Military veterans who protested at the Standing Rock encampment in North Dakota want to know why Wesley Clark Jr. may have abandoned them.
Clark Jr., the son of retired Army General Wesley Clark, planned for over 2,000 veterans, like himself, to converge around the controversial Dakota Access pipeline with other “water protectors” last Monday.
According to the younger Clark’s GoFundMe page, over 1.1 million dollars was raised in support of the military veterans protest, but nobody knows exactly where the money went.
“If you’d like to contribute to this mission please consider donating/sharing to our GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/veterans-for- standing-rock- nodapl all funding is dedicated to transportation, supplies, gear, onsite infrastructure and legal fees. Our team is made up exclusively of volunteer Veteran and Civilian self organizers dedicated to our mission of service. Zero salaries, Zero marketing,” a December 8 Facebook post for the group stated.
The younger Clark himself wrote on the GoFundMe Page 23 days ago, “Thanks for the donations everyone. This will help provide transport for vets to Standing Rock! Look forward to seeing you there.”
However, after some veterans claimed to have found themselves without supplies and little shelter after the Army Corp of Engineers denied an easement to the energy company in charge of the pipeline Monday, many wondered what happened to Clark.
According to a local North Dakota state blogger and individual video accounts from the ground, Clark appeared to abandon the veterans who arrived to protest. Individuals say they were were left without appropriate shelter or supplies amidst severe winter cold in rural North Dakota.
Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rob Keller told The Daily Caller Friday, “Our National Guard has buses available but we have not received any information on people that are stranded. In fact, what we are hearing is that the numbers are dropping down because of the cold. It’s minus 2 and that’s going to be the high today.”
Keller explained, “We have seen the social media ‘Wheres The Money Wesley’, so our North Dakota Department of Veteran Affairs [Commissioner Lonnie Wangen] has reached out to Wesley Clark Jr. to try to help and he asked him, ‘Where’s the money sir? You brought these folks here. Now we have some who said they can’t get back.’ But we have not received any requests to help any veterans.”
Ultimately, Clark wound up at the Four Prairie Knights Casino & Resort on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation asking the tribe for forgiveness, on behalf of the U.S. military, for crimes against the tribe.
Clark’s co-organizer, Michael A. Wood, Jr., blamed a bank for withholding money for the trip and later chided those Thursday for spreading “rumors” about money and housing.
It’s over for now. There’s no problem with coming back. https://t.co/lVuRQnTGBX
— Michael A. Wood Jr. (@MichaelAWoodJr) December 8, 2016
Clark himself posted a video apology on Facebook last Tuesday, acknowledging that “logistics of the protest have been atrocious and chaotic.”
He went on to say, “Part of that is the nature of self organizing and part of that is how quickly the money comes through from go funding, but most of it is simply a short time scale.”
Clark claimed that organizers only expected 1,500 people to show up, but 4,000 came instead.
“So it’s been a huge tax on the supply chain as well as accommodations and everything else. I understand that everybody did take part in everything, and we are really sorry about that. Think about what you did. Everybody getting on that bus and coming out here you change things. He prevented that camp from being attacked on [Dec. 5].”
In the meantime, Clark confirmed in his video that he and several hundred other protesters are camped out at the Four Prairie Knights Casino & Resort, “sleeping 10 people per room as well as several hundred in the main auditorium…even in the halls.”
“There aren’t any fights and there aren’t any problems yet. Folks are helping out with cleaning things, carrying things, cooking. Everyone is getting along like one big family. We are all sitting inside as the snow comes down and, hopefully, it’s going to ease off a bit so we can all go home,” Clark said.
According to a spokesman from the Morton County Sheriff’s office, though, casino officials want the protesters to leave the premise.
“The casino is asking them to leave. They don’t want them there. They are calling in the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) to help get the protesters out of there. They are trying to conduct business,” Keller told TheDC.
