Local man arrested at Pine Ridge beer blockade
2:17 PM
Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2007
PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) -- Oglala Sioux tribal police arrested three men on Thursday after they refused to leave a blockade set up just inside the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Blockade organizers had wanted to confiscate beer headed from tiny Whiteclay, Neb., to the dry South Dakota reservation.
The intent was to stop vehicles from Whiteclay, just 200 yards from the state border, ask occupants if they had any alcohol and confiscate it if they did.
Blockade workers, wearing bright green construction vests, stopped a handful of vehicles but then were told by tribal police to stop because of safety concerns.
After several minutes of arguing, police arrested three of the blockade organizers: Duane Martin Sr. of Custer; Frank LaMere, a Winnebago activist from Nebraska; and Russell Means of Porcupine, an American Indian activist and actor.
Martin was arrested after it appeared he fought with officers over a spear he was carrying. He spoke in Lakota as more than a half-dozen officers wrestled him to the ground.
"It looked like the violence was initiated by tribal police," said Mark Vasina of Nebraskans for Peace. His group and Martin's Strong Heart Civil Rights Movement staged the blockade.
"If we get arrested, we do it on our side of the border," Tim Rinne of Lincoln, Neb., state coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace, told Vasina.
Organizers had said they wanted the blockade to be nonviolent and had pressed law enforcement to take it over.
Four stores in Whiteclay sell an estimated 4 million of cans of beer every year, mostly to American Indians. The stores have been a source of tension for years, and tribal members have tried to stop alcohol sales in Whiteclay through the courts, the county and the state licensing board.
About a dozen law officers stood by in Whiteclay as the activity played out on the highway just north of town. Up to 20 tribal officers were at that location, called in to break up the blockade.
James Twiss, Oglala Sioux tribal police chief, said the people had been asked repeatedly to leave but refused, so they were arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice.
"You can ask only so long before you have to arrest them and get them into custody," Twiss said.
He said he told the organizers a year ago they needed to change tribal law and make it legal -- but they refused. "They had a whole year to do something legislatively," Twiss said.
Most of the blockade workers were Nebraskans for Peace members. Some tribal members and about a dozen reporters were at the scene as well. Only four to five people actually were stopping vehicles out of the approximately two dozen people at the blockade.
Martin had asked police to set up the blockade, but Twiss refused. Twiss said tribal police conduct at least 15 sobriety checkpoints on the reservation each year and plan to do one starting Friday through Wednesday -- including the road between Whiteclay and the reservation.
Twiss said he empathizes with the group's mission but that he has to follow tribal law.
Beer cans litter reservation roads and the streets of Whiteclay. People loiter outside the stores. Some try to trade tools, electronics and other things for beer.
"I'm tired of my people dying. You've got 18, 19 year olds trading alcohol for sex," Martin said.
The intent was to stop vehicles from Whiteclay, just 200 yards from the state border, ask occupants if they had any alcohol and confiscate it if they did.
Blockade workers, wearing bright green construction vests, stopped a handful of vehicles but then were told by tribal police to stop because of safety concerns.
After several minutes of arguing, police arrested three of the blockade organizers: Duane Martin Sr. of Custer; Frank LaMere, a Winnebago activist from Nebraska; and Russell Means of Porcupine, an American Indian activist and actor.
Martin was arrested after it appeared he fought with officers over a spear he was carrying. He spoke in Lakota as more than a half-dozen officers wrestled him to the ground.
"It looked like the violence was initiated by tribal police," said Mark Vasina of Nebraskans for Peace. His group and Martin's Strong Heart Civil Rights Movement staged the blockade.
"If we get arrested, we do it on our side of the border," Tim Rinne of Lincoln, Neb., state coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace, told Vasina.
Organizers had said they wanted the blockade to be nonviolent and had pressed law enforcement to take it over.
Four stores in Whiteclay sell an estimated 4 million of cans of beer every year, mostly to American Indians. The stores have been a source of tension for years, and tribal members have tried to stop alcohol sales in Whiteclay through the courts, the county and the state licensing board.
About a dozen law officers stood by in Whiteclay as the activity played out on the highway just north of town. Up to 20 tribal officers were at that location, called in to break up the blockade.
James Twiss, Oglala Sioux tribal police chief, said the people had been asked repeatedly to leave but refused, so they were arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice.
"You can ask only so long before you have to arrest them and get them into custody," Twiss said.
He said he told the organizers a year ago they needed to change tribal law and make it legal -- but they refused. "They had a whole year to do something legislatively," Twiss said.
Most of the blockade workers were Nebraskans for Peace members. Some tribal members and about a dozen reporters were at the scene as well. Only four to five people actually were stopping vehicles out of the approximately two dozen people at the blockade.
Martin had asked police to set up the blockade, but Twiss refused. Twiss said tribal police conduct at least 15 sobriety checkpoints on the reservation each year and plan to do one starting Friday through Wednesday -- including the road between Whiteclay and the reservation.
Twiss said he empathizes with the group's mission but that he has to follow tribal law.
Beer cans litter reservation roads and the streets of Whiteclay. People loiter outside the stores. Some try to trade tools, electronics and other things for beer.
"I'm tired of my people dying. You've got 18, 19 year olds trading alcohol for sex," Martin said.
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