Posted on 08/03/2003 7:11:25 PM PDT by chance33_98
Governor Releases State Police Report On Smoke-Shop Raid
State Police Defend Actions
An undercover state trooper and a representative from the state Division of Taxation purchase two cartons of cigarettes. No taxes are recorded and no permit is posted inside the store. State police file for warrant to search and seize inventory of tobacco shop. The warrant is granted at 9:45 p.m.
July 14, 1 p.m.: About 20 state troopers arrive at the Narragansetts' tobacco shop to execute a warrant for search and seizure. Videotape shows state police troopers walking in a line toward the smoke shop. According to police, Thomas says the tribe would not honor the warrant. Thomas says he never saw court papers. Troopers forcibly enter store and seize its inventory.
Two tribal members try to stop a state police officer from entering the smoke shop.
State police used K9 units in the raid.
POSTED: 12:50 p.m. EDT August 1, 2003 UPDATED: 6:29 p.m. EDT August 1, 2003
PROVIDENCE -- The state police acted "well within their legal authority in executing the search warrant" during their raid on the Narragansett Indians' tax-free smoke shop, according to a report released Friday.
Gov. Don Carcieri ordered the report one day after the July 14 raid turned violent. He gave Col. Steven Pare, state police superintendent, 10 days to submit a report on the confrontation with the tribe. Pare said the review would examine whether his officers understood their orders.
The report was delivered to Gov. Don Carcieri earlier this week. He said he wanted a few days to study its findings before it was made public.
Carcieri said he ordered the state police to execute a search-and-seizure warrant at the smoke shop, but to stop if they encountered resistance. Instead, videotape showed troopers and members of the tribe engaged in physical confrontations. Pare said that the commanding officer at the scene felt his officers could control the situation.
In the report, the state police concluded that they used limited force to defend themselves against "violent and physical assault." And they found that the arrest of tribal members was a legally justified response.
The tribe opened the shop July 12 on its land in Charlestown. Two days later, after discussion between attorneys for the state and the tribe failed to produce an agreement about the sale of tax-free cigarettes, state troopers raided the store.
Armed with a warrant to search the shop and seize its merchandise, the troopers forcibly entered the store, clashing with tribe members who resisted. Police arrested seven people, including the tribe's chief sachem.
"The video doesn't lie. They came in like paratroopers. They were knocking customers over. They were storming the gates, if you will," said Guy Dufault, spokesman for the tribe.
Dufault said he doesn't blame the state police troopers, but their bosses.
"The state police were clearly placed in a very difficult position," Dufault said. "Clearly they're going to try to put themsleves in the best possible light and I think in this report they did try to put themselves in the best possible light."
Each side sees the conflict differently. The state says it's an issue of uncollected tax revenue, but the tribe says it's about sovereignty. The smoke shop is now closed while the state and tribe argue their cases in federal court.
Carcieri also named five community leaders to an independent panel to investigate the raid. Brown University President Ruth Simmons heads the group. Its findings are expected at the end of the month.
So the state police didn't follow the orders of the governor?
This is so obviously a CYA statement from the governor that it isn't even funny.
Follow the money.
See DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE OF NEW YORK et al. v. MILHELM ATTEA & BROS., INC., et al. (1994), Moe v. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Flathead Reservation, 425 U.S. 463 (1976), and Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation, 447 U.S. 134 (1980).
The United States Supreme Court doesn't seem to agree with your position on this.
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