Warrants for arrest have been issued for four men for poaching deer in or near the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp near the mouth of the Cannonball River. The Morton County state’s attorney office has filed criminal complaints against the men who were identified from video taken of the incidents.

Sean Carney of Center Conway, New Hampshire and Danny LeClaire of Pocatello, Idaho were charged in the first incident with unlawful possession of big game. Carney and LeClaire were identified in a photograph of them skinning a deer for which they allegedly did not have a license to possess. Warrants for their arrest have been issued. However, the two men are not believed to still be in North Dakota.

Identified from the second incident are William Larkin of Olean, New York and William Bighorse of Freeville, New York. They are charged with unlawful possession of big game for their alleged participation in dragging a white-tailed deer from the Cannonball River and killing it by stabbing it with a knife and suffocating it in the mud. Larkin and Bighorse are believed to be out of state.

Video of the deer incidents was released to the public in January and helped lead to the identification of the suspects. According to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, other suspects appearing in videos and photographs may be identified in the future.

– Kim Fundingsland