State Drops Charges Against Peaceful Rushmore Protestors

Last updated on 2021-07-05

Last July 3, dozens of brave young men and women rallied peacefully before a battalion of heavily armored and armed police and soldiers down the road from Kristi Noem’s hate rally for Donald Trump to protest past and current injustices against Indigenous Americans. The protest did not get rough until the National Guard stormed in and assaulted the civilians on the highway, because, by God, nobody rains on Kristi Noem’s pageant:

The Guard, a SWAT unit and Mobile Response Team — which handles crowd control — arrived with military-style vehicles and gear about 30 minutes after the declaration. They formed riot lines and walked from both sides of the road toward the protesters, pushing them back with their shields. Several officers used pepper spray and pepper balls to force protesters to move back.

Some protesters pushed back against the shields with their hands, makeshift shields and sticks. Some also yelled threats, a Guardsman said during the preliminary hearing.

…However, two deputies testified during the preliminary hearing that they witnessed no violence or threats from protesters before the Guard arrived, and one said he believes he and fellow deputies could have safely arrested the protesters without backup from the riot police [Arielle Zionts, “Charges Against Nick Tilsen Will Be Dropped If He Completes Diversion Program,” Rapid City Journal, 2021.03.22].

Noem’s shock troops arrested several of the assaulted protestors on the spot for defensive actions that never approached the level of violence committed by white supremacists who attempted to overthrow the United States government in Washington D.C. on January 6. Most egregiously, the state charged protest organizer Nick Tilsen with felonies that could have sat him in prison for 16 years.

This week, the state backed away from its meritless oppression of peaceful Indigenous activists, dropping charges against Tilsen and nineteen other protestors if Tilsen completes Pennington County’s diversion program:

“The fact that the State is dropping these charges reveals that these were politically and racially motivated charges to begin with, exposing both the Sheriff and State prosecutor’s ill intent to abuse their positions of power to suppress our movement and overcriminalize Indigenous people,” said Tilsen. “How do I go from facing nearly 17 years in jail, to all charges being dropped? We organized, we fought, and we backed them into a corner where there was no longer any political upside for them to continue this unjust prosecution of myself and the other Land Defenders.”

“The charges being dropped represent the start of a shift in power that is not only powerful in this moment, but necessary for the future of our movements. I feel a sense of relief that organizing won today and myself, Nick and all the Land Defenders won’t have to carry the emotional burden of these charges moving forward,” said Krystal Two Bulls, director of the LANDBACK Campaign at NDN Collective. “I have so much gratitude for the thousands of supporters who prayed, donated, called, emailed, signed petitions and reached out over the past nine months. This is a wake up call for our communities. We will no longer accept racially motivated attacks on our Land or bodies, without organizing in response! We will continue to organize forward and fight for all our targeted and incarcerated Relatives!”

“This is a day of victory for our Movement and our People, and we will utilize it to catalyze our cause forward.” said Tilsen. “Thank you to everybody that prayed, called, wrote and supported is in this struggle. As we celebrate this day we recognize the Black, Indigenous and people of color and LGBTQ community  wrongly imprisoned and incarcerated still in jails across this nation. We are not free until we are all free. This is what I will continue to dedicate my life and work to is the true liberation of my people and our lands” [NDN Collective, press release, 2021.03.22].

Tilsen just needs to complete the diversion program and avoid arrest for one year to have his charges expunged and sealed. If that clock starts this week, he can get those charges erased just in time to file his petition to run for Governor. “We are not free until we are all free” would make a great campaign slogan….