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| Standing Rock Water Protectors 2016, Photo by Rob Wilson |
FBI Informants Reported Rumors, Third-hand Information, During Standing Rock Resistance, FBI Agent Testifies
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 17, 2024
BISMARCK, North Dakota -- The FBI informants at Standing Rock often provided third-hand information and rumors, and some were just reporting information from telephone calls, and e-mails, and were not at the camps.
The only FBI weapons investigation was the one resulting from the handgun brought to camp by the FBI's paid informant Heath Harmon, FBI testimony reveals in the current federal case.
"Some of the informants may have never entered the camp, but obtained their information by telephone or e-mail or third-hand," said FBI Special Agent Robert 'Bob' Perry. Perry was in executive management in the FBI's Minneapolis office and responsible for the Dakotas.
Perry described the technical assistance, and investigations, during the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock in 2016 and 2017.
"One of the things we did provide were cameras on-site. Although North Dakota came up with a better system, we provided what we had at the time."
Perry said the FBI informants provided information provided included the identities of people in the camp, the structures, and potential plans for direct action.
Perry's deposition is in the current federal case of North Dakota v. U.S. The state is attempting to recover $38 million, and accuses the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and federal agencies, of failing to stop the protest and clear the camps.
The FBI had up to ten informants during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline.
Perry said that he issued his first report on the Standing Rock actions on August 18, 2016. The FBI was asked to become involved, either by the State of North Dakota, or Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, he said.
A: "Okay. So the tasking of informants would follow a couple of different paths. One would be -- the very first thing we would have a discussion with anybody who went into camp was "We don't want to know about Constitutionally protected activity."
(There is a redacted sentence here.)
"There would be allegations of other criminal activity, such as drugs or sexual assault or weapons. However, the informants never saw weapons. They would -- that I recall, but they would discuss -- they would report how others discussed the weapons."
"And like I said, we would limit it to potential criminal activity or -- or really -- I say health and safety only because we had an informant placed in the position to do so, but that's, in general terms, what they would report on."
Q "Did the FBI ever make statements to the protesters, through your paid informants, assuring the protesters that they would be permitted to stay in their location on Corps property?"
A. "No, absolutely not."
Perry was asked if he was looking at notes and replied yes. The attorney examiner asked Perry to send those notes immediately to the court. The notes were provided by Perry's attorney in preparation for the deposition.
Q. "Okay.· So would you tell me, in response to this topic, what -- what enforcement actions or investigations the FBI took with respect to the DAPL protest concerning protesters on Corps-of-Engineers managed lands?"
A. "Sure. We opened a few investigations. Well, we opened a firearms case when the deputy was shot at during one of the -- but it was by the State. We opened a couple arson cases, one - I don't know the def- -- if the definition of "Corps-managed lands" includes the bridge there, then I think that would be one."
"We also opened one on some railroad tracks. I think it was up near Mandan."
"There -- there were a few others.· Oh, the one where Ms. Wilansky was injured by an explosion."
"They are the -- they are the ones that come to my top -- the top of my head right now.· I do have a paper in the box with kind of a list, if you want me to get it."
Q. "No. No thanks. So -- so the -- the investigations the FBI opened concerned activities both occurring on the Corps land and those occurring off of the Corps land, correct, like the railroad-track incident in Mandan?"
A. "That's correct.· The Corps land had no bearing in our -- in our case openings."
Q.· "Okay. Where did the arson situations occur?"
A. "On the -- I'm sorry.· Real quick there. On the bridges, bridges or bridge, the one main bridge there when they burned the barricade."
Q. "Yeah."
Perry said that he issued his first report on the Standing Rock actions on August 18, 2016. The FBI was asked to become involved, either by the State of North Dakota, or Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, he said.
Perry said he was at the Emergency Operations Center, where law enforcement briefing was held, five to eight time when he was in North Dakota.
Perry, responding to questions from Paul Seby, an attorney for the State of North Dakota, was asked about the information provided by FBI informants.
Perry, responding to questions from Paul Seby, an attorney for the State of North Dakota, was asked about the information provided by FBI informants.
A: "Okay. So the tasking of informants would follow a couple of different paths. One would be -- the very first thing we would have a discussion with anybody who went into camp was "We don't want to know about Constitutionally protected activity."
Perry said informants were essentially given a list of things to look for.
"Some of the informants may have never entered the camp, but obtained their information by telephone or email or third-hand."
Q: "Okay. How many people -- this topic is asking about communications with protesters in the camps. So how many -- how many informants sponsored by the FBI were in the protest camps?"
