Charges Against Black Hills Treaty Defender Dropped

By Kalle Benallie, ICT, Source New Mexico

December 16, 2022

All charges against NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilsen were dismissed by South Dakota prosecutors on Tuesday.

Tilsen, Oglala Lakota, and 21 other treaty defenders were charged with misdemeanors from a July 3, 2020 protest when former President Donald Trump visited the Black Hills as part of Trump’s speaking event at Mount Rushmore for an Independence Day celebration.

The treaty defenders gathered on a highway leading to the monument, using cars and vans to block the road for nearly three hours. In response, law enforcement officers and members of the South Dakota Air and Army National Guard were called in, leading to a skirmish between protestors and law enforcement.

The Lakota have long attempted to have the Black Hill region returned to tribal authority, as specified under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.

Tilsen was the only person to be charged with felonies from alleged robbery and assault of a law enforcement officer.

In the aftermath, thousands of supporters came to the group’s defense through petitions, social media campaigns, and national media coverage of the cases. In December, the United Nations weighed in with a statement in support of the treaty defenders.

Thank you to all the people who prayed for me, supported me and stood by me through this racially and politically motivated prosecution. We must never stop standing up for our rights, for Mother Earth and for our people. Wopila! #LandBack #FTP #ACAB #BlackHillsBack https://t.co/33oVCVe3jz
— Nick Tilsen (@NickTilsen) December 14, 2022

He initially faced a 17-year sentence but all but one charge was dropped in 2021 in return for the completion of a prison diversion program, he told the Associated Press.

However, Tilsen said prosecutors backed out of the agreement last year after he spoke to the media about it. In his motion for dismissal, Tilsen said his remarks were protected by the First Amendment.

“My case held a mirror up to the so-called legal system, where prosecutors — fueled by white fragility and fear of Indigenous power — wasted years of state resources to intimidate, criminalize, and violate me,” Tilsen said in a news release. “The fact that I’ve gone from facing 17 years in prison to all charges dismissed is not a coincidence or an act of justice — it’s evidence that the charges were bogus from the start. We only won because we had effective tools and a strong network to fight them and did not back down until we had exhausted the system that was built to exhaust us.”

Deputy State’s Attorney Colleen Moran filed the dismissal Nov. 18, court documents show.

This story was originally published by ICT. It is republished here with permission.

In August 2020, Tilsen and others hand-delivered petitions, to drop all charges against Black Hills land defenders and Tilsen, to Pennington County State’s Attorney Mark Vargo on Friday, not long after Tilsen appeared in court on related charges.

A third petition urged the closure of Mount Rushmore and the return of all public lands in the Black Hills to Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota. It now has nearly 48,500 signatures. The petition was addressed to Interior Secretary David Bernhart and then U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo.

The case was transferred earlier from Pennington County in Rapid City to Minnehaha County in Sioux Falls. The original prosecutor, Pennington County State’s Attorney Mark Vargo, who is temporarily serving as South Dakota’s interim attorney general, said he had a conflict of interest because he was called to testify.

“While this particular battle has finally been won, my work for Indigenous liberation is far from over. I will continue fighting for the Black Hills to be returned to the Lakota people, and for all rightful Indigenous land to be returned to its people across Turtle Island,” Tilsen said.

The Associated Press, ICT staff contributed to this report.

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