Report: Police Use of Water Cannons, Rubber Bullets, Need Safety Standards; White House Deletes Native American Web Content

From Minneapolis protest against use of Hennepin County Sheriffs deputies in North Dakota.

Recent violent clashes over construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) have put a harsh spotlight on law enforcement’s use and abuse of crowd control weapons such as water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades.

The growing use of these weapons can do significant harm — not just physical harm, but harm to people’s basic freedoms of assembly and speech. That’s according to a report released last year by the Physicians for Human Rights and the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations.

The report is calling for an international debate on safe standards and guidelines for when law enforcement can use “crowd control weapons” or CCW.

Vigil at 4 p.m. Today for Water Protector Airlifted to HCMC; More Updates on Injuries

The excessive military response to the Water Protectors in North Dakota continues, this time resulting in serious injury to a woman who was struck in the arm by a concussion grenade. Sophia Wilansky was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) for surgery.

There will be a prayer vigil for her from 4-6 p.m. today outside HCMC, 730 South 8th Street, Minneapolis. Here is the Facebook Page.

Wilansky is 21 years old and from New York, according to a media release from the American Indian Movement. The injury to her arm was so severe it nearly required amputation, and “the extent of the injury is likely to have a devastating impact on her.”

More updates follow.