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Report Back: One Hundred People March in Kinłani/Flagstaff Calling for End to Police Violence Against Unsheltered Indigenous Relatives 

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2 years ago

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Cops Target and Arrest One Person 
Occupied Kinłani (so-called “Flagstaff, AZ”) — On February 28, 2021, over one hundred people gathered at Heritage Square then marched throughout the downtown area in response to ongoing police violence against unshletered Indigenous community members. Immediately after the march one individual was arrested and charged with “aggravated assault.”
The demonstration was called by Indigenous Peoples and accomplices after an unsheltered Indigenous man was brutally attacked by the Flagstaff Police Department in early February. Demonstrators also addressed the utter failures of Flagstaff politicians to support unsheltered Indigenous Peoples prior to and during this pandemic. Along with daily police harassment and common reports of violence, unsheltered relatives have faced mismanaged and discriminatory shelters and have been left vulnerable to freezing temperatures and increased risk of COVID infection. 
A crowd of over one hundred people gathered in the Square where 11 police officers, as well as a tactical unit on a nearby roof, were in sight. 
In solidarity with unsheltered relatives, participants set up tables before the event with items such as jackets, gloves, and beanies in anticipation of plummeting temperatures. 
People in the crowd were also able to utilize the clothing to maintain black-bloc in order to preserve anonymity in opposition to the hyper-surveillance of the Flagstaff Police Department (FPD) which included undercover agents. Everyone was keeping COVID safe by wearing masks and socially distancing. Snacks, water bottles, masks, hand warmers, and hand sanitizer were distributed. Know Your Rights fliers and jail support information were also shared and the crowd was made aware of participating street medics and legal observers.
Participants presented statistics about FPD racism and violence. For example, from 1 Jan 2015 to 31 July 2020, 60% of FPD arrests in “Flagstaff” targeted Indigenous Peoples——7.8x greater than what it would be if arrest rates were not racially biased——with Indigenous men alone constituting nearly half (46.4%) of all arrests[3]. 
This clearly racist policing occurs in a city where police officers face very little danger. In 2019, there were only 2.6 serious (“part one”) violent crimes per officer in Flagstaff[6], and only 3.5% of FPD arrests from 1/1/2015 to 7/31/2020 were for violent crimes[6]. 
In fact, the FPD is the most prolific murderer in so-called Flagstaff. Police homicides accounted for 36.4% of all homicides in Flagstaff from 2015 to 2019, with FPD officers shooting and killing at a rate over 6x the national average[6].
These statistics beg the question as to what exactly the FPD is accomplishing with its $25 million annual budget. Defunding the police would enable alternative resources and infrastructures could be funded. 
For example, reallocating just 3% of the FPD budget could house all unsheltered people in so-called Flagstaff, a notoriously cruel place for unsheltered relatives[7]. Almost half of the unsheltered people in “Flagstaff” are Indigenous[1], even though only 7.7% of the city’s population is Indigenous[2]. Additionally, Indigenous people were targeted in 88% of arrests due to the criminalization of being unsheltered[3]. As a result, Flagstaff has been named one of the 10 meanest cities in the so-called U.S. toward unsheltered people[4]. 
Next the participants made viewers aware of a content warning for excessive force by Officer Nick Rubey who has a history of violence toward unsheltered relatives, including the attempted murder of Matt Dearing in 2019. Participants then screened the body cam footage released by FPD with text and breaks in the video to describe what is going on and the atrocity in which the relative was being treated by officers Nick Rubey (badge #8) and Tyler Davids (badge #4) [5].
The video projected at the demonstration can be found here: https://youtu.be/VGiHpECrqRY
Horrified by what the crowd had witnessed, experiences were then shared by unsheltered relatives who spoke of the same kind of treatement and demanded the city’s anti-camping ordinance be revoked as it essentially gives permission to the pigs to harass and target unsheltered folks just for sleeping or “gathering.” At that point, the crowd was ready to march. 
80-90 people then took to the streets, disrupting the usual activity of so-called Flagstaff’s Saturday night. The group was tactically led by strategically placed banners, which provided cover and safety. Some of the banners read “Land Back” and “Housing not Handcuffs.”  The police sprinted to keep up and struggled to overtake the crowd. It was noticed that the officers flanking the sides of the march were attempting to identify who they presumed to be leaders. Security acted quickly to cover those who were profiled by the racist police. 
