DAPL Protesters Use Facebook Check-Ins To 'Confuse' Authorities

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Protesters of the Dakota Access pipeline are checking in at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation via Facebook in an attempt to "overwhelm and confuse" authorities.

According the viral Facebook status update, the Morton County Sheriff's Department has been using Facebook check-ins to find out who is at Standing Rock "in order to target them in attempts to disrupt the prayer camps."

"This is concrete action that can protect people putting their bodies and well-beings on the line that we can do without leaving our homes," the social media message states.

Many are checking in at the location as a move to "stand in solidarity" with the protesters of the Dakota Access pipeline.

The website Snopes counters that the strategy is "unproven."

"Underneath the claim was a genuine problem with the message, that people truly wishing to assist the protesters could do so simply by checking in rather than sending funds or supplies to support their efforts. Its spread didn't account for the possibility that protest organizers might have also been thwarted by the Facebook updates," the Snopes article wrote. "We contacted the department about the rumor, and an officer explained not only that they were not using Facebook check-ins as a gauge of anything, but that the metric presented no intelligence value to them. The rumor suggested that protesters cited Facebook check-ins as a manner in which police could target them, but check-ins were voluntary — and if police were using geolocation tools based on mobile devices, remote check-ins would not confuse or overwhelm them."

The Morton County Sheriff's Department has since officially responded, calling the allegations that it has been following check-ins "absolutely false."

On Friday, pipeline protesters held a rally at Minneapolis City Hall in response to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office sending resources to help with security at the Standing Rock protests.

Standing Rock Sioux want construction of the pipeline -- worth $3.8 billion -- halted. They say it could taint water supply as well as encroach on tribal burial sites. The protests supporting the tribe and its mission have been going on for months.