Stein, along with running mate, activist Ajamu Baraka, were charged with criminal mischief and criminal trespassing.
Activists at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation invited the Green Party ticket to leave a message at the protest site. Baraka spray painted "Decolonization" and "We need decolonization" on a piece of construction equipment while Stein sprayed, "I approve this message" in red paint of the blade of a bulldozer. Her actions were recorded on video and viewed by authorities, according to the Bismarck Tribune.
The Morton County Sheriff’s Department said the protest of some 150-200 people took place around 10:30 AM Tuesday at a construction site two miles east of Highway 1806 at Country Road 35.
Rob Keller, a spokesman for the Morton County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Stein’s arrest warrant has been filed and said that if police located the physician, "they would arrest her."
In a statement released before charges were filed, Stein said she hoped authorities would "press charges against the real vandalism taking place at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation: the bulldozing of sacred burial sites and the unleashing of vicious attack dogs."
The candidate also stated, "I hope they take action against the Dakota Access Pipeline company that is endangering drinking water not only for the Standing Rock Sioux, but for millions of people downstream of the reservation who depend on the Missouri River."
She later called her actions "civil disobedience," tweeting, "I hope ND presses charges against the real vandals who bulldoze sacred burial sites."
The partially constructed pipeline has a cost of some $3.8 billion, and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe claims that not only does construction violate sacred burial grounds, but, in the event of a spill, would contaminate the water supply and damage the environment.
