By BLAKE NICHOLSON
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A New York City woman severely injured while protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota is asking a federal judge to let her lawsuit against law enforcement proceed.

Sophia Wilansky alleges her left arm was nearly blown off by a police flashbang device in November 2016. She's seeking millions in damages for claims including excessive force and defamation.

Police maintain her injury was caused by a propane canister protesters rigged to explode and that she's to blame for her own injury. Last month they asked that the lawsuit be thrown out .

Wilansky's attorneys in their response say she deserves a chance to gather more evidence from the government to prove her claims. They say the government's assertions that law officers did not use excessive force fall flat.

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