The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Several hundred people rallied in downtown Seattle to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to advance the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, The Seattle Times reported.
The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.
At the rally Tuesday evening, activists said Trump’s decision was devastating and was a rebuke to their efforts to protect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s rights, water supply and sacred sites in the area of the proposed pipeline, the Times reported.
Quinault Indian Nation President Fawn Sharp told the demonstrators: “No matter who you are, you have that precious vision for the future that you have with your children, your grandchildren and several generations out. We all stand united to make sure no power establishment will take that from us.”
The protesters also demonstrated against Trump’s decision to advance the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needs to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.
