Actress Shailene Woodley Arrested At Protest Against The Dakota Access Pipeline

Actress Shailene Woodley, 24, the The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent star, was arrested on Monday afternoon for trespassing, according to the Morton County, North Dakota, Sheriff’s Department.

SHAILENE WOODLEY ARRESTED AT PROTEST

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172-mile pipeline that would bring roughly 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois. The proposed pipeline has been met with a lot of criticism and protest for environmental reasons, and also because it is planned to be built over the sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux. The protests have gained thousands of supporters, including more than 200 other Native American tribes.

Woodley live-streamed the peaceful protest via Facebook, a video that now has almost 4 million views. She was one of about 200 protestors that day. In the video, Woodley explains that the reason for the protest on that particular day was that very early Monday morning, a D.C. circuit court denied a Sioux motion for an injunction against the pipeline’s construction. Woodley also describes the terrible irony that the decision was passed down on Indigenous Peoples Day, more commonly known as Columbus Day.

“We decided to show up and stand in solidarity with Standing Rock to show the world, mainstream media, and our government that we’re not gonna back down regardless of what decisions they make and the days that they make the decisions,” said Woodley. “By the way today is… National Indigenous Day, which some people call Columbus Day, which is horrifying and disgusting and deeply tragic.”

Woodley was on her way back to her RV at their camp when she was grabbed by police officers who then arrested her. More than 20 other protestors were arrested as well. The actress and activist posted a $500 bond and was charged with criminal trespass and engaging in a riot, and will appear in court on October 24.