A. "I don't know that I can give you an exact number. I would say again between five and ten, probably closer to ten."
Q. "Okay. And what sorts of information did they learn from those communications?"
Perry's attorney objected on the grounds it was vague, but allowed the answer.
A. "We would learn things such as the identified -- identification of people in the camp. We would learn a little bit about physical structure, what type of facilities existed. We would learn about sometimes potential direct-action plans. "Plans," I -- I want to make sure I say, because oftentimes what we heard did not develop."
"Some of the informants may have never entered the camp, but obtained their information by telephone or email or third-hand."
Q: "Okay. How many people -- this topic is asking about communications with protesters in the camps. So how many -- how many informants sponsored by the FBI were in the protest camps?"
A. "I don't know that I can give you an exact number. I would say again between five and ten, probably closer to ten."
Q. "Okay. And what sorts of information did they learn from those communications?"
Perry's attorney objected on the grounds it was vague, but allowed the answer.
A. "We would learn things such as the identified -- identification of people in the camp. We would learn a little bit about physical structure, what type of facilities existed. We would learn about sometimes potential direct-action plans. "Plans," I -- I want to make sure I say, because oftentimes what we heard did not develop."
(There is a redacted sentence here.)
"There would be allegations of other criminal activity, such as drugs or sexual assault or weapons. However, the informants never saw weapons. They would -- that I recall, but they would discuss -- they would report how others discussed the weapons."
"And like I said, we would limit it to potential criminal activity or -- or really -- I say health and safety only because we had an informant placed in the position to do so, but that's, in general terms, what they would report on."
Q "Did the FBI ever make statements to the protesters, through your paid informants, assuring the protesters that they would be permitted to stay in their location on Corps property?"
A. "No, absolutely not."
Perry was asked if he was looking at notes and replied yes. The attorney examiner asked Perry to send those notes immediately to the court. The notes were provided by Perry's attorney in preparation for the deposition.
Q. "Okay.· So would you tell me, in response to this topic, what -- what enforcement actions or investigations the FBI took with respect to the DAPL protest concerning protesters on Corps-of-Engineers managed lands?"
A. "Sure. We opened a few investigations. Well, we opened a firearms case when the deputy was shot at during one of the -- but it was by the State. We opened a couple arson cases, one - I don't know the def- -- if the definition of "Corps-managed lands" includes the bridge there, then I think that would be one."
"We also opened one on some railroad tracks. I think it was up near Mandan."
"There -- there were a few others.· Oh, the one where Ms. Wilansky was injured by an explosion."
"They are the -- they are the ones that come to my top -- the top of my head right now.· I do have a paper in the box with kind of a list, if you want me to get it."
Q. "No. No thanks. So -- so the -- the investigations the FBI opened concerned activities both occurring on the Corps land and those occurring off of the Corps land, correct, like the railroad-track incident in Mandan?"
A. "That's correct.· The Corps land had no bearing in our -- in our case openings."
Q.· "Okay. Where did the arson situations occur?"
A. "On the -- I'm sorry.· Real quick there. On the bridges, bridges or bridge, the one main bridge there when they burned the barricade."
Q. "Yeah."
A. "They might have done that twice. I don't recall exactly.· I'm trying to remember if there was another arson.· I know that one."
Q. "Was the FBI ever told not to take any investigative actions?"
A. "No"
Perry was asked if he was sharing any of your investigative information with any other agency or person.
A. "No"
Perry was asked if he was sharing any of your investigative information with any other agency or person.
A. "Primarily North Dakota -- was it their BCI? And the ATF agent that -- most of the investigations, they were the main groups.· I believe there was a Morton County investigator as well."
A. "All of our information we gained was shared with them."
Perry was asked what resources the FBI provided, including those of clean-up.
A. "We provided investigative resources. We provided technical resources; I mentioned the cameras earlier. We provided some of the agents that were command-post CIRG (Critical Incident Response Group) trained. We provided -- well, I'll call it, early on, the -- they came out and consulted on the command-post operations, that type of thing. What else? That's what's coming to mind right now."
Perry was asked if the Corps of Engineers ever communicated to the FBI that the Corps considered the protesters on the Corps-managed land to be trespassers?
A. "All of our information we gained was shared with them."
Perry was asked what resources the FBI provided, including those of clean-up.
A. "We provided investigative resources. We provided technical resources; I mentioned the cameras earlier. We provided some of the agents that were command-post CIRG (Critical Incident Response Group) trained. We provided -- well, I'll call it, early on, the -- they came out and consulted on the command-post operations, that type of thing. What else? That's what's coming to mind right now."
