The veterans will “muster” at noon on Sunday at a high school gymnasium on the Standing Rock reservation, then “quickly form into platoons and companies” for anticipated confrontations on the front lines with several hundred state police, county sheriff deputies the North Dakota National Guard, and military vehicles originally designed for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Last week North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple urged pipeline opponents to leave the encampment, citing his concern for their welfare in the extreme cold. The protesters rejected his plea, saying that North Dakota authorities did not appear concerned about hypothermia when drenching protesters with water hoses in subfreezing temperatures during a confrontation in late November.