Dakota Access security firm was denied license but kept working anyway

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

A security firm hired by the wealthy backers of the Dakota Access Pipeline continued to engage in questionable activities in North Dakota despite lacking a license, The Bismarck Tribune reports.

TigerSwan was denied a license in November in part due to “positive criminal history,“ according to the paper. James Patrick Reese, the firm's president and chairman, pushed back but was denied a license again in January, the paper reported.

Yet as far back as September, TigerSwan was engaging in surveillance activities of opponents to the controversial pipeline, the North Dakota Private Investigative and Security Board said in a complaint filed in state court, the paper reported. The firm also has been providing security at construction sites in the state.

TigerSwan and Reese “illegally continued to conduct private investigative and/or private security services in North Dakota following the denial of their application of licensure,” the complaint reads, according to the paper.

The Morton County Sheriff’s Department was unaware that TigerSwan wasn't licensed, a spokesperson told the paper. Officers there continued to rely on the firm for “situational awareness” reports on the #NoDAPL movement.

“The whole point of any daily reports we got was just to know where they were doing construction because we knew those would be potential areas for protests and therefore potentially unlawful activity,” the spokesperson told the paper.

Yet the sheriff was aware that at least one other security firm was unlicensed, Democracy Now! reported in October. The firm had unleashed dogs and sprayed mace on Native women and children who were protesting construction activities on and near sacred sites.

A four-part series in The Intercept has focused on the questionable "policing" tactics of TigerSwan.

Read More on the Story:
Dakota Access security firm operated in ND without license, board says (The Grand Forks Herald 6/27)

Series on Standing Rock / #NoDAPL:
Leaked Documents Reveal Counterterrorism Tactics Used at Standing Rock to “Defeat Pipeline Insurgencies” (The Intercept 5/27)
Standing Rock Documents Expose Inner Workings of “Surveillance-Industrial Complex” (The Intercept 6/3)
As Standing Rock Camps Cleared Out, TigerSwan Expanded Surveillance to Array of Progressive Causes (The Intercept 6/21)
Dakota Access-Style Policing Moves to Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2 Pipeline (The Intercept 6/21)

Federal Register Notices:
Notice of Termination of the Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in Connection With Dakota Access, LLC's Request for an Easement To Cross Lake Oahe, North Dakota (February 17, 2017)
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in Connection With Dakota Access, LLC's Request for an Easement To Cross Lake Oahe, North Dakota (January 18, 2017)

Dakota Access Pipeline Approval Documents:
Department of Justice Notice | Department of the Army Approval Memorandum | Notice of Termination of EIS for Dakota Access Pipeline | Easement Letter to Congressional Leadership

White House Documents:
Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (January 24, 2017)
Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline (January 24, 2017)
Executive Order Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals For High Priority Infrastructure Projects (January 24, 2017)
Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of American Pipelines (January 24, 2017)
Presidential Memorandum Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing (January 24, 2017)
Press Release: President Trump Takes Action to Expedite Priority Energy and Infrastructure Projects (January 24, 2017)