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Law officers ask Obama for help policing pipeline protests

Despite extreme weather conditions the protest camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota still has an estimated 2000 people who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. This photograph taken Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 shows part of the encampment that has endured a prairie blizzard and subzero temperatures in the past week. People at the camp are asking that no new people come to visit or stay due to conditions but those presently there plan to keep a presence at the remote site. /The Bismarck Tribune via AP)
Despite extreme weather conditions the protest camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota still has an estimated 2000 people who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. This photograph taken Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 shows part of the encampment that has endured a prairie blizzard and subzero temperatures in the past week. People at the camp are asking that no new people come to visit or stay due to conditions but those presently there plan to keep a presence at the remote site. /The Bismarck Tribune via AP) Despite extreme weather conditions the protest camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota still has an estimated 2000 people who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. This photograph taken Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 shows part of the encampment that has endured a prairie blizzard and subzero temperatures in the past week. People at the camp are asking that no new people come to visit or stay due to conditions but those presently there plan to keep a presence at the remote site. /The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

By Associated Press 3 min read

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A dozen law enforcement officials in North Dakota are imploring President Barack Obama in a letter to send federal officers to help local police during protests against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline, citing costs, fatigue and a growing fear of vigilante justice.

The officials asked Obama for 100 Border Patrol agents and members of the U.S. Marshals Service Special Operations Group, along with an unspecified amount of financial assistance, saying they’ve been “completely and utterly abandoned” by the federal government. The letter was dated Friday, and officials released details Monday.

“If we do not receive federal assistance, the safety and well-being of law enforcement officers, citizens of the community, and the protesters themselves are at grave risk,” stated the letter spearheaded by Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier.

Obama last month said his administration is monitoring the dispute surrounding the nearly finished four-state pipeline that’s intended to carry North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did provide 11 Border Patrol agents to help with protest policing last month, according to the agency.