US Open protester who glued his feet to floor says NYPD took him to psych ward after his arrest

Four climate change protesters were taken into custody Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium during a women's U.S. Open semifinal match.

U.S. Open tournament referee Jake Gardner entered the court while security went into the stands to remove protesters wearing shirts that said "End Fossil Fuels."

The United States Tennis Association said 49 minutes elapsed before play between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova resumed.

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One of them even glued his feet to the ground, and the New York Police Department apparently questioned his sanity.

Shayok Mukhopadhyay, 50, said the NYPD took him to a psych ward after he was arrested.

Mukhopadhyay said he spent several hours at a hospital.

"I’ve been arrested before, but I’ve never had this experience," Mukhopadhyay told the New York Daily News. "They were asking obvious leading questions, like, ‘Do you think the world is going to end?’ This typical stereotype of the crazy, apocalyptic cult kind of thing."

Mukhopadhyay moved to White Plains, New York, 25 years ago from India.

Despite the NYPD thinking he was a "crazy person," he said that title belongs to President Biden.

"Who’s the crazy person here? It’s Biden who’s the crazy person here, who, in 2023, is approving new oil and gas projects when international energy agencies founded by Henry Kissinger — no tree hugger — have said there should be no new fossil fuel infrastructure," Mukhopadhyay said.

The climate group Extinction Rebellion took responsibility for the protest. The group’s New York chapter released a statement saying there is "no tennis on a dead planet."

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"Today’s action highlights the neglect of the climate and ecological breakdown by governments and corporations," the group said. "The group emphasizes that the present socioeconomic system can't protect people from the crises to come because its very structure creates these crises and then ignores them.

"The extremely short-term incentives of our key institutions — corporations and governments, which respectively function on quarterly profits and periodic elections, disregard the long-term dangers to our survival. This system is committed to stealing from future generations to sustain a lifestyle that primarily benefits the few (the so-called ‘one percent’)."

Gauff won the match in straight sets and will face Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday in the final.

Draft review leaves future of Dakota Access Pipeline river crossing unclear

Federal officials on Friday released a draft environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, but said they're waiting for more input before deciding the future of the line’s controversial river crossing in North Dakota.

The draft was released over three years after a federal judge ordered the environmental review and revoked the permit for the Missouri River crossing, upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation. The tribe is concerned a pipeline oil spill could contaminate its water supply.

North Dakota officials support a decision that ultimately allows the pipeline to continue operating as it has. The tribe is calling for a new review and a pipeline shutdown.

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The environmental review is key for whether the federal government reissues the permit. The pipeline has been operating since 2017, including during the environmental review.

The draft environmental impact statement, which is dated in June but was made public Friday, noted that the Corps "has not selected a preferred alternative," but will make a decision in its final review, after considering input from the public and other agencies.

The draft details five options for the pipeline, including denying the easement for the crossing and removing or abandoning a 7,500-foot segment. Officials could also approve the easement with measures for "increased operational safety," or grant the same easement with no changes.

A fifth option is a 111-mile reroute of the pipeline to north of Bismarck, over 38 miles upstream from the current crossing. The reroute would require new permits from federal, state and local authorities and regulators, which could take at least two years. The exact path of such a reroute is unknown, according to the draft.

"We are seeking public input on the environmental analysis of each alternative, and that input combined with the environmental analysis will help us to make an informed decision among the alternatives," Corps Omaha District spokesman Steve Wolf told The Associated Press.

A comment period will end Nov. 13. Public meetings are scheduled Nov. 1-2 in Bismarck.

A final environmental impact statement will follow the public input and environmental analysis, and a formal decision will be made, Wolf said.

Republican U.S. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota told the AP a final alternative is expected to come out in fall 2024. He said he hopes for a decision that allows the pipeline to continue operating.

"Clearly they should go ahead and approve it without any additional modifications. The safety measures are in place," Hoeven said.

Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire on Friday said the draft review should be "invalidated" and the Corps should "start from scratch" on a new review, with the pipeline shut down. The tribe is furious, she said.

"The pipeline is an imminent threat to the Missouri River, sensitive habitat and sacred burial sites along the riverbank," Alkire said. "The oil company’s emergency response plans are inadequate, its safety track record is horrendous, and there’s been a stunning lack of transparency with Standing Rock throughout the environmental review process, including inaccurate characterizations of tribal consultation."

She also called on the public to submit comments supporting a new review and a shutdown of the pipeline.

North Dakota's governor-led, three-member Industrial Commission on Thursday heard of the draft's pending release. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum on Thursday called the selection of no preferred alternative "unusual if not unprecedented."

Burgum in a statement Friday added his support for granting the easement as it was previously issued, citing the pipeline as a safe operation and better than rail.

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Hoeven said an Army official had notified him that the Corps wouldn't make a recommendation in the draft, but the agency will do more consultation in addition to the public input. The senator said he emphasized that the Corps consult with the state and the oil-rich Three Affiliated Tribes, whose reservation shares geography with North Dakota's oil patch.

State and federal officials and the pipeline's company say the line is safe. It moves oil from western North Dakota to Illinois. Leaders in North Dakota’s oil industry and state government consider the pipeline to be crucial infrastructure, with far less oil now transported by rail.

The pipeline is moving about 600,000 to 650,000 barrels of oil per day. Its capacity is 750,000 barrels per day. North Dakota produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year refused to take up an appeal of the tribe’s lawsuit over the pipeline. The tribe first filed the lawsuit in 2016. Thousands of people gathered and camped near the pipeline's river crossing for protests that lasted months and sparked hundreds of arrests in 2016 and 2017. More than 830 criminal cases resulted from the protests.

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