The Dakota Access Pipeline protests are thousands of miles away from West Palm Beach but for Nancy Goodman in Palm Beach Gardens it seems very close this Thanksgiving.
21-year old Nathan Goodman studies in Colorado and he decided to join the protests a week ago.
“He called and said mom I hate to disappoint you but I’m not coming home for Thanksgiving,” said Nancy Goodman. “I’ve got to do this. He’s someone who can’t turn his head at social injustice.”
While she is proud of her son, the images on television of the protests worry her.
“I’m very scared,” Nancy Goodman said. “I haven’t slept too much at all.”
She said they don’t have phone connection at the camp so she just has to wait to hear from him. During our interview, Nathan called her.
He said watching the protests unfold on TV, he couldn’t go on a fun vacation, he had to do something about it. When he arrived, he said he was shocked by the violence used against the protesters.
“We were blasted with a water cannon over a barricade, teargas coming at us really relentlessly and rubber bullets,” Nathan Goodman said.
On Sunday, Nathan said he was blasted with a water cannon in 20 degree weather. His mother is now worried he might have caught pneumonia.
“He had no voice and he was just coughing,” Nancy Goodman said.
This Thanksgiving, this Palm Beach Gardens family is far away from one another but they’re together in spirit.
“I’m thankful for my son,” Nancy Goodman said.