A journalist and activist at Standing Rock captured the moment she was shot with a rubber bullet. Protesters of the Dakota Access pipeline had attempted to cross a river for a prayer but were blocked by police.
While filming an interview with a Native American man, Erin Schrode allegedly became a victim of excessive force by police Wednesday. She was interviewing activists protesting the Dakotas Access Pipeline, which they say threatens water used by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
She explained that protesters had tried to cross a river to commence a prayer ceremony when they were blocked off by police in riot gear and a standoff began, the New York Daily News reported. The 25-year-old began talking to a protester who explained the situation.
“Basically what we’re doing is protecting the water. Water protectors, that’s what we’re doing here. All this you see right here, we need to stop it. They’re basically on ACE property, which is the Army Corps of Engineers’ land and they shouldn’t even be there. We have every right, this is a sovereign nation. This is Sovereign people’s land right here,” the activist explained to Schrode on the video.
Suddenly, a bang rings out. Schrode is heard exclaiming, “Ow!”
“I felt a blow of maximum force to my lower back and I had no clue what just happened,” Schrode told the Daily News. She claimed that when she turned around, she saw an officer pointing his rubber bullet gun at her from a boat.
In a Facebook post, Schrode wrote, “I was standing innocently onshore, not making any aggressive gestures, never exchanging a single word with the police who fired at my lower back from their boat.”
She is one of many who have reported being injured in the increasingly contentious face-off between police and protesters at Standing Rock. On Tuesday, protesters reported being hit with mace, pepper spray and rubber bullets.