Temple students show support for Standing Rock

Yesterday morning, Facebook began blowing up with people all over the country checking in on Facebook at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the situation:

What’s the Dakota Access Pipeline?

People are protesting to block the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile pipeline connecting crude oil deposits in North Dakota to Midwest refineries down to Pakota, Illinois. The $3.7 billion project will change the American landscape to enhance US crude oil supply, but in the process will damage and destroy Native American land sites.

Why are people checking in on Facebook at the reservation location?

In order to prevent police from accurately tracking and targeting protesters out in the reservation, a text post suggested throwing off the police by checking in on Facebook to Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The post has since gone viral.

Many Temple students have been checking into Standing rock and sharing the post to show their support and try to help the people fighting for the wellbeing of their land.

However, since the post has gotten viral- many have wondered how effective this tactic has actually been in throwing off the police.

Snopes reported police said they weren’t using the Facebook check ins to monitor the situation.

However, there are real ways you can help the cause.

Though Philadelphia is thousands of miles away from the Dakota Access Pipeline, organizations around the city are setting up fundraising events and protests to show solidarity with Standing Rock.

If you’d like to get involved, here are some ways to help.