Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein says she’s working with North Dakota authorities to arrange a court date on charges related to her participation in a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline.

Stein has acknowledged spray-painting construction equipment Tuesday in North Dakota. Stein and running mate Ajamu Baraka were charged Wednesday with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and criminal mischief, and authorities issued arrest warrants.

Stein defended her actions to the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/2cfvzAg ) Thursday during a campaign stop in Chicago. She said it would have been “inappropriate for me not to have done my small part” to support the Standing Rock Sioux.

The tribe says the pipeline threatens sacred sites and drinking water.

The $3.8 billion pipeline is to carry oil from western North Dakota to Illinois.