IA: Branstad OKs state troopers to protect pipeline construction

The Des Moines Register: PELLA, Ia. — Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he will authorize the Iowa State Patrol to make arrests and ensure that construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline proceeds if protesters follow through on a pledge to engage in civil disobedience in a bid to stop the $3.8 billion project.

The Republican governor told reporters at his weekly news briefing here that no one should break the law and anti-pipeline activists should accept a vote by the Iowa Utilities Board to approve the project, which will run diagonally through 18 Iowa counties.

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