Shailene Woodley protests controversial pipeline in capital

Defiant actress Shailene Woodley has taken her protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline to Washington, D.C.

The young star has been protesting the controversial oil pipeline for months, claiming it will threaten local water supplies and disturb cultural sites in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and on Sunday (27Nov16), the 25-year-old traveled to the capital to march in the Water Is Life rally, which began at the Department of Justice and ended at the Washington Monument.

"#DC we here and so ready to march tomorrow with our native brothers and sisters from #standingrock," she wrote on Instagram on Saturday (26Nov16). "come join us!! department of justice to washington monument NOON."

The rally took place four days after the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday (24Nov16), when Shailene and Jane Fonda joined activists in serving around 500 meals to demonstrators in Manden, North Dakota. Woodley has become a frequent visitor to the front lines of the protest and regularly documents her trips on Facebook Live, including the time she was arrested in October (16).

The actress was close to tears when she spoke to TYT Politics from the area, saying, "It is a day that many call Thanksgiving and it's a day where kids in elementary school in America are taught false narratives about our natives brothers and sisters... none of our children know the truth about not only what happened to Native Americans when westerners decided to colonise the country but what is still happening to Native Americans.

"We're here with these cops, with snipers, with rubber bullets and I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of it. There's no excuse. Where is everyone? Why isn't everyone standing up and saying something?"

Shailene will appear in court on 22 February (17) on charges of criminal trespass and engaging in a riot. She has pleaded not guilty to both counts.