Here's Why Your Friends Are Checking In At Standing Rock, ND
CANNON BALL, N.D. (CBS13) - Wondering why you're seeing a sudden jump in your online friends checking in at Standing Rock in North Dakota?
It's all due to a viral post claiming that checking in at the pipeline protest site will help shield protesters from authorities.
"The Morton County Sherriff's Department has been using Facebook check-ins to find out who is at Randing Stock in order to target them in attempts to disrupt the prayer camps. So, Water Protectors are calling on EVERYONE to check in at Standing Rock, ND to overwhelm and confuse them," the posts claim.
It is unclear where the post originated from, and Snopes says after investigating the claims look to be unproven.
"Neither the Morton County's Sheriff's Department nor representatives for a large camp believed that the viral Facebook status meme was impeding law enforcement activities," Snopes wrote.
This all comes after tensions between protesters of the pipeline and authorities reached a fever point last week. On Thursday, more than 140 protesters were evicted from area by officers. The protesters were camping on private land bought by the company trying to build the pipeline.
More than $1 million have been raised through crowdsourcing to support the protesters.
This story has been updated.
