In Congressional Hearing, Indigenous Water Protector Denounces Coordinated Attack on Environmental Activists

By Center For Constitutional Rights

Center for Constitutional Rights client Anne White Hat, a Sicangu Lakota Water Protector, today denounced the coordinated attack by oil and gas companies, lawmakers, and police on the Indigenous-led movement resisting fossil fuel extraction.

Appearing before the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Anne White Hat detailed widespread collusion that has led to industry-authored laws and violent arrests of protesters.

“Violence has been used for centuries here and around the world against people who challenge the concentration and misuse of power,” said Ms. White Hat. “This is nothing new to us, but what we experienced needs to be recognized by all as the coordinated assault on a movement.”

Read the full testimony on our website. The hearing, which includes Ms. White Hat’s testimony, is available on the Oversight Committee’s YouTube page. Ms. White Hat is introduced and begins speaking at around 35:20.