Investigators say the private security goons who were caught on video siccing dogs on peaceful Indigenous American protesters trying to stop an oil pipeline were not licensed to perform any such duties.

The video shot on 3 September by the news crew led by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! along the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota was seen around world.  It showed security agents hired by the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline allowing the dogs to bite at least six of the protesters, drawing blood.  Prosecutors initially charged Ms. Goodman with trespassing for covering the incident, and later upped the charges to rioting - the judge threw that nonsense out of court.

The Morton County North Dakota Sheriff's Department began investigating the Silverton security company that was contracted by Dakota Access.  Despite not being licensed, it subcontracted Frost Kennels of Ohio - hundreds of kilometers away, and also not licensed to perform security duties in the state - to provide the dogs.  Frost Kennels did not cooperate, but investigators were able to identify two handlers, and local journalists identified three more.

Now, Captain Jay Gruebele has forwarded the names of the unlicensed security officers to prosecutors for possible charges.  Providing private security services without a license is a Class B misdemeanor in North Dakota.  identifying teh rest has been difficult, because of the fly-by-night nature of these private security goons.  "Many of the initial security officers have come and gone and there is no way to prove who was doing security work," wrote Capt. Gruebele in a summary of the incident.

The American Civil Liberties Union chapter in North Dakota isn't terribly impressed with the police work going on.

"It seems as though the process for charging journalists and protesters with criminal charges has been relatively speedy and timely, whereas you have actual video footage of private individuals using force against other private individuals and yet we haven't seen any type of resolution to that yet," said ACLU policy director Jennifer Cook.

The Dakota Access pipeline is meant to carry crude oil from the North Dakota shale fields to link with an existing pipeline in Illinois, and take it on down to the refineries near the Gulf of Mexico.  The indigenous and environmentalist protesters object to the pipeline crossing the Missouri River above the point where the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation draws its water.