An altercation between a Capitol Police officer and a protester resulted in an attack with a baseball bat on Friday, and the officer was also allegedly bitten.

Capitol Police arrested the 25-year-old woman identified as Olivia "Liv" Romano, who went to D.C. to protest the construction of multiple pipelines crossing Indigenous lands.

According to Yahoo News, Romano was at the West Front of the Capitol at approximately 9:30 a.m. Friday when the incident occurred.

In a statement to the Hill, Capitol police said “when she [Liv Romano] raised the bat, the officers attempted to take it. In that moment, the woman became combative and bit one of the officers.”

According to The Hill, Romano is in custody and charges are pending.

Sections of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline are seen on the construction site near La Salle Lake State Park in Solway, Minnesota on August 7, 2021
Sections of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline are seen on the construction site near La Salle Lake State Park in Solway, Minnesota on August 7, 2021 AFP / Kerem Yucel

There have been multiple arrests because of these protests, some of which happened at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. According to Native News Online, nearly 50 people occupied the office as a part of weeklong demonstrations called People vs Fossil Fuels, which will end on Friday.

Indian Country Today reported that on Oct. 12 over 500 people marched from Freedom Plaza to The White House. Local officers arrested 135 that day.

The protesters demand that President Joe Biden halt the construction of multiple pipelines across the country that cross Indigenous lands and harm the local ecosystems. Many protesters, most of whom are Indigenous, have been in months-long battles with fossil fuel companies, local governments, and the federal government over the pipelines.

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