Woman who fired shots during pipeline protest charged with attempted murder

A woman who fired three shots during a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline last week was charged with attempted murder Monday.

The Associated Press reports 37-year-old Red Fawn Fallis is facing multiple charges in addition to attempted murder:

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Fallis also was charged Monday with preventing arrest, possession of a concealed handgun and possession of marijuana. Court records don’t list an attorney to comment on those charges.

She faces up to 20 years in prison on the attempted murder charge.

Court records show Fallis was arrested twice in September during pipeline protests and pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.

Fallis was arrested last Thursday during a contentious protest against the pipeline project in which 140 people were arrested. The Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported on its Facebook page last Thursday, “a woman who was being placed under arrest, pulled a .38 caliber revolver and fired three shots at law enforcement, narrowly missing a sheriff’s deputy.”

The situation reached a turning point last week when protesters who have been camping on public land set up a new camp on private land owned by the pipeline developer. The developer demanded the protesters vacate the land they recently purchased or face arrest and prosecution. Police eventually moved in with force and pushed the protesters back. Protesters responded by blocking highways and setting fire to cars and barricades made of wood and tires. Some also reportedly threw Molotov cocktails at police.pipeline-protest

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Protesters, who call themselves “water protectors,” are a mix of Native Americans from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and protesters from around the country. The pipeline’s path passes just north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation on private land. The Los Angeles Times reports there have been a total of 412 people arrested in connection with the protests so far.

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