North Dakota judge dismisses Dakota Access Pipeline protestor’s case, recognizes ‘horrific injuries’ sustained in DAPL resistance

Sophia Wilansky vows to fight ruling of qualified immunity that shields law enforcement

A federal judge in North Dakota dismissed Sophia Wilansky’s claims that law enforcement used excessive force when targeting her with a grenade during the Dakota Access Pipeline conflict. Wilansky vowed she would fight the recent ruling on the police action at the Backwater Bridge on Nov. 21, 2016.

She is a New York City resident who joined tens of thousands of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe supporters in a yearlong encampment. They aimed to resist the oil pipeline’s construction across the Missouri River. A rupture at that crossing would foul the water for tribes and other downstream communities, the self-described water protectors said.

U.S. District Judge Daniel M. Traynor granted North Dakota’s motion to dismiss Wilansky’s case on April 3. He deemed defendants merit qualified immunity, which keeps officers safe from lawsuits blaming them for violating plaintiff rights.

According to the order, the issue is not “whether the defendant acted wrongly, but whether reasonable persons would know they acted in a manner which deprived another of a known constitutional right,” Traynor ruled. The defendants are Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, Deputy Jonathan Moll and North Dakota Highway Patrol Officer Adam Dvorak.

Traynor wrote that the complaint “euphemistically refers to the protestors as ‘water protectors.’ The reality of the situation… is these individuals were protesting the construction of the pipeline and, thus, were protestors.”

The judge said he did not conclude lightly, noting that Wilansky suffered “horrific injuries” and alleged that officers laughed at her and congratulated Moll for his marksmanship. “While the court appreciates the need for officer safety, it can be easy to devalue the human life officers are sworn to protect — in this instance, the protestors,” the judge said. “The allegation of laughing and congratulating, if true, is appalling.”

Wilansky leveled those charges on Aug. 18 and 25, 2023. Her legal representatives confirmed they are working to appeal the dismissal. “I have committed to continue the fight to expose this extreme police violence with the hope that it prevents anyone else from enduring what I have gone through,” Wilansky said.

 “At 21-years old, I lost the use of my arm because a police officer shot me from a gun turret with an exploding grenade at a protest. My life will never be the same, but I will also not be scared away from fighting for what is right,” she said in a Civil Liberties Defense Center media release on April 6.

On Nov. 20, 2016, law enforcement constructed a barricade across the Backwater Bridge on North Dakota Highway 1806 to prevent pipeline protestors from using the road, according to the judge’s findings. At the time Morton County had recruited $38 million worth of law enforcement support from across the United States.

Traynor’s review noted Kirchmeier escalated a tense situation by requesting help from all law enforcement within 100 miles of the bridge that water protectors demanded to use. After being subjected to water guns and other weapons officers deployed in freezing weather, members of the peaceful, unarmed crowd at the barricade disbursed around midnight.

At about 2 a.m. on Nov. 21, Kirchmeier saw two “burnt-out” vehicles located on the opposite side of the barricade from law enforcement. Wilansky, recorded as having no weaponry, recalled the site at that moment being “quiet and tranquil.”

Law enforcement demanded she and others move away at 3:57 a.m., believing that someone was underneath a vehicle, according to findings. Water protectors yelled to officers that no one was under it. Officers didn’t believe them and proceeded to intensify the situation, firing what they called less-lethal munitions toward Wilansky and another person. 

The two attempted to shield themselves behind a metal sheet by the vehicle when Dvorak threw a pair of Stinger ball grenades toward them. The grenades landed a few feet away from Wilansky.

She said she “began running as fast as she could south, away from the barricade and truck” yelling, “I’m leaving. Please don’t shoot.”

It wasn’t until Moll positioned himself on the turret of a Humvee with his 12-gauge shotgun to better aim at Wilansky that she suffered severe wounds. She was stopping to pick up a piece of wood to use as another shield when Moll shot an aerial signal warning munition that hit her, according to the legal description. 

The explosion on her left forearm caused significant damage. Her amended complaint stated the “blast destroyed almost all of the arteries, skin, tissue, muscles, nerves, tendons, and bone in her left forearm.”

Wilansky amended her original seven claims for relief, including excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, excessive force under the Fourteenth Amendment, Monell Claim against Kirchmeier and Morton County, assault and battery under North Dakota law, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, as well as negligence and violation of North Dakota Century Code §§ 9-10-01 and 9-10-06.

The Sophia Wilansky Support Facebook page updated followers April 8 on the dismissal of the case. “The doctrine of Qualified Immunity is repulsive in that it allows police officers to … shoot protestors with anything they want without repercussions,” it read.

Representatives of more than 300 tribal nations and people from around the world came out to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe during the DAPL conflict in 2016 and 2017. The water protectors spoke against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the pipeline company for violating treaty rights and creating environmental concerns on tribal land. 

In pipeline conflicts across various states and tribal lands, other cases have arisen in which participants are suing law enforcement.

“The circumstances of this case were extraordinary,” Traynor wrote. “But it is entirely ordinary for a county to send law enforcement to a protest site, especially a site that becomes embroiled in conflict between a private company and protestors, such as happened at the DAPL protests,” the judge said.

Sourcing & Methodology Statement:

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/8227082/295/wilansky-v-morton-county-north-dakota/

Sophia Wilansky vs. Morton County, North Dakota; Kyle Kirchmeier; Adam J. Dvorak; and Jonathan R. Moll (https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/north-dakota/nddce/1:2018cv00236/37573/290 April 3, 2024). 

Dateline:

BISMARCK, N.D.