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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
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The owner of the Dakota Access pipeline is still fighting to keep thousands of pages of records from private security firm TigerSwan from being released to The Intercept.
In a major legal victory, we’ve finally obtained over 50,000 documents that reveal tactics TigerSwan used to surveil and suppress pipeline protesters at Standing Rock in coordination with North Dakota law enforcement agencies.
But we’ve hit another wall. After more than two years of litigation, the state still has yet to release over 9,000 pages containing material that someone would apparently rather keep out of the public eye. And in some cases, the records we’ve received have been redacted for no apparent reason.
We won’t stop reporting... about the violent crackdown on Dakota Access protesters and on the tactics corporations and law enforcement authorities use to suppress activism across the country.
But to keep going, we depend on the support of our monthly sustaining donors: thousands of readers who contribute some small amount each month. That ongoing commitment allows us to stick with long-term reporting projects like this one — even when deep-pocketed opponents try to fight us in court.
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We don’t know what’s in the pages North Dakota has yet to release.
But the documents we’ve reviewed so far provide startling new details about how TigerSwan, founded by an ex-Special Forces operative, marketed and executed a “counterinsurgency” strategy using tactics drawn from the War on Terror.
TigerSwan used social media monitoring, aerial surveillance, undercover personnel, and more to build watchlists and dossiers on Indigenous activists and environmental organizations.
The company used its experience at Standing Rock — where protesters were beaten, attacked with dogs, and worse — to pitch itself as an industry leader on security to other fossil fuel clients.
And when The Intercept began reporting on TigerSwan’s activities in 2017, the company told other news outlets it was not a “mercenary organization” — but only off the record. Formalizing that denial, according to an internal memo, “would be like saying ‘no I don’t beat my wife.’”
So it’s no surprise that the pipeline owner wants to stop us from obtaining the remaining TigerSwan documents, despite our victory in court.
But thanks to the ongoing support of our readers, we’ve made it this far — and we’re continuing to investigate Dakota Access and the infiltration of protest movements around the country.
Become a sustaining member now →
Thank you,
The Intercept team
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