Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier testified Friday afternoon in the trial over damages sought in the 2016 protests of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A behemoth defamation lawsuit brought by the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline against Greenpeace began its trial in a Mandan courtroom on Monday. Energy Transfer, a Texas-based oil and gas company, accuses Greenpeace of using underhanded means to back demonstrations against the pipeline in 2016 and 2017.

An attorney for Energy Transfer claimed it was "a day of reckoning," while Greenpeace attorneys said there was no evidence to prove the pipeline owner's claims.