Oil and Water

Leaked documents and public records reveal a troubling fusion of private security, public law enforcement, and corporate money in the fight over the Dakota Access pipeline.

Part 1

Leaked Documents Reveal Counterterrorism Tactics Used at Standing Rock to “Defeat Pipeline Insurgencies”

CANNON BALL, ND - DECEMBER 01: Military veterans confront police guarding a bridge near Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 1, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Native Americans and activists from around the country have been gathering at the camp for several months trying to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The proposed 1,172-mile-long pipeline would transport oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota, Iowa and into Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Part 2

Standing Rock Documents Expose Inner Workings of “Surveillance-Industrial Complex”

In this aerial photo the Sacred Stones Camp on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and along the Cannonball River, where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline, is seen in Cannon Ball, N.D., Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. A federal judge on Monday refused to stop construction on the last stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, which is progressing much faster than expected. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

Part 3

As Standing Rock Camps Cleared Out, TigerSwan Expanded Surveillance to Array of Progressive Causes

The Mariner East 2 pipeline has officially broken ground in the Delaware County town of Aston. The beginning stages of the pipeline includes clear cutting trees and preparing makeshift roads for the heavy machinery to traverse. (Emily Cohen for State Impact)

Part 4

Dakota Access-Style Policing Moves to Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2 Pipeline

People gather at an encampment by the Missouri River, where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's protest against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipe (DAPL), near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on September 3, 2016.The Indian reservation in North Dakota is the site of the largest gathering of Native Americans in more than 100 years. Indigenous people from across the US are living in camps on the Standing Rock reservation as they protest the construction of the new oil pipeline which they fear will destroy their water supply. / AFP / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Part 5

TigerSwan Faces Lawsuit Over Unlicensed Security Operations in North Dakota

Jessica Reznicek, left, and Ruby Montoya, right, admit to previously vandalizing Dakota Access equipment infront of the Iowa Utilities Board on Monday, July 24, 2017 in Des Moines. The pair finished their statement and then pried off letters from the sign before being arrested by the Iowa State Patrol.

Part 6

TigerSwan Responded to Pipeline Vandalism by Launching Multistate Dragnet

Part 7

Police Used Private Security Aircraft for Surveillance in Standing Rock No-Fly Zone

Part 8

Law Enforcement Descended On Standing Rock A Year Ago And Changed the DAPL Fight Forever

NORTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES - 2017/02/22: Defiant Dakota Access Pipeline water protectors faced-off with various law enforcement agencies on the day the camp was slated to be raided. Many protesters and independent journalist, who were all threatened with multiple felony charges if they didn't leave were met with militarized police on the road abutting the camp. At least six were arrested, including a journalist who reportedly had sustained a broken hip. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Part 9

Dakota Access Pipeline Company Paid Mercenaries to Build Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Environmentalists

Tires burn as armed soldiers and law enforcement officers stand in formation on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, to force Dakota Access pipeline protesters off private land where they had camped to block construction. The pipeline is to carry oil from western North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Ill. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

Part 10

An Activist Stands Accused of Firing a Gun at Standing Rock. It Belonged to Her Lover — an FBI Informant.