Mohawk Nation Office - Kahnawake Branch
mnation@cyberglobe.net
Thursday March 5, 1998
SYRACUSE: Press Republican
State police invaded the Onondaga Nation territory and brutallyattacked a group of peaceful protesters and religious celebrants, agroup of Native Americans claimed in a $40 million civil rightslawsuit filed Tuesday. The group accused state troopers and localdeputies of violating their constitutional rights to free speech andfree assembly
The lawsuit named New York State Police Superintendent James W.McMahon, Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh and 46 troopers anddeputies who took park in quelling the disturbance last spring on theOnondaga Nation just south of Syracuse. The 48-page complaint alsosought individual punitive damages from McMahon, Walsh and theothers. "The brutality and the excessive force was of such a naturethat we think the federal courts is the right place for their rightsto be rendered", said Elkan Abramowitz, an attorney representing someof the 91 plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accused state police of operating "a select Indiandetail .. to employ riot squad tactics against Native Americans". Thetroopers, unprovoked attack on the protesters was intended as "apayback" for an earlier confrontation between the state police andthe Cattaraugus Senecas, the lawsuit charged.
State police were standing by their earlier conclusion that thetroopers acted property, said Lt. Jamie Mills.
The lawsuit came just a day after Onondaga chiefs had fourreservation smoke shops bulldozed and burned because they wereillegally, operating without tribal permits.
It was the chiefs who invited state police onto the reservationMay 18, 1997, when a quiet protest over a temporary tax agreementwith the state turned violent and 13 Indians and five state trooperswere injured. State police said they were trying to stop theprotesters from blocking a nearby interstate highway. The scