Nebraska law enforcement, Keystone XL pipeline foes prepare for possible protests

LINCOLN — When Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier crested a hill near Cannonball Creek last August, he knew he was in trouble.

A group of protesters had blocked a private road used by workers building the Dakota Access pipeline across his North Dakota county, halting the construction work.

Eleven protesters were arrested that day. It was the first of months of demonstrations, some violent, that quickly overwhelmed Kirchmeier’s 33-member Sheriff’s Office.

What began as a couple of small protest camps on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation eventually swelled into an international incident. Now the sheriff thinks Nebraska will be next for a similar mega demonstration.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/nebraska-law-enforcement-keystone-xl-pipeline-foes-prepare-for-possible/article_d85522c1-73cd-541c-98f2-f9b3375e8a3c.html