Mark Barrett

mbarrett@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE – Local residents plan a rally, prayer ceremony and march downtown Sunday in support of protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. at Pack Square. Organizers say they will hear from a local resident who recently returned from the protest encampment in North Dakota and another opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in North Carolina and Virginia. They will also post notices about the Dakota Access Pipeline on local branches of banks financing the pipeline.

The event comes a day before authorities say the Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota must be abandoned.