Perry was asked if the Corps of Engineers ever communicated to the FBI that the Corps considered the protesters on the Corps-managed land to be trespassers?
Perry said he was not aware of this.
"We considered technical assistance, what technical assistance we could provide.· One of the things we did provide were cameras on-site. Although North Dakota came up with a better system, we provided what we had at the time."
"We considered technical assistance, what technical assistance we could provide.· One of the things we did provide were cameras on-site. Although North Dakota came up with a better system, we provided what we had at the time."
Perry said the FBI had a lot of interaction with the BIA and U.S. Marshals Service.
Perry was asked whether he communicated with FBI officials higher than the Minneapolis office about the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Perry described how information flowed to FBI headquarters.
A. "Well, it worked via telephone calls, I think emails primarily. And the information shared a lot of ·times was just general, "This is what's going on at the moment." There were also discussions back and forth of what -- if an action would -- could be construed as a federal criminal violation or not. There was always debate.· Anytime anything happened, we all had the discussion, "Okay. Is this something we can get involved with or not?"· So that oftentimes it included headquarters components."
The FBI Drones
Perry was asked about the drones that the FBI sent out from Washington, and were pulled back at the last minute.
Perry responded, "The concern was, one, the FBI can't monitor First-Amendment-protected activity, really, in any way. When we requested them, we did not have a specific case open on the event we wanted to observe; otherwise, a forward movement or any movement from the sheriff's office or the State. So I think that's what complicated the decision to deploy -- to use them was that we had to connect it with a specific case, and we did not have a specific case for the event we talked about actually using them for."
"We wanted drones that could see faces, license plates; not just overhead act- -- not just a broad group of people."
Perry was asked if the two suitcase-sized drones were brought out to provide additional surveillance footage with the one already there, the Predator drone from the United States Customs and Border Protection agency.
"It's a simple, common investigative sense:· If you can see who the suspect is and see what they did on video, it's a lot better than asking ten people and hoping you have good witnesses."
Read more:
New Series at Censored News!
New! FBI had 10 informants at Standing Rock, testimony of FBI agent Jacob O'Connell, Censored News
New! FBI Agent reveals informants reported rumors and third-hand information on water protectors at Standing Rock, deposition in North Dakota v. U.S.
Read more:
New! FBI had 10 informants in Standing Rock camp. FBI supervisor at Standing Rock reveals daily operations of the FBI in water protectors camps.
New! BIA top cop can't dodge questions in court deposition:
BIA head of law enforcement in Washington reveals BIA's role at Standing Rock during water protectors resistance, by Censored News
New! FBI Special Agent reveals informants reported rumors and third-hand information on water protectors at Standing Rock, deposition in North Dakota v. U.S.
New! U.S. Marshals requested its secretive Special Operations Group be deployed to Standing Rock camps, but the request was denied. SOG led the attacks at Wounded Knee with tanks and snipers firing from helicopters.
New! The Kirchmeier File at Standing Rock: The 'Perfect Storm' was the perfect human rights disaster. Morton County Sheriff's first deposition in current case.
New! Morton County Sheriff reported bogus crimes, that there was no evidence of, to President Elect Trump, urging him to shut down the camps. After taking office, federal agents and law enforcement violently raided and cleared the camps. Morton County Sheriff's second deposition in current case.
The Intercept -- FBI informant Heath Harmon, Three Affiliated Tribes, owned the gun at the center of FBI case: It resulted in a nearly five year prison sentence for Red Fawn Fallis, Lakota:
The Guardian -- Wilansky may lose her arm
Marcus Mitchell Dine' (Navajo) Shot in the Eye, Interrogated in Hospital
In a case now before the federal court -- Marcus Mitchell, Dine' (Navajo) was shot in his eye by a shotgun fired by law enforcement at Standing Rock in the early hours of January 18, 2017, at Backwater Bridge. After he was shot, militarized law enforcement threw him on the ground and he felt like he was drowning in his own blood. After waking from surgery, he had to endure questioning by law enforcement in the hospital.
In a case now before the federal court -- Marcus Mitchell, Dine' (Navajo) was shot in his eye by a shotgun fired by law enforcement at Standing Rock in the early hours of January 18, 2017, at Backwater Bridge. After he was shot, militarized law enforcement threw him on the ground and he felt like he was drowning in his own blood. After waking from surgery, he had to endure questioning by law enforcement in the hospital.
Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News, may not be used without written permission.
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