The energy from the crowd, emboldened by the earlier video of police brutality, was collective and rowdy as the group took Historic Route 66. The crowd’s movement blocked oncoming traffic for several streets and the size of the crowd made it possible to overtake multiple lanes at a time as well as occupy multiple intersections throughout town. At one point in the march, as protestors chanted, “Out of your house and into the streets,” accomplices exited their homes to join the action. Accomplices from neighboring cities traveled to Kinłání to show their solidarity, escorted by black umbrellas and signs that read “ACAB” and “Abolition Now!”   
As the crowd weaved through the busy downtown area, more support was shown by onlookers. At one point, while overtaking an intersection, a passing vehicle began to loudly play N.W.A’S “Fuck Tha Police.” Throughout the march, demonstraters showed solidarity with Black kin by chanting, “Black Lives Matter” and “hands up, don’t shoot” as Black and Indigenous Peoples are the most likely to die in the hands of the pigs. In fact, almost 40% of all homicide in “Flagstaff” are from the blood stained hands of the police. 
After gathering momentum for nearly two hours, the march circled up at a large intersection. Participants passed out water, hand warmers, and other care items while chants of “We keep us safe” reverberated through the town. A pass the mic session was held, allowing people to share their experiences of police brutality by FPD. Stories of abolitionist futures and community liberation encouraged the crowd to locate Indigenous leadership and resistance efforts and to show up with skills sharpened. 
The march culminated in a gathering at Wheeler Park, where community remained the central theme. Local and out-of-town demonstrators discussed plans for forming accomplice networks across so-called Arizona. Unsheltered relatives told stories of sharing their limited resources with others on the street, demonstrating the truth of the “we keep us safe” chant. Meanwhile, the cops were escalating their harassment, encircling the group with increased numbers. With safety from pig violence in mind, and subtle awareness of undercover infiltration, the group collectively decided to disperse at this point. Before separating, participants were reminded of their rights and advised to use the buddy system. Escorts were arranged to keep people safe. Nearly all of the participants made it home. 
After leaving Wheeler Park, participants organized safe rides for unsheltered relatives to hotels or other places they chose to go. 
Participants were walking with unsheltered relatives to organize rides when two police cruisers flanked to the left and two from the right, including an undercover vehicle. Officers jumped out of barely halted vehicles and swarmed a previously targeted individual within the group. A small group of participants ran toward the police in an attempt to disrupt an arrest. Police continued to arrest the participant for “aggravated assault”. Participants filmed the interaction and yelled at the police.
The crew quickly reacted to the arrest by identifying legal and jail support. The progress of the arrest was tracked throughout the night, and nine supporters gathered the next morning to show solidarity upon the release of the targeted member.
This incidence of organizers being targeted on their way home out of the eye of the public is neither isolated nor coincidental. It is a repetitive tactic used on behalf of FPD and its purpose serves to strike fear and isolation in targeted members who become vulnerable without the support of a hundred person crowd. It also allows the Flagstaff Police to maintain its “hands off” public persona in regard to montitoring protests and direct action. The reality being that police treat post-action like a witch hunt, utilizing undercover police and hyper-surveillance in the form of frequent stalking and intimidation of Indigenous organizers on a day to day basis.
FPD has a history of continuously targeting the same Indigenous organizers in Northern Arizona in an attempt to suppress movement building and calls to action. For those unaware, consistent exposure to the criminal punishment system is not only exhausting spiritually, but it is also exhausting of community resources and support, and can lead to extended incarceration as movement organizers continue to be hyper-criminalized by a state that wishes to maintain status quo violence. 
These strategies weaponized by the state to repress Indigenous voices will never see success because Indigenous Resistance is ongoing and will never become obsolete on land occupied by savage white supremacist pigs. Stay vigilant. 

