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People gather at Pioneer Courthouse Square to protest Wells Fargo in support of Dakota Access Pipeline protesters at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. Samantha Matsumoto/Staff

Approximately 100 people gathered in front of Pioneer Courthouse Square and marched to Wells Fargo Center Thursday to protest the bank and support Dakota Access Pipeline protesters.

The protest is part of a nationwide movement Thursday to close accounts at Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Both banks are financing the companies building the pipeline, which is being built near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota.

Protesters met at noon and marched to the Wells Fargo Center at 1300 S.W. Fifth Avenue, where some closed their bank accounts. As they marched, they chanted "Wells Fargo, we will fight until you honor indigenous rights."

A small group of protesters delivered a letter to Wells Fargo staff, asking them to divest funds from the pipeline. Protesters claim the bank is financing 10 percent of pipeline. In a statement, Wells Fargo officials said the bank's loans to Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder, make up less than 5 percent of the total funding.

Protest organizer Ali Pullen said the demonstration was meant to hold banks funding the pipeline accountable.

"We are expressing our concern for their disrespecting indigenous sovereignty and human rights," she said. If banks don't divest funding from the pipeline, Pullen said, people will continue to close their accounts.

In a statement, Wells Fargo officials said the company is one of 17 institutions funding the pipeline, but it has invested $52 billion in environmentally sustainable businesses and provides financial services to more than 200 Native American tribal entities.

"We remain committed to our obligations to serve our customers' financial needs, and will continue to be respectful of the concerns being expressed by Tribal entities, other groups and individuals," the statement read.

Some of the doors at Wells Fargo were temporarily locked to ensure customers' and employees' safety during the protest, a spokesman said. The letter delivered by protesters will be forwarded to Wells Fargo senior executives, he said.

After they held signs and chanted in front of Wells Fargo, protesters walked across the street to Portland's City Hall. They gave a letter to Mayor Charlie Hales' chief of staff, asking the mayor to support protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Protesters originally intended to give the letter to Hales, but he was out of town at a climate conference, his chief of staff told the crowd.

People from across the nation have been protesting the pipeline since late summer. The 1,200-mile, four-state pipeline would carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois, but the pipeline's route lies near the Standing Rock Sioux's reservation. Protesters worry that it could leak and contaminate the tribe's drinking water. They also say the pipeline could damage sacred sites.

Police have used water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas on protesters during recent standoffs. Earlier this week, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple issued an emergency evacuation notice to protesters. On Tuesday, state officials said they would fine any vehicles heading to the main protest camp.

Energy Transfer Partners told The Associated Press last week that it would not consider a different route for the pipeline.

Portland protesters will continue to put pressure on Wells Fargo and other banks funding the pipeline, Pullen said. She said December is a particularly critical time for the pipeline protests because of the eviction notices and the presidential election of Donald Trump, who holds stock in Energy Transfer Partners.

"Especially in the month of December, we are trying our best to hold these banks (accountable) and target these banks to stop funding the pipeline," she said. "When we take our funds and we choose to stop supporting them, we are weakening them."

-- Samantha Matsumoto