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Rema Loeb told The Associated Press he was forced to retreat from the bridge because he feared being hit with water on the freezing night. Others, he said, needed medical treatment after inhaling tear gas.

\"It's been just horrible,\" said Loeb, 83, who traveled from Massachusetts about two weeks ago to join the protests.

Tara Houska, an organizer with Honor the Earth, told The Bismarck Tribune that a gym in nearby Cannon Ball was opened to aid people who had been hit with water or tear gas.

The sheriff's department said protesters were trying to start fires, and the Mandan Rural and Bismarck fire departments were on the scene. Protesters said the they started the fires to warm up after being hit with the water cannon.

The incident began around 6 p.m. local time Sunday, police said, when protesters removed a truck that had been on the bridge since Oct. 27.

Police said 100 to 200 protesters remained near the bridge at 1:00 a.m.

\"PHOTO:
Morton County Sheriffs Department
PHOTO: Law enforcement and an estimated 400 Dakota Access pipeline protesters were in a standoff on the Backwater Bridge in Morton County, North Dakota, Nov. 20, 2016.
>

ABC News' Devin Villacis and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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