FARGO (KFGO) - Documentary filmmaker and journalist Phelim Mcaleer is describing his confrontation with a group of angry protesters at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp near Cannon Ball, ND.
Mcaleer was among a group of journalists who were assaulted and detained at the camp on Monday. In an interview with KFGO News, McAleer says it was one of the most frightening experiences in his career.
“I don’t like to say it, but yes, it will prevent me from returning” Mcaleer said. “I’m a journalist, and I hate to say that they’ve intimidated me from doing my job. It’s an unsafe environment.”
A man claiming to be “camp security” dragged Mcaleer and his equipment before he and his colleagues locked themselves in a car and called 9-1-1.
“It was only after we started asking them difficult questions about the contradictions of their protest that they started to turn ugly and violent” according to Mcaleer. “It really escalated from there into one of the most terrifying 30 minutes of my journalistic career.”
The Morton County Sheriff's office is investigating the incident for possible charges. They’re asking that anyone with information about who’s responsible to contact them.
