Posted on 07/16/2003 9:28:38 AM PDT by RGSpincich
STRUGGLE FOR ACCORD - TRIBE, GOVERNOR DIFFER ON JURISDICTION
By Ryan Blessing and Ryan McBride - The Sun Staff
CHARLESTOWN - The Narragansett Indian Tribe planned to reopen its controversial tax-free smoke shop this morning, while the state will go to court to get a permanent restraining order preventing the move.
The smoke shop trailer on Route 2 was the epicenter of a violent confrontation between tribal members and Rhode Island State Police Monday afternoon.
Eight tribal members including Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and First Tribal Councilman Randy Noka were arrested in the state police raid and eight people were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries.
"Today's actions were precipitated by the Narragansett Indians and their flagrant violation of state law," Gov. Don Carcieri said Monday afternoon in a press conference at T.F. Green Airport, where he returned from a weekend vacation.
Local news cameras captured much of the melee on tape.
Video of the raid shows state police troopers walking in a line toward the smoke shop and forcibly opening its doors.
A verbal confrontation quickly escalated to pushing and shoving between state and tribal authorities. At one point, Thomas had both his arms around a state trooper attempting to enter the smoke shop.
Shortly afterward, two troopers pulled a man down the steps leading to the entrance, and then pulled Thomas after him.
Later footage shows Thomas being taken to the ground by several state police officers and held there.
Dan Piccoli of Warwick said he was the man troopers pulled down the steps.
"They just threw everyone down the stairs," he said.
Piccoli complained of injuries to his hip and elbow and his left hand. He and others later filled out witness statements for the tribe.
Witnesses reported a pregnant woman was pushed to the ground, and local paramedics treated a 16-year-old girl for injuries to her legs.
One of the tribal members arrested reportedly sustained an ankle injury.
Also arrested were tribal members John and Hiawatha Brown and the tribe's environmental officer, Thawn Harris. Three others including a juvenile were charged.
"This is over cigarettes," Noka said repeatedly as he was led away in handcuffs.
The eight arrested were processed and arraigned at the state police barracks in Hope Valley. Seven were released on personal recognizance and one posted bail, State Police Superintendent Col. Stephen M. Pare said.
At press time, state police did not have a complete list of who was arrested and what the charges are.
The charges would include assault on police officers, Pare said.
"Some of our officers were assaulted," Pare said. "If there had been no fight then nobody would have been arrested."
Twenty state police and three Charlestown police were involved in the police action, Pare said.
State officials confiscated the shop's entire tobacco inventory and $900 in cash, according to tribal council member Paulla Dove, who was working in the store.
"They had a state warrant, but not a federal warrant," tribal elder Myra Perry added.
Carcieri said he spoke with Thomas by phone on Saturday, after the smoke shop opened, to voice his concerns.
"I indicated that I was prepared to discuss the possibility of the state entering into a compact with the tribe, but first, they must cease operations," the governor said.
State officials also met Sunday with Thomas and tribal officials in an attempt to diffuse the situation, Carcieri said. He said the tribe made "unacceptable" demands.
"They demanded that in return for closing the smoke shop that I must drop my opposition to a casino. That was outrageous."
State officials received a search warrant during the weekend, and Carcieri said he authorized its execution Monday.
"We do not take today's actions lightly," he said. "In fact, state officials deliberated long and hard and with great anguish before authorizing today's response."
Pare said a plainclothes detective entered the shop at about 1 p.m. and served the search warrant to a clerk.
"The chief then indicated the tribe was not honoring the search warrant," Pare said. "We tried to do what we had to do in the safest way possible."
Attorney General Patrick Lynch said officers acted with restraint. Additional charges may be filed, Lynch said.
Carcieri reiterated the state's position that opening a tax-free smoke shop violates both state and federal law.
The state maintains the tribe must abide by the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1978.
In 1975, the tribe sued the state and private landowners, claiming various land acquisitions violated a 1790 federal law, which said only the federal government can approve sales of Indian lands.
In 1978, the tribe, the federal government and the state settled out of court. The tribe dropped its claim on 3,200 acres in Charlestown in exchange for 1,800 acres off routes 2 and 112. The act granted the tribe control of the land under the condition it abide by state civil and criminal laws.
The act also prevents the tribe from putting a casino on its land. The settlement lands are not treated as Indian lands for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
The governor cited several recent meetings, including his June 3 visit to the tribal lands and a June 27 meeting between tribal officials and the state Economic Development Corporation.
He said those meetings were positive, "good faith" efforts to work with the tribe.
Carcieri said only one thing changed for the tribe between the EDC meeting and Monday's action. "They lost the casino vote," he said.
The tribe received federal recognition in 1983, and Thomas has stated numerous times that federal laws govern the tribe.
"I instructed the colonel of the state police to avoid any and all hostilities," Carcieri said. "Clearly, those hostilities were provoked by the chief."
After being released by state police, Thomas was reunited with his tribe showing bruises and wearing bandages on his arms. He did not mince words during a press conference held in front of the Narragansetts' smoke shop.
"Governor Carcieri should be ashamed of himself," said Thomas, amid an emotional crowd of Narragansett's.
"Any level-headed man would have resolved this in court," he said.
Thomas made references to the massacre of the Indians when the colonists arrived while speaking about the tribe's oppressed past. He likened the plight of his tribe to the civil rights movement during the 1960s when African Americans clashed in segregated strongholds such as Mississippi.
Thomas said negotiations over the weekend with Carcieri gave him no indication that state police would shut down the smoke shop by force.
"If we were under state law, then there would be no reason for the (Sen. John) Chafee Rider ... but we're not under state law," noted Thomas, who invoked the events of Sept. 11 as another example of a foreigner attacking a sovereign nation.
Asserting that he would not relent in his position, Thomas said, "They are going to have to shoot me," to stop him.
"I'm proud of our tribe," he said.
Thomas said that earlier proposals by state government officials could not match the economic might of the tax-free smoke shop. He noted that the state's proposals were long-term and did not offer start-up funds.
"The fact of the matter is we can't keep waiting," said Thomas, expounding the vital need for economic stimulus for the 2,600-member tribe.
The economic downturn and rising costs of medical benefits for the tribe contributed to the tribe's need for more income, said Thomas.
State police charged Thomas with simple assault, disorderly conduct, and assault of a police officer. He was released on a $1,000 personal recognizance, according to the tribe's attorney, Jack Killjoy.
The state tried to serve a warrant peacefully, off camera and using a plain clothes officer. Indians refused to cooperate and resisted the lawful entry by police. The arrests and confrontations ensued.
U.S. Constitution, Art I, Sec 8, Cl 3:
"To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes"
When I saw the news, I thought I saw Al Gore standing nearby.
I agree. Hope the tribe decides to approach commercial enterprise in the same manner the surrounding rsidents are required to do.
The tribe is a federal/state cash cow for the locals (construction projects, etc.). Not to mention the locals getting tax free smokes. The state government probably is socialist but it's the tribe that gets the money that they take from others.
Maybe you missed this part.
In 1978, the tribe, the federal government and the state settled out of court. The tribe dropped its claim on 3,200 acres in Charlestown in exchange for 1,800 acres off routes 2 and 112. The act granted the tribe control of the land under the condition it abide by state civil and criminal laws.
In addition, this was not a recognized tribe until 1983. The tribe agreed to certain conditions then to obtain recognition. Following the existing state and federal laws, excepting fishing and hunting laws, was agreed to by the tribe.
Got a little survivilist in ya, don't ya? LOL
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