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1 Comment

  1. Christine Prat

    March 6, 2021 at 9:38 AM

    French translation / Traduction française:
    http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=6322

    Reply

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Ox Sam Camp Raid Update: One Arrested as Prayer Tipis Are Bulldozed and Ceremonial Items Confiscated

Published

2 months ago

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June 9, 2023

By

Thursday, June 8th, 2023

Contact: Ox Sam Camp
Email: oxsamcamp@proton.me
OxSam.org

THACKER PASS, NV — On Wednesday morning, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s department on behalf of Lithium Nevada Corporation, raided the Ox Sam Newe Momokonee Nokutun (Ox Sam Indigenous Women’s Camp), destroying the two ceremonial tipi lodges, mishandling and confiscating ceremonial instruments and objects, and extinguishing the sacred fire that has been lit since May 11th when the Paiute/Shoshone Grandma-led prayer action began.

One arrest took place on Wednesday at the direction of Lithium Nevada security. A young Diné female water protector was handcuffed with no warning and loaded into a windowless, pitch-black box in the back of a pickup truck. “I was really scared for my life,” the woman said. “I didn’t know where I was or where I was going, and I know that MMIW is a real thing and I didn’t want to be the next one.” She was transported to Humboldt County Jail, where she was charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest, then released on bail.

Just hours before the raid, Ox Sam water protectors could be seen for the second time this week bravely standing in the way of large excavation equipment and shutting down construction at the base of Sentinel Rock.

To many Paiute and Shoshone, Sentinel Rock is a “center of the universe,” integral to many Nevada Tribes’ way of life and ceremony, as well as a site for traditional medicines, tools, and food supply for thousands of years. Thacker Pass is also the site of two massacres of Paiute and Shoshone people­. The remains of the massacred ancestors have remained unidentified and unburied since 1865, and are now being bulldozed and crushed by Lithium Nevada for a mineral known as “the new white gold.”

Since May 11th, despite numerous requests by Lithium Nevada workers, the Humboldt County Sheriff Department has been reticent and even unwilling to arrest members of the prayer camp, even after issuing three warnings for blocking Pole Creek Road access to Lithium Nevada workers and sub-contractors, while allowing the public to pass through.

“We absolutely respect your guys’ right to peacefully protest,” explained Humboldt County Sheriff Sean Wilkin on May 12th. “We have zero issues with [the tipi] whatsoever… We respect your right to be out here.”

On March 19th the Sheriff arrived again, serving individual fourteen-day Temporary Protection Orders against several individuals at camp. The protection orders were granted by the Humboldt County Court on behalf of Lithium Nevada based on sworn statements loaded with misrepresentations, false claims, and, according to those targeted, outright false accusations by their employees. Still, Ox Sam Camp continued for another week. The tipis, the sacred fire, and the prayers occurred for a total of twenty-seven days of ceremony and resistance.

The scene at Thacker Pass this week looked like Standing Rock, Line 3, or Oak Flat, as Lithium Nevada’s workers and heavy equipment tried to bulldoze and trench their way through the ceremonial grounds surrounding the tipi at Sentinel Rock, and water protectors put their bodies in the way of the destruction, forcing work stoppage on two occasions.

Observers stated that Lithium Nevada’s head of security was directing the Sheriff’s deputies where to go and what to do during the raid.

Lithium Nevada’s ownership and control of Thacker Pass only exists because of the flawed permitting and questionable administrative approvals issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). BLM officials have refused to acknowledge that Peehee Mu’huh is a sacred site to regional Tribal Nations, and have continued to downplay and question the significance of the double massacre through two years of court battles.

Three tribes — the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, and Burns Paiute Tribe — remain locked in litigation with the Federal Government for permitting the mine. The tribes filed their latest response to the BLM’s Motion to Dismiss on Monday. BLM is part of the Department of the Interior which is led by Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo).

On Wednesday, at least five Sheriff’s vehicles, several Lithium Nevada worker vehicles, and two security trucks arrived at the original tipi site that contained the ceremonial fire, immediately adjacent to Pole Creek Road. One camper was arrested without warning, and others were issued with trespass warnings and allowed to leave the area. Once the main camp was secured, law enforcement then moved up to the tipi site at Sentinel Rock, a mile away.

There is a proper way to take down a tipi and ceremonial camp, and then there is the way Humboldt County Sheriffs proceeded on behalf of Lithium Nevada Corporation. Tipis were knocked down, tipi poles were snapped, and ceremonial objects and instruments were rummaged through, mishandled, and impounded. Empty tents were approached and secured in classic SWAT-raid fashion. One car was towed.

As is often the case when lost profits lead to government assaults on peaceful water protectors, Lithium Nevada Corporation and the Humboldt County Sheriffs have begun to claim that the raid was done for the safety of the camp members and for public health.

