Divergent star Shailene Woodley is arrested while protesting against North Dakota oil pipeline that is being built on sacred Native American burial lands

• e-mail

Shailene Woodley was arrested for trespassing and engaging in a riot while protesting the controversial Dakota Access pipeline on Monday morning. 

The star of the Divergent series was handcuffed and booked while participating in what she called a 'peaceful protest' in Sioux County, North Dakota.

Footage of the 24-year-old's arrest was captured on her Facebook Live stream by her mother. 

She was one of about 100 protesters at a construction site for the controversial pipeline project which many claim will destroy sacred Native American burial grounds.

Since May thousands - including representatives of several Native American tribes - have camped near the pipeline's proposed route to oppose its construction. 

Beyond the camp, many have marched and disrupted construction sites for the project. In total, 123 people have been arrested with a further 27 apprehended on Monday.

Under arrest: Shailene Woodley was arrested for trespassing while protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline on Monday morning

Captured on camera: Shailene was streaming on Facebook Live and her mother took over and captured the arrest on camera 

Shailene was booked on two misdemeanors, engaging in a riot and criminal trespass. It is unclear what will consequences the actress faces but it is likely she was released on bail.

In the Facebook Live clip, the Fault in Our Stars actress claimed several times that she was only being arrested because she is famous, while several others who also took part in the protest were able to leave freely.

'I was walking back to my RV which is right there, so that we can go back to camp peacefully,' she told fans shortly before she was handcuffed.

'And they grabbed me by my jacket and they said that I wasn’t allowed to continue and they have giant guns and batons and zip ties. And they’re not letting me go.'

Peaceful: The star of the Divergent series was handcuffed while participating in what she called a 'peaceful protest' in Sioux County, North Dakota

'Is it because I'm famous?': Shailene claimed she was arrested because she is well-known

The police then placed her under arrest for 'criminal trespassing' and led her away.

'But why am I being arrested and no one else is who was down there?' Shailene asked. 'Is it because I’m famous? Is it because people know who I am?'

The actress was told she had been 'identified', but claimed that 'hundreds of people' were involved and added: 'When you asked us to leave we did.' 

Pointing to her mother, who was filming, Shailene said: 'She was down there, everybody was down there. I’m being arrested.

'I was down there with everybody else': The actress asked officers why she was arrested when 'hundreds of people' were involved

'They're not letting me go': Shailene said that armed officers grabbed her and refused to let her leave

'I was down there with everybody else. I don’t know what’s going on. As soon as they came, I left. It’s because I’m well-known. It’s because I have 40,000 people watching.'

The star added to the camera: 'So everybody knows we were going to our vehicle which they had all surrounded, and waiting for me with giant guns and a giant truck behind them, just so they could arrest me, so they knew this would happen. I hope you’re watching mainstream media.'

In a press conference on Monday afternoon, Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney defended police activity on the site. 

'We don't know what's in that crowd. They are not peaceful and prayerful. It's unlawful - that's what's happening here. The courts have spoken and the rule of law governs our land.

'People with an ideology and agenda not from here are bringing it here. What started as a North Dakota issue has gone well beyond that.

'They were intentionally violating the law, a peaceful protest is getting word out. today was very tense - it was a tense and dangerous situation.' 

Two campaigners chained themselves to construction equipment, according to the sheriff. It was this small group, who prompted the wider protest with a fleet of vehicles - including Woodley in an RV. According to police those protesters parked their vehicles and marched on the private construction site. 

'They have giant guns and batons and zip ties': The star was attempting to return to her RV, shown here, when she was stopped 

The officer clarified that engaging in a riot is a charge in North Dakota which can be brought on a illegal gathering of more than five people.  

In interviews at the site Woodley said she felt compelled to speak out and defend nature.  

'We’ve got to recognize that regardless of our background, regardless of our ancestry, we’re all indigenous to this Earth—whether we’re humans, whether we’re animals, whether we’re fish in the sea,' Woodley said. 

'And it’s our responsibility to honor our mother, that which has given us the oxygen, the sunlight, the moonlight—the fuel that feeds us every single day—we have to honor that, and we have to make sure that we treasure it and also protect it.'

Shortly afterwards Mark Ruffalo voiced his support for Shailene on Facebook, sharing her live stream and writing: 'This is clearly a trampling of our first amendment rights. The right to peaceful protest. This is real thug behavior where the state is in service of corporate interests.

'When you asked us to leave we did': Shailene attempted to tell officers that the protest was peaceful 

'The native treatise have granted these lands to the Native People. They faced great bloodshed and oppression for the right for the US government to honor these treaties. This is state sponsored brutality and oppression and nothing less.' 

The pair aren't the only stars to have opposed the pipeline's construction. Ben Affleck and fellow stars of the Justice League put out a video expressing their opposition to the development.  

Shailene has strongly campaigned against the pipeline and attended a rally in Washington in August. 

The latest protest comes after a federal appeals court opened the door for construction to resume on the small stretch of the four-state Dakota Access pipeline while it considers an appeal by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

'You're going to be placed under arrest': Shailene was told she had been 'identified' and was being arrested for 'criminal trespassing'

 Destructive: The pipeline would cross sacred ground of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe

The ruling, which was made on Sunday, removed a temporary injunction that halted work on the project.

The tribe had asked the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to stop work on the pipeline within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The court earlier ordered work to stop while it considered the motion.

In a statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said that the tribe 'is not backing down from this fight.' 

Led away: According to TMZ 26 other people were arrested for protesting on the construction site for the controversial pipeline project

Standing strong: The latest protest comes after a federal appeals court opened the door for construction to resume on the small stretch of the four-state Dakota Access pipeline

'We will not rest until our lands, people, waters and sacred places are permanently protected from this destructive pipeline,' Archambault said. 

Owned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project would carry nearly a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota's oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois, where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets.

The company did not immediately return an email Sunday seeking comment on the court's decision.

Sharing his support: Shailene received some words of support from Mark Ruffalo

'Good luck Shailene': Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun also spoke out in support of the star

The pipeline passes near Standing Rock Sioux reservation land that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The tribe's protest camp has swelled to thousands as demonstrators from around the country join their cause, claiming the pipeline will destroy their land and burial grounds. 

But tribal and state officials are at odds over whether sacred burial  sites were destroyed while digging the pipeline corridor. The state archaeologist has said an inspection found no sign that the area contained human remains or cultural artifacts.

Congressman Kevin Cramer applauded the ruling.

 'I look forward to the workers getting back to work, doing the jobs they need to do Monday morning,' the North Dakota Republican said in a statement. 

Lending her voice: The actress and environmental activist also attended protests over the pipeline in Washington and New York in August. She is seen on the red carpet, right 

The court hasn't decided on the tribe's appeal of a September ruling by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who declined to shut down work on the entire pipeline. He said the Sioux hadn't demonstrated that an injunction was warranted.

Though work may resume, three federal agencies — Interior, Justice and Army — immediately ordered that construction stop on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers next to and underneath Lake Oahe as it reviews its permitting decisions.

No timetable has been set for the federal review.

Woodley most recently stars in the movie Snowden. The 24-year-old actress plays the girlfriend of the former NSA contractor, Lindsay Mills.