BISMARCK - The North Dakota Senate has endorsed a trio of House measures influenced by the dispute between Dakota Access pipeline protesters and law enforcement.
The Republican-led chamber on Thursday approved a measure that makes it a crime for adults to wear masks in most cases. The Senate also approved bills that increase penalties for rioting and trespassing.
The masks and trespassing measures were slightly amended by the Senate. They now return to the House to see if representatives will agree with Senate changes.
North Dakota has been the center of protests against the $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline, in large part because of objections of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in the southern part of the state.
There have been more than 700 protest-related arrests in North Dakota since mid-August.