Josephine Dick (Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone), who is a descendent of Ox Sam and one of the matriarchs of Ox Sam Newe Momokonee Nokutun, made the following statement in response to the raid:

“As Vice Chair of the Native American Indian Church of the State of Nevada, and as a Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Nation elder and member, I am requesting the immediate access to and release of my ceremonial instruments and objects, including my Eagle Feathers and staff which have held the prayers of my ancestors and the Ox Sam camp since the beginning. There was also a ceremonial hand drum and medicines such as cedar and tobacco, which are protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
In addition, my understanding is that Humboldt County Sherriffs along with Lithium Nevada security desecrated two ceremonial tipi lodges, which include canvasses, poles, and ropes. The Ox Sam Newe Momokonee Nokutun has been conducting prayers and ceremony in these tipis which are also protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. When our ceremonial belongings are brought together around the sacred fire, this is our church. Our Native American church is a sacred ceremony. I am demanding the immediate access to our prayer site at Peehee Mu’huh and the return of our confiscated ceremonial objects.

The desecration that Humboldt County Sherriffs and Lithium Nevada conducted by knocking the tipis down and rummaging through sacred objects is equivalent to taking a bible, breaking The Cross, knocking down a cathedral, disrespecting the sacrament, and denying deacons and pastors access to their places of worship, in direct violation of my American Indian Religious Freedom rights. This violation of access to our ceremonial church and the ground on which it sits is a violation of Executive Order 13007.

The location of the tipi lodge that was pushed over and destroyed is at the base of Sentinel Rock, a place our Paiute-Shoshone have been praying since time immemorial. After two years of our people explaining that Peehee Mu’huh is sacred, BLM Winnemucca finally acknowledged that Thacker Pass is a Traditional Cultural District, but they are still allowing it to be destroyed.”

Josephine and others plan to make a statement on live stream outside the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in Winnemucca on the afternoon of Friday, June 9th around 1pm.

Another spiritual leader on the front lines has been Dean Barlese from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Barlese led prayers at the site on April 25th which led to Lithium Nevada shutting down construction for a day, and returned on May 11th to pray over the new sacred fire as Ox Sam camp was established.

“This is not a protest, it’s a prayer,” said Barlese. “But they’re still scared of me. They’re scared of all of us elders, because they know we’re right and they’re wrong.”

###

Background

Thacker Pass is located in northern Nevada near the Oregon border, where Lithium Nevada Corporation is in the first phase of building a $2 billion open-pit lithium mine which would be the largest of its kind in North America. The lithium is mainly destined for General Motors Corporation’s electric car batteries, which the corporation laughably claims is “green.” Mine opponents call this greenwashing and have stated that “it’s not green to blow up a mountain.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted Lithium Nevada corporation and all other business corporations a whole variety of constitutional “rights” that were never meant for business entities. Without these special so-called corporate “rights,” the mine owners would never have been allowed to construct this mine.

Three Native American tribes filed a new lawsuit against the Federal Government over Lithium Nevada Corporation’s planned Thacker Pass lithium mine on February 16, 2023, the latest legal move in the two-and-a-half-year struggle over mining, greenwashing, and sacred land in northern Nevada.

The Tribes notified the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on May 19th that they mean to appeal their Motion seeking a Preliminary Injunction which was rejected by a lower court in early March. Four environmental groups which lost their case in January have also appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and are expected to be heard in June.

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O’odham Executed by Border Patrol: Statement by Raymond Mattia Family

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2 months ago

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May 25, 2023

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Raymond Mattia of the Tohono O’odham Nation was executed by US border patrol agents on May 18th at his home. He was reportedly shot 38 times.

A peaceful gathering to support all victims of the
unmonitored violent actions of the Border Patrol and other agencies will be held at The Border
Patrol Station in Why, Az, and Tucson on Golf Links Road this Saturday, May 27th, from
10:00am-Noon.

For more information please visit: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/05/us-border-patrol-shoots-tohono-oodham.html

Statement by Mattia Raymond’s family:

We have been trying to find the strength to write this statement. This tragedy is so
grievous because it is apparent what had happened. Raymond called for help and, in turn, was
shot down at his doorstep. Raymond’s rights were violated by the authorities whom we trust to
protect our Nation. Improper and unprofessional actions of the agencies involved were witnessed
by family members present near the crime scene. Loved ones sat in agony, not knowing of
Raymond’s condition until they were told that he had passed hours later. Raymond lay in front of
his home for seven hours before a coroner from Tucson arrived.
In our eyes and hearts, we believe that Raymond was approached with excessive and
deadly force that took his life. He was a father, brother, uncle, friend, and an involved
community member. Raymond always fought for what was right, and he will continue to fight
even after his death. This is not an isolated incident, but it should bring awareness of the
oppression our people live through.
We want to thank so many of you for your condolences and support. A GoFundMe for
defense funds will be available soon. A peaceful gathering to support all victims of the
unmonitored violent actions of the Border Patrol and other agencies will be held at The Border Patrol Station in Why, Az, and Tucson on Golf Links Road this Saturday, May 27th, from 10:00am-Noon.

