals, frustrations 0:17:08.842 --> 0:17:15.321 with the protests came to a head. The morning of Thanksgiving, 0:17:15.601 --> 0:17:19.522 area residents got an emergency alert on their phones indicating 0:17:19.561 --> 0:17:28.482 that protesters had blocked the intersection connecting the two cities. Honestly, 0:17:28.762 --> 0:17:31.842 videos from this protest seemed sort of tame. People set 0:17:31.922 --> 0:17:33.762 up a long table in the middle of the road 0:17:33.922 --> 0:17:36.641 with pumpkins and a banner painted to look bloody that 0:17:36.722 --> 0:17:41.082 said no decode access pipeline. But they were blocking traffic 0:17:41.121 --> 0:17:44.121 on a holiday. And there was one other thing that 0:17:44.282 --> 0:17:46.561 really got to defend Bisman crowd mad. 0:17:48.882 --> 0:17:53.042 That was the day that protesters gathered in, man down 0:17:53.282 --> 0:17:57.482 and placed pigs heads on sticks and made it very 0:17:57.522 --> 0:18:00.602 well known that they were going to be aggressive towards 0:18:00.642 --> 0:18:02.081 our law enforcement officers. 0:18:02.321 --> 0:18:05.921 Images circulated on social media of a demonstrator carrying a 0:18:05.962 --> 0:18:10.242 pig's head mounted on a stick. Residents like Ka took 0:18:10.282 --> 0:18:11.922 that as a threat to police. 0:18:12.242 --> 0:18:14.962 I think that Thanksgiving Day I spent more than six 0:18:15.002 --> 0:18:19.881 hours on the phone with people who were just outraged 0:18:19.882 --> 0:18:22.962 by all of this. And I think our Facebook group 0:18:23.601 --> 0:18:27.161 numbers at request to join jumped threefold. 0:18:28.561 --> 0:18:31.202 Our First Amendment right basically assemble. 0:18:32.202 --> 0:18:34.601 We prop Probably they did not want you here. You 0:18:34.601 --> 0:18:50.522 will leave immediately. First you will go to jail. I'm 0:18:50.522 --> 0:18:51.082 not gonna ask. 0:18:53.121 --> 0:18:56.881 The next day, Black Friday, water protectors marched into Bismarck's 0:18:56.962 --> 0:19:00.642 Kirkwood Mall and formed a prayer circle before being arrested. 0:19:01.361 --> 0:19:04.002 One local right wing blogger claimed it was a war 0:19:04.202 --> 0:19:06.121 on the Bismarck Mandan community. 0:19:07.762 --> 0:19:09.961 The average citizen was like, you know what, Okay, we'll 0:19:10.042 --> 0:19:13.282 tolerate this for a while. Well, now it's the holidays, 0:19:14.402 --> 0:19:15.282 it's getting cold. 0:19:16.682 --> 0:19:17.482 Get the hell up. 0:19:18.121 --> 0:19:21.241 That same day, in a WhatsApp chat, Robert celebrated that 0:19:21.282 --> 0:19:23.242 his page views seemed to be going up. 0:19:24.282 --> 0:19:26.641 We are doing heavy targeting in the North Dakota area, 0:19:26.682 --> 0:19:29.442 mostly to focus on increasing the fracturing and creating doubt. 0:19:30.121 --> 0:19:32.121 At least on the website. The majority of traffic is 0:19:32.162 --> 0:19:34.121 in North Dakota, with Bismarck at the top of the 0:19:34.121 --> 0:19:36.642 list with about twenty five percent of traffic. 0:19:41.121 --> 0:19:45.161 People were already upset and Robert was using nedicines to 0:19:45.282 --> 0:19:50.522 intentionally worsen divisions. The posts and videos kept coming saying 0:19:50.522 --> 0:19:53.721 that outside interest groups had hijacked the movement and there 0:19:53.722 --> 0:19:58.522 were eco terrorists involved. Things started to move beyond just 0:19:58.601 --> 0:20:01.762 the Internet. Kaye was actually in touch with a totally 0:20:01.762 --> 0:20:05.042 different Tiger Swue team member who offered tips about how 0:20:05.081 --> 0:20:08.802 Defend BISMAN members could organize, and she also talked to 0:20:08.841 --> 0:20:12.841 the police on a regular basis. Locals started participating in 0:20:12.922 --> 0:20:17.162 pro police rallies, They held fundraisers for police, They monitored 0:20:17.202 --> 0:20:21.002 water protectors' social media accounts, and they offered assistance to 0:20:21.081 --> 0:20:23.042 business owners that were feeling nervous. 0:20:23.522 --> 0:20:27.762 I do know that there were oftentimes, I would say 0:20:27.762 --> 0:20:31.802 more than a dozen times where somebody would go down 0:20:32.042 --> 0:20:35.882 and sit at a business. I'm not going to throw 0:20:35.962 --> 0:20:38.442 businesses under the bus here, but go down and sit 0:20:38.482 --> 0:20:42.921 at a business and make sure that Agnes gone to 0:20:43.002 --> 0:20:45.722 her car and believing this is a completely fictional character, 0:20:45.762 --> 0:20:47.282 it's just totally North Dakota. 