[Magdalen] Urgent Prayers Needed

[Jay Weigel]

As many of you may have heard, the police have been attacking unarmed water
protectors at the Standing Rock Camp with water cannons, concussion bombs,
and rubber bullets. This kind of violence is uncalled for IMNSHO. One
unarmed person, Sophia Wilansky, was hit in the arm by a concussion grenade
which exploded. She is in critical condition in a Bismarck hospital and
very likely to lose her arm. Prayers are needed for her and for all the
other protesters who are being attacked. Here is the press release
concerning Ms. Wilansky:

Prepared by Standing Rock Medic & Healer Council at the Standing Rock
Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance Camps

On November 21st as a direct result of the violent police response at
Standing Rock towards unarmed people opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline, a
21 year old woman from New York City, Sophia Wilansky, was severely injured
when a concussion grenade thrown by police hit her left arm and exploded.
Sophia was heading to bring water to the unarmed people who were being
attacked for several hours by Morton County Sheriff forces. The Morton
County Sheriff’s Department has stated that she was injured by a purported
propane explosion that the Sheriff’s Department claimed the unarmed people
created. These statements are refuted by Sophia’s testimony, by several
eye-witnesses who watched police intentionally throw concussion grenades at
unarmed people, by the lack of charring of flesh at the wound site and by
the grenade pieces that have been removed from her arm in surgery and will
be saved for legal proceedings.

Sophia was safely taken out of North Dakota for emergent surgery and is
currently in stable condition. Below is her statement as conveyed by her
father, lawyer Wayne Wilansky.

“At around 4:30am after the police hit the bridge with water cannons and
rubber bullets and pepper spray they lobbed a number of concussion grenades
which are not supposed to be thrown at people directly at protesters or
protectors as they want to be called. A grenade exploded right as it hit
Sophia in the left forearm taking most of the undersurface of her left arm
with it. Both her radial and ulnar artery were completely destroyed. Her
radius was shattered and a large piece of it is missing. Her medial nerve
is missing a large section as well.  All of the muscle and soft tissue
between her elbow and wrist were blown away. The police did not do this by
accident - it was an intentional act of throwing it directly at her.
Additionally police were shooting people in face and groin intending to do
the most possible damage. Sophia will have surgery again tomorrow as bit by
bit they try to rebuild a somewhat functioning arm and hand. The first
surgery took a vein from her leg which they have implanted in her arm to
take the place of the missing arteries. She will need multiple surgeries to
try to gain some functional use of the arm and hand. She will be, every day
for the foreseeable future, fearful of losing her arm and hand. There are
no words to describe the pain of watching my daughter cry and say she was
sorry for the pain she caused me and my wife. I died a thousand deaths
today and will continue to do so for quite some time. I am left without the
right words to describe the anguish of watching her look at her now alien
arm and hand.”

A fund set up by friends and verified to help with Sophia’s recovery is set
up here:

https://www.gofundme.com/30aezxs

The Standing Rock Medic Healer Council deplores the ongoing use of violence
by the state of North Dakota to address the concerns of the thousands of
people peacefully assembled at Standing Rock to insist on the right to
clean healthy drinking water.

Water is Life, Mni Wiconi