{"id":36649,"date":"2023-12-08T19:25:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T00:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/dozens-hold-sit-in-to-demand-resignation-of-sd-states-attorney\/"},"modified":"2023-12-08T19:25:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T00:25:57","slug":"dozens-hold-sit-in-to-demand-resignation-of-sd-states-attorney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/dozens-hold-sit-in-to-demand-resignation-of-sd-states-attorney\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens hold sit-in to demand resignation of SD State\u2019s Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Families and community members wait outside of Lara Roetzel\u2019s office. Photo by Sunny Red Bear for NDN Action Network.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office is sending a message to the entire community that you can kill a Native person and pay a small fee and go on with your life. What that does is shows how you value Native people\u2019s lives. We are their constituents, they work for us, right? So where\u2019s our justice?\u201d NDN Collective<\/p>\n

RAPID CITY, SD \u2013\u00a0Yesterday, the families of Nevaeh Brave Heart, Aiko Storm White Eagle, Kasey Arehart, and Kyle Whiting\u00a0held a sit-in at state\u2019s attorney Lara Roetzel\u2019s office<\/a>\u00a0for five hours, calling for her resignation and for an independent investigation into the practices of the Pennington County State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The families and local community members mobilized this peaceful action to call attention to the state\u2019s attorney\u2019s track record of over prosecuting Native people while also failing to serve justice for Native people who have been murdered.<\/p>\n

To draw just one sharp comparison: the white man who killed Nevaeh Brave Heart in a hit-and-run and then washed and painted his vehicle to hide evidence was\u00a0charged with a class one misdemeanor<\/a>, while Native teenager Kasey Arehart was\u00a0sentenced to 30 years<\/a>\u00a0in prison just for firing a gun, even though no one was hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Dozens of families and local community members journeyed to the Pennington County Administration building on Tuesday, November 21st to demand Pennington County States Attorney, Lara Roetzel\u2019s resignation and an independent investigation into the practices of the state attorney\u2019s office. Photo by Sunny Red Bear for NDN Action Network.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHe left her to die in the street and he washed his vehicle, covered it up, painted it. The State\u2019s Attorney has a decision, they choose what they take to trial. They chose to reduce this to a plea deal and not to take it to trial,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Dee Purue, Rapid City community member, speaking about Nevaeh Brave Heart.\u00a0\u201cThey were going back and forth between the Sheriff\u2019s Office and State\u2019s Attorney Office with who is responsible or who has the final say, and no one has taken responsibility for it. This is just another way to show the community and the public that Native lives do not matter to the majority culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe demand justice, equal justice for our people. Not only for Nevaeh, but for the rest of our families and our people out here in Native country here in Rapid City on our own homelands, enough is enough we are calling for the resignation of\u00a0<\/a>Lara Roetzel,\u201d\u00a0said Hermus Bettelyoun, Action Organizer at NDN Collective<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office is sending a message to the entire community that you can kill a Native person and pay a small fee and go on with your life. What that does is shows how you value Native people\u2019s lives,\u201d\u00a0said Sunny Red Bear, Action Organizer at NDN Collective. \u201cWe are their constituents, they work for us, right? So where\u2019s our justice?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe joined with families who have been horrifically wronged by this justice system which is\u00a0supposed to apply justice in a fair and impartial way. And we feel that Lara Roetzel has absolutely failed at that,\u201d\u00a0said Taylor Gunhammer, Local Organizer at NDN Collective. \u201cWe are calling for her immediate resignation as a matter of safety for our community, because we are tired of not surviving her so-called process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The post Dozens hold sit-in to demand resignation of SD State\u2019s Attorney<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Families and community members wait outside of Lara Roetzel\u2019s office. Photo by Sunny Red Bear for NDN Action Network. \u201cThe state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office is sending a message to the entire community that you can kill a Native person and pay a small fee and go on with your life. What <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> December 8, 2023<\/p>\n

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