0:20:47.882 --> 0:20:50.922 It's important to note that these polics were talking about 0:20:51.081 --> 0:20:56.401 Morton County, Bismarck, Mandan. They're basically border communities. They're on 0:20:56.482 --> 0:20:59.161 the edge of the Standing Rock Reservation, and they're areas 0:20:59.202 --> 0:21:03.042 that have a long history of racism. Even k acknowledged 0:21:03.081 --> 0:21:04.722 that at. 0:21:04.561 --> 0:21:09.962 The very beginning of the peaceful demonstrations, it really amped 0:21:10.081 --> 0:21:12.642 up that anti Native sentiment. 0:21:13.522 --> 0:21:13.882 She said. 0:21:13.882 --> 0:21:16.522 She made it clear on Facebook that Raci's comments were 0:21:16.601 --> 0:21:20.321 not okay, But for some Indigenous people from Standing Rock, 0:21:20.841 --> 0:21:24.402 the experience of visiting Bismarck started to get worse as 0:21:24.442 --> 0:21:28.282 Tiger Swan poured fuel on the fire online. I talked 0:21:28.282 --> 0:21:30.681 to Valerie Eagleshield about it at a gathering put on 0:21:30.762 --> 0:21:33.841 by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Elders Preservation Council at 0:21:33.882 --> 0:21:40.681 the Prairie Night's Casino. Valerie's in her sixties now. She 0:21:40.762 --> 0:21:42.882 spent a lot of time at the camps and helped 0:21:42.922 --> 0:21:45.002 it a school established there for children. 0:21:47.162 --> 0:21:51.242 I was mainly a support person everybody's mom. I supported 0:21:51.242 --> 0:21:55.321 my daughter with the school, My son sang and stood 0:21:55.321 --> 0:21:58.282 at the front lines, and my husband did a lot 0:21:58.321 --> 0:21:59.561 of the UH prayers. 0:22:00.202 --> 0:22:03.402 This was a fight for her community's water. Valerie spent 0:22:03.442 --> 0:22:05.802 her whole life on Standing Rock, but is enrolled with 0:22:05.841 --> 0:22:09.402 the Mandan Hidatsa and a Ricara Nation. Like everybody from 0:22:09.402 --> 0:22:12.641 the reservation. She comes in out of Bismarck regularly for 0:22:12.722 --> 0:22:13.961 Aaron's and other things. 0:22:14.762 --> 0:22:18.081 They're racist people everywhere, but it wasn't that bad. 0:22:19.121 --> 0:22:22.361 Valerie noticed a shift at the same time that misinformation 0:22:22.522 --> 0:22:24.482 began to saturate the area. 0:22:24.642 --> 0:22:28.442 Things got really ugly when people were telling lies about 0:22:28.482 --> 0:22:32.561 the camp the protectors, saying that they were dangerous. 0:22:32.922 --> 0:22:34.802 She mostly noticed it when she went shopping. 0:22:35.361 --> 0:22:37.682 Yeah, I mean we could go into shop in us 0:22:37.722 --> 0:22:41.601 door and be walking around and then you notice somebody, 0:22:42.242 --> 0:22:44.642 you know, kind of around the corners of the corner 0:22:44.722 --> 0:22:47.681 your eye and you're like, oh, they're watching us. You know. 0:22:48.121 --> 0:22:49.962 She felt it at the checkout counter too. 0:22:50.402 --> 0:22:53.042 I mean you'd say thank you, and they would, you know, 0:22:53.561 --> 0:23:00.482 not respond to and throw your stuff across that check 0:23:00.561 --> 0:23:04.321 thing and then counter change out and drop it on 0:23:04.361 --> 0:23:06.321 the counter, like they didn't want to touch you. 0:23:07.162 --> 0:23:09.962 But the scariest part was when she was driving home. 0:23:10.202 --> 0:23:12.641 Yeah, they would come up really fast on you and 0:23:12.682 --> 0:23:15.762 then I'll just follow you. Even if you slowed way down, 0:23:15.802 --> 0:23:20.282 they'd stay behind you. Yeah, and you worried about what 0:23:20.882 --> 0:23:23.161 because there's long stretches of nothing. 0:23:23.642 --> 0:23:27.682 So the swell of anger in the local communities happened 0:23:27.841 --> 0:23:31.602 just as the camp shrunk pretty dramatically. A big North 0:23:31.682 --> 0:23:34.561 Dakota blizzard came through and hundreds of people had to 0:23:34.642 --> 0:23:37.722 leave all of a sudden. Their stuff got buried in 0:23:37.762 --> 0:23:41.161 the snow and was frozen there, and this became one 0:23:41.162 --> 0:23:45.561 of Nettison's biggest stories. The message was the water protectors 0:23:45.561 --> 0:23:48.841 had left behind an environmental mess of their own, and 0:23:48.882 --> 0:23:50.881 then it was going to contaminate the water when the 0:23:50.922 --> 0:23:55.362 spring came and the snow melted. Videos and posts hammered 0:23:55.361 --> 0:24:01.442 on the idea that pipeline opponents were the real environmental threat. Finally, 0:24:01.522 --> 0:24:07.641 at the end of February twenty seventeen, police evicted the camps. 0:24:07.321 --> 0:24:15.321 Those fractures that Robert Rice and Tiger Swan were looking 0:24:15.361 --> 0:24:18.721 for and trying to widen they were ultimately aimed at 0:24:18.762 --> 0:24:22.642 people's relationships with their neighbors, and there was no way 0:24:22.762 --> 0:24:25.002