Sorry to disagree with you on this one, but many of us believe the drone pilots were in the right, and this will be nothing but good PR for drone operators everywhere - now that people can see with their own eyes how these can be useful tools in showing the truth.
The very nature of the protest at Standing Rock, and the human rights violations perpetrated by the police against unarmed, non-violent water protecters necessitates a free press - the no fly zones in these pro-oil situations are ALWAYS for the sake of creating a media black-out of exactly what's going on. It has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with keeping their actions from being revealed to the public. Thanks to the drone pilots, this became a public relations catastrophe for an overbearing oil company and the police that put private profit interests ahead of Constitutional rights.
I applaud the drone pilots in THIS situation for putting eyes on this and making the world see what was going on. If you simply want an expensive flying camera, then enjoy your purchase in the increasingly scarce places you can fly these days. But these quadcopters are also invaluable tools in shining a light on government corruption or wrongdoing (in this case, police brutality). If the government is in the wrong, as they were here, is it any wonder they'd want to impose a no-fly zone?