Vol. 81/No. 15 April 17, 2017
Native American activist Red Fawn Fallis fights frame-up
She was among 141 protesters arrested Oct. 27 when police forcibly removed them from their encampment on tribal treaty land in the path of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
All were released except Fallis, who is being held on federal felony charges of civil disorder, discharging a firearm in relation to a felony crime of violence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. She says she is not guilty of any of the charges.
As the police attacked, Fallis, who volunteered at Standing Rock as a trained medic, was aiding fellow “water protectors” injured by the cops’ mace and rubber bullets. Saying she was “being an instigator and acting disorderly,” police targeted, tackled and threw her to the ground. The cops claimed that while almost a dozen officers were piling on top of her, she somehow got a gun and fired three shots at police, none of which hit anyone. The state of North Dakota charged her with attempted murder.
The state later dismissed this charge so that the U.S. government could file the federal charges. Facing a maximum sentence of life in prison and a minimum of 10 years, her trial is set for July 17.
“Red Fawn is my niece. I spoke to her last night and she wants you to know that she loves you and she’s staying strong,” Glen Morris, a well-known fighter in the Colorado American Indian Movement and an associate professor at Colorado University, told the gathering. “We learned one thing from Standing Rock, that a new generation has been born. I haven’t seen this since Wounded Knee. It is scary to them and they want to make her an example.”
Fallis’ mother, Troylynn Star Yellow Wood, participated in the American Indian Movement’s 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota.
“Eleven cops were on top of her, it took 11 to arrest her,” said Morris. “In her arrest affidavit the police said she was an instigator and an inspiration to the youth. That’s why she’s in jail. If they think that we are going to let that happen to Red Fawn, what they did to Leonard Peltier, they are wrong.”
Peltier has been in federal prison since 1975. He was framed up for the shooting death of two FBI agents in a confrontation on the Pine Ridge Reservation and there is a long-standing campaign to win his freedom.
Fallis was recently moved to the Heart of America Correctional Center in Rugby, North Dakota, near the Canadian border.
“We will have a caravan up to North Dakota and fill the courtroom for the trial,” said Morris. “We will let them know the world is watching.” Sun Rose, 30, the curator of the art auction, grew up with Fallis. “When Red Fawn was put in jail, people were coming to us and asking what can we do,” she told the Militant. “We had three venue spaces donated for auctions. We will have another one in June.”
Much of the art was donated by Native American and local artists, and many of the pieces depict Fallis as a fighter.
A large delegation from the Indigenous Youth Council, formed by young protesters at Standing Rock, came to the event and performed a Native American chant.
“They want to make Red Fawn an example,” Terrell Ironshell, co-founder of the council, told the crowd. “Red Fawn always encouraged us at Standing Rock. She would say, ‘you don’t have to be afraid of the government. This is our land.’ This is not just about Standing Rock. It is about our rights as humans, as Americans and as an indigenous people.”
For more information and to send a contribution, write to the Red Fawn Legal Defense Fund at Bruce Ellison Law Offices, 328 East New York St., Suite 5, PO Box 2508, Rapid City, SD 57709. Mark it for the Red Fawn Fallis Legal Defense Fund Account.
And write to Red Fawn at: Red Fawn Fallis (Inmate), Heart of America Correctional Center, 110 Industrial Road, Rugby, ND 58368.
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