Green Party candidate says she'll return to N.D. to face charges

Morton County Sheriff's Office spokesman Rob Keller said the warrant has been recorded and if authorities somehow managed to run over Stein, "they would arrest her".

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier was originally going to also charge Stein with vandalism. He said he was alerted to video of Ms. Stein painting "I approve this message" on the equipment.

Stein and Baraka were charged with one count each of criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe also said the Dakota Access Pipeline developer "desecrated and destroyed" some of its "historically, culturally, and religiously important" sites.

Stein is accused of spray-painting the construction equipment at the pipeline's worksite, though no workers were on the scene during the protest involving 150-200 people. Judy Woodruff speaks with Stein about her qualifications for the presidency, her economic, environmental and foreign policy proposals and her hotly contested views on vaccines.

On Tuesday, CNBC reports, the company responsible for constructing the $3.7 billion project agreed to "temporarily halt construction of (the) oil pipeline only in some but not all parts of North Dakota" where there is believed to be tribal land.

Displaying her activist credentials, Stein spoke to some of the protesters about the pipeline and did some campaigning as well.

In a statement Wednesday, Stein stood by her actions at the protest, calling the pipeline "another deadly blow to a climate teetering on the brink". The $3.8 billion pipeline will run from North Dakota to IL, and part of its path will cross the Missouri River. The tribe's lawsuit says the project violates several federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, and will harm water supplies for the reservation's residents and for millions downstream, as well as disturb ancient sacred sites.

"We need to be in the debates", Stein said.

The buildup, announced Wednesday, comes after a skirmish between protesters and private security guards on Saturday that turned violent; the crowd dispersed when officers arrived, and no one was arrested.

In her tweets, she described the pipeline as "vandalism on steroids" and called on authorities to "press charges against the real vandals who bulldoze sacred burial sites".

The crimes Stein and Baraka's are charged with are class B misdemeanors, which according to the North Dakota criminal code, "are punishable by up to 30 days in jail and fines reaching $1,000".

The Tuesday incident occurred within half a mile of an encampment where hundreds of people had gathered to join the tribe's protest of the oil pipeline.

Stein has been arrested before while campaigning.