The FBI used as many as 10 informants to infiltrate land defender groups protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in 2016, Grist reports. The infiltration tactics were part of a larger surveillance operation including drones, and radio eavesdropping by numerous agencies at all levels of government — including 281 hours of monitoring by MQ-9 Reaper drone (known for remote airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan) operated by Customs and Border Protection at a cost of $1.5 million.
Energy Transfer Partners paid the state of North Dakota $15 million to cover the costs of its law enforcement officers helping to quell the protests, in addition to its own private security contractor. The news of the FBI’s use of as many as nine additional informants (one was previously known) was released as part of a legal spat between the state and federal government over who should foot the bill for policing pipeline protesters. (Grist)