Native Lives Matter: Police Killing Native Americans at Astounding Rate

[KamaAina]

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2015/07/16/native-lives-matter-police-killing-native-americans-at-astounding-rate/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that Native Americans make up almost two percent of those killed by police though they are only 0.8 percent of the population. While police kill young black men more than any other group, they kill Native Americans at a higher rate.

As with African Americans, these killings are not isolated from the larger problem of police and societal violence, as this devastating article in Counterpunch discusses in the particular context of New Mexico, which in 2014 had the highest rate of police killing in the country. That article reports that “according to a 2003 study by the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Native people experience ‘acts of ethnic intimidation; threats of physical violence, assaults, and other potential hate crimes’ as part of everyday life in border towns like Gallup, Farmington and Albuquerque.”

Chase Iron Eyes is an attorney with the Lakota People’s Law Project in South Dakota, which published a report called “Native Lives Matter” early this year. He says that the DOJ needs to address police violence against Native Americans.

“You can tell they’re shooting out of fear,” he said. “If it’s not out of hate, for some reason they’re pulling the trigger before determining what the situation actually is. Something does need to happen. Somebody does need to take a look and we need help.”

[Travis_0004]

1. Police don't kill more young black men than any group

White people are killed the most often by police.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

3. Are you actually going to discuss the OP

Or are you content with derailing and deflecting?

[Hoyt]

4. Do you understand the concept of "rate," per capita, etc.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. You've managed

to fly under the radar for a while.

[rjsquirrel]

9. Yep

Amazing how you shake the tree even on a progressive site and racists still fall out.

[uponit7771]

6. This obfuscation via red herring is being made on FAUX news, we're talking about RATE per capita...

... and you know it or should know by now.

Fact matter man... at least get both sides of the story

[rjsquirrel]

8. Bull

Absolute numbers tell us nothing. As a percentage of their *proportion* of the population Native Americans are then African Americans.

Those are facts.

[SuperDutyTX]

2. Interesting

I read that article and there unfortunately isn't a ton of information listed there. I would be curious to see if the tribal policing on reservations is a factor, or in general where these shootings are taking place.

[Runningdawg]

7. Look harder at the way

the cops and the justice system work for Natives. They don't. We are STILL being killed because we "might go off the reservation" and Americans are STILL denying it. The cops and courts have a solution. Ignore Natives. Let the "savages" police themselves. (Where have we heard that before?) If anyone calls the cops, the cops call the BIA and consider the matter finished. Then we wait, while the suspects head for the hills and until the cops and BIA forgets there was a crime committed in the first place. Rinse and repeat.

[SuperDutyTX]

10. Interesting

Do you have any articles that provide more info about this? The one in the OP doesn't really have a ton of detail. I'm admittedly woefully ignorant of policing policies on reservations, and would like to learn more.

Regarding the locals calling BIA, I thought it was required because they just don't have jurisdiction?

[Runningdawg]

11. I don't have staistics at my finger tips

and normally I would go digging but right now I have a house full of company.
The BIA does have jurisdiction. More than likely a sheriff or sometimes a highway patrolman will get around to coming out to see what all the ruckus is about. They go back to town, leave a message on the nearest BIAs answering machine and shoot off an email. In most cases, thats all they do. For the most serious crimes, the locals can lock up a suspect for 48 hours. That is as long as you can hold someone without charging them. If the BIA doesn't make it in those 48 hours, the suspect goes free.