Means calls reserves 'racist' overreaction
m.rapidcityjournal.com | May 12th 2011 10:19 PM
Russell Means didn’t get an invitation to Saturday’s appreciation dinner for
the original Custer County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Reserves, but given his role
in the unit’s creation perhaps he should have.
“If they would let me be the keynote, I’ll … sure go,” Means said by telephone
Thursday from Porcupine.
The American Indian Movement leader who was at the center of the 1973 Custer
County courthouse riot is critical of the decision to deputize community
volunteers in the wake of the riot, calling it a “racist” overreaction.
“The creation of legal vigilantes is somewhat childish,” he said.
As might be expected, Means also takes an alternate view of the cause of that
historic riot, which eventually led to him serving 30 days in the Custer County
jail. He said footage from a documentary film crew that was following Dennis
Banks that day proves the riot erupted when Sarah Bad Heart Bull was beaten by
law enforcement personnel as she attempted to enter the courthouse to talk to
prosecutors about the stabbing death of her son, Wesley. Banks and Means were
upstairs in the courthouse at the time, trying to convince prosecutors they had
new evidence that justified a charge of first-degree murder in that case.
“We orchestrated it? Yeah, we orchestrated getting clubbed and beaten. It was
definitely not planned. We notified the news media as we always did with our
events,” he said. “What we didn’t know was that there were armed and fortified
riot police upstairs and downstairs.”
Bad Heart Bull was among the many arrested that day, and her trial was moved to
Sioux Falls, where protestors also damaged the courthouse. Means’ trial on riot
charges was moved to Kennebec, but in a plea agreement he pled guilty to a
reduced misdemeanor charge.
While the exact facts of the riot may be lost to history, today both sides can
agree that Custer is a different place.
“Every June, I do business in Custer and I’m treated well,” Means said. “And
people tell me they don’t experience racism there now.”
Original Page:
http://m.rapidcityjournal.com/article_62aabc14-7d18-11e0-88a7-001cc4c03286.html
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