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From: "Natalie Greenlaw" <neegii@tekstar.com>
To: <kolahq@skynet.be>
Subject: MN county approves state-tribal police pact despite grassroots opposition
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 16:26:26 -0600

County approves White Earth law enforcement pact without public hearing or
reservation vote

By Jeff Armstrong

While White Earth tribal members spoke passionately against a proposed
state-tribal law enforcement system, Becker County Commissioners acted as if
they had heard it all before, which, despite their best efforts to the
contrary, indeed they had.

The commission voted 4-1 at a Feb. 8 meeting in Detroit Lakes to approve an
agreement allowing RBC-appointed police officers to enforce state and tribal
laws against White Earth members and to arrest non-members on the
reservation within the county.

A Feb. 4 letter to the Becker County board signed by seven tribal members
stated that "we remain resolutely opposed to the implementation of this
agreement in the absence of an independently-monitored tribal referendum
vote and continue to be highly skeptical of the state’s authority to subject
White Earth to a lawless state-tribal police system against the will of the
people of the reservation."

Citing unspecified incidents of alleged misconduct by tribal officers, the
letter states: "The failure of the current RBC police force can be amply
documented; there is no need for a one-year trial agreement in Becker County
and we reject the notion that we should serve as guinea pigs in an
experiment so clearly flawed."

"One of my concerns is that this has not been brought to the people for an
open debate," said Roxanne Claassen, a White Earth member residing in
Detroit Lakes, at the meeting. Claassen predicted that the heavily-armed
tribal police force would be used more to stifle political dissent than to
combat serious crime.

Refusing to engage in dialogue with grassroots Anishinabeg to the end, the
commissioners were as oblivious to the threat of legal challenges to the
agreement as to the likelihood of civil rights violations arising from it.

"The potential for a lawsuit always exists, no matter what we do," said
commission chair Marjorie Johnson.

But Marvin Manypenny, director of the Aniishinabe Center, said the state and
county were skating on thin legal ice by intervening in internal tribal
affairs.

"Unless or until the federal government by act of Congress or otherwise
transfers jurisdiction to the state, the state has no jurisdiction" to
dictate the terms of tribal law enforcement, said Manypenny.

"I’ve struggled many years to get a fair, just court system," Manypenny
said. "There has been no change. Setting up a law enforcement system is
going to be used to abuse tribal members."

Manypenny characterized federal legal opinions upholding RBC judicial
authority in the absence of a constitutional amendment as "arbitrary,
capricious and possibly in breach of the federal trust responsibility."

Attorney Ed Peterson said the agreement may serve to shield police officers
from the jurisdiction of the state Department of Human Rights, which he
termed "a serious violation of equal protection rights."

White Earth attorney Zenas Baer denied that the agreement granted any
additional jurisdiction to the state and said the federal government would
not have extended the RBC a $1 million COPS grant if there were any question
of its constitutional authority.
 

===
 

From: "Natalie Greenlaw" <neegii@tekstar.com>
To: <kolahq@skynet.be>
Subject: Is U.S. arming paramilitary goon squad on White Earth?
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 16:32:21 -0600

White Earth RBC law enforcement gearing up for conflict

By Jeff Armstrong

The controversial White Earth Reservation Business Committee police force is
building up a formidable arsenal of riot control and paramilitary equipment,
according to documents obtained by the Native American Press/Ojibwe News.

While the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation continues to struggle with the
legacy of a federally-backed counterinsurgency war in the 1970's, the U.S.
government is underwriting 75% of the cost of a tribal law enforcement
system at White Earth hauntingly familiar to former Pine Ridge chairman Dick
Wilson’s notorious goon squad.

Included in the White Earth Police Department’s $655,302 annual budget is a
Sept. 10, 1999 purchase order for $32,334.26 worth of equipment from
Aardvark Tactical, Inc., which specializes in "less-lethal" devices and
weapons accessories. Aardvark’s website (www.nonlethal.com) features links
to "anti-law enforcement" sites, including Human Rights Watch and the ACLU
Police Practice web page.

The tribal police order includes the following items:

*one 40 mm grenade and tear gas launcher

*seven travel vaults for gas guns and M-4 weapons, a lighter, shorter
version of the M-16

*six "Millenium" tactical lights for .223 caliber carbine automatic rifles

*one ballistic anti-riot shield

*one 40 mm Exact Impact sponge gun developed by the U.S. Army

*six gas masks

*one Reload Distraction Device, a flash-bang grenade which gives off a light
equivalent to more than 2 million candles

*one pair of night vision infrared binoculars

*six holsters and grips for Glock pistols

*six magazine pouches for AR-15 rifles

Marvin Manypenny, director of the Aniishinabe Center in Detroit Lakes, said
the document confirms the worst fears of tribal members about the intentions
of the RBC in establishing its police force.

"It’s an undeclared war on us," said Manypenny.
 
 

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