Contact for support: justiceforraymattia@gmail.com

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The Intercept and Grist begin release of 50,000 TigerSwan spy documents

Published

4 months ago

on

April 14, 2023

By

Article by Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Reprinted with permission.

April 14, 2023

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075796248532

The Intercept and Grist began releasing new TigerSwan spy documents in new coverage of the mercenaries hired by the Dakota Access Pipeline. They now have 50,000 TigerSwan spy documents, and another 9,000 are held up in the court battle for now. The documents reveal TigerSwan spying on Water Protectors at Standing Rock in North Dakota, Bold Iowa, and at other locations.

Reporters Alleen Brown and Naveena Sadasivam expose the new spy documents in their article, After Spying on Standing Rock, TigerSwan Shopped Anti-Protest ‘Countinsurgency’ to Other Oil Companies.

The article follows an expensive court battle by The Intercept seeking the release of the documents. The North Dakota Supreme Court ordered the release after TigerSwan was found operating without a license in North Dakota.

“The released documents provide startling new details about how TigerSwan used social media monitoring, aerial surveillance, radio eavesdropping, undercover personnel, and subscription-based records databases to build watchlists and dossiers on Indigenous activists and environmental organizations,” The Intercept writes. Read the article at The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2023/04/13/standing-rock-tigerswan-protests/

Paiute journalist, drone activist and filmmaker Myron Dewey was among those that TigerSwan spied on and stalked at Standing Rock 2016-2017, as revealed in the new documents that were ordered released by the court.

On Tuesday, the driver that killed Myron Dewey on an isolated road near his family’s home in Yomba, Nevada, entered a surprise plea bargain deal that was cut with a new prosecutor assigned to the case in Nye County, Nevada.  John Walsh pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of vehicular manslaughter.

This TigerSwan spy document, showing TigerSwan stalking Myron Dewey and Prolific the Rapper at Standing Rock on Dec. 17, 2016, is from the new documents at The Intercept. Document link: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773105-tigerswan-document-daily-intelligence-update-20161217

Below: From the TigerSwan spy files just released: The power of the global movement, with its heart in Standing Rock.

Below: The first flood of documents show how rattled DAPL was over the involvement of celebrities, the Standing Rock Chairman at the United Nations, Bernie Sanders, the Palestinian flag flying, and big orgs. The doc is from a pitch that TigerSwan made for more work, hustling another pipeline to spy on resistance.

Above: TigerSwan surveillance used drones and helicopters.https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773104-tigerswan-document-daily-intelligence-update-20161014

Above: TigerSwan spy file at Bold Iowa. The mercenaries hired by the Dakota Access Pipeline called Bold Iowa Water Protectors “belligerents.” Document link:

Click to access tigerswan-document-information-summary-20161012.pdf

TigerSwan spied on, and stalked the media, including Paiute journalist Myron Dewey, Amy Goodman at Democracy Now, and myself, publisher of Censored News, as revealed in the newly released documents by The Intercept and Grist. TigerSwan used its surveillance on the media in its pitches for more spy work to other oil and pipeline companies.

TigerSwan turned its surveillance at Standing Rock into a potential money maker, using it for powerpoints in its pitches to other oil and pipeline companies for spy work.

T

TigerSwan even stalked the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in its high-stakes spying for dollars.

TigerSwan’s Opposition Model, shown below, was used as a potential maker in PowerPoints to other oil and pipeline companies.

The Intercept described the battle for these documents.

“A discovery request filed as part of the case forced thousands of new internal TigerSwan documents into the public record. Energy Transfer’s lawyers fought for nearly two years to keep the documents secret, until North Dakota’s Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the material falls under the state’s open records statute,” The Intercept said.

“Because an arrangement between North Dakota and Energy Transfer allows the fossil fuel company to weigh in on which documents should be redacted, the state has yet to release over 9,000 disputed pages containing material that Energy Transfer is, for now at least, fighting to keep out of the public eye.”

TigerSwan spy documents on Water Protectors

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773105-tigerswan-document-daily-intelligence-update-20161217
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773100-tigerswan-document-presentation-for-dominion

Note: The documents show that TigerSwan spied on Censored News, as shown in today’s article at The Intercept.

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