Dozens of protesters gathered in Grand Central Terminal Tuesday morning to chant in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in one of several demonstrations that have taken place across the city in recent days.
The demonstrators could be seen in social media videos participating in call-and-response chants and holding signs emblazoned with the hashtag #NoDAPL in the central hall of the transit hub. Photos posted to social media also showed protesters holding up a banner that read "Indigenous sovereignty protects the land and water," while other videos showed the protesters marching down midtown Manhattan streets.
It was just the latest protest in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.8 million, 1,200-pile crude oil pipeline from Illinois to North Dakota that would run near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe wants construction of the largely completed pipeline halted because of concerns about potential contamination of its water supply and says the pipeline will encroach on tribal burial sites and other cultural artifacts.
Thousands of protesters have camped out near the construction zone in North Dakota for the last several months. Several celebrities have turned out to protest the pipeline, including 'Divergent' star Shailene Woodley, who was arrested on trespassing charges.
In New York City, sympathetic demonstrators have picketed in public spaces and held signs in support of the protesters. And early last month, four demonstrators camped out in a 42-inch pipeline underneath the Hudson River in protest of a line that would run between Pennsylvania and New York. But those demonstrators also said they were supporting the activists camping out in North Dakota.
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Protests have also popped up on social media in recent days, with a flurry of people using Facebook's check-in feature to say that they were at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
The check-ins appear to be in reaction to a Facebook post that claims law enforcement is using the social media giant to track protesters.
The post urges people who support the protest to check into the site to confuse authorities.
The Morton County Sheriff's Department fired back with a post of its own Monday, calling the claim "absolutely false."
The main camp supporting the protest says the check-ins brought welcome publicity, but also urged supporters to take "physical action," as well.
More than 140 people were arrested at the site over the weekend.
