Unwelcome

More than 100 treaty defenders and other protesters gathered on a highway leading to Mount Rushmore on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech at the monument.

[...]

At one point, Native women in ribbon skirts created a line across the highway, behind them members of NDN Collective, a nonprofit Native advocacy organization, parked white vans across the road and deflated the tires. Protesters later removed the wheels and climbed on top of the vans, shouting "Land back!"

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Around 5 p.m. local time, law enforcement started telling defenders to vacate the area or face arrest, saying the blocking of traffic was an unlawful assembly. They directed them to head to a designated “free speech zone."

  Raw Story

My hackles go up every time I see that phrase. This is the fucking United States of America. The whole thing is supposed to be a free speech zone.

"We are renegotiating the free speech zone. We have reclaimed this road," said Nick Tilson, Oglala Lakota, of NDN Collective. "We don’t need them to give us permission to do this on our land; we intend to stay here indefinitely throughout the night."

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Some people began to disperse but later returned, as the vans continued blocking the road. Law enforcement then brought in tow trucks to haul them away.

[...]

Some people began to disperse but later returned, as the vans continued blocking the road. Law enforcement then brought in tow trucks to haul them away.

After the vans were towed, a small group of treaty defenders continued blocking the highway, holding a large “#LandBack” banner.

At 7 p.m., police arrested them, using zipties to secure their hands behind their backs and leading them off the road. About 15 people were arrested.

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The Black Hills are part of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and the country’s highest court ordered compensation in the millions of dollars to the Lakota for the illegal seizure of the Black Hills, an offer the Lakota have refused for decades. They instead want the Black Hills returned to tribal authority.