Two UNBC students arrested while protesting in North Dakota have been released from jail and are today making the long drive home to Prince George, hoping they can make it across the border.
Nicole Schafenacker and Katriona Siloen Auerbach were released on bail Saturday after they were arrested Thursday as part of a mass arrest of those protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline. They aren't sure if that will prevent them getting back in the country, said Northern Medical Program professor Sarah de Leeuw, their graduate studies supervisor .
"There's sort of two levels of concern, one is very acute and immediate. It's today. I really hope they can come back in Canada," she said. "And the second is larger concern: what does it mean to have these outstanding scholars.... they're really flagship UNBC students, what does it mean for them to have pending criminal charges? It would affect a myriad of everyday life realities."
The Associated Press reported 141 people were arrested in a nearly six-hour operation that began Thursday morning, with a Morton County Sheriff Department spokesperson saying most of the protesters were arrested for conspiracy to endanger by fire or explosion, engaging in a riot and maintaining a public nuisance.
De Leeuw said she isn't clear on what the charges are, but they aren't being processed until December.
"None of us have any experience in this... It's not every day that people's daughters or people's graduates students.. are arrested in a foreign country as part of mass military arrests and roundups so none of us really know what all of this means."
In the days since, family and friends have received updates by text and email from the two, who found each other Sunday and planned to try and cross the border Monday.
Despite their arrest together - while in a prayer circle, de Leeuw said - the two had very different experiences. Schafenacker was sent to Cass County Jail and was able to make phone calls to her family but no one heard from Auerbach until Sunday. She'd been held in Morton County jail, about 320 kilometres away.
The two found each other "serendipitously" Sunday, de Leeuw said, as they headed back to a central location after their release.
Details are still trickling in, but de Leeuw said the her sense is the two are "very deeply upset" and recovering after the shock of arrest.
"Yesterday we got a note that said 'we love you, our hearts are overflowing, we can barely keep ourselves together,'" she said. "They've said things like they're just unbelievably grateful and heartened for the outpouring of interest and support."
In a statement Friday, UNBC president Daniel Weeks said he was working with de Leeuw to support the students in their goal to get back to campus.
"I will always defend the rights of our students, including Katriona and Nicole, to take a position, to exercise their rights to free speech, to peacefully assemble, and to develop and foster informed opinions across a wide range of subject areas."
