Twenty people began occupying the governor’s office early Wednesday afternoon, to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline which passes through Iowa. At 5 p.m., four were arrested and charged with trespassing when the office closed for the day. Frank Cordaro, a spokesman for the group, says continued reliance on oil will cause “more dirty wars.”

“It’s oil-based this. It’s oil-based that,” Cordaro said. “We’ve sold our soul to oil.” The protesters asked to speak with Governor Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Reynolds, but neither were in the office Wednesday. “There’s a lot of baloney going on in this rigged system,” Cordaro said. “That’s not my words. That’s the presidents, so this is a rigged scene about big oil interests.”

Similar protests were staged in other states. The pipeline is to ship oil from North Dakota to a refinery in Illinois. The route through Iowa has been completed, but an uncompleted portion of the pipeline in North Dakota has been the focus of intense protests. Wednesday night was the deadline for protesters in North Dakota to clear out of their encampment at the site.

(Radio Iowa)