Injured pipeline protester argues for lawsuit to proceed
Posted February 26, 2019 3:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BISMARCK, N.D. — A New York City woman severely injured while protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota is asking a federal judge to let her lawsuit against law enforcement proceed.
Sophia Wilansky alleges her left arm was nearly blown off by a police flashbang device in November 2016. She’s seeking millions in damages for claims including excessive force and defamation.
Police maintain her injury was caused by a propane canister protesters rigged to explode and that she’s to blame for her own injury. Last month they asked that the lawsuit be thrown out .
Wilansky’s attorneys in their response say she deserves a chance to gather more evidence from the government to prove her claims. They say the government’s assertions that law officers did not use excessive force fall flat.
Blake Nicholson, The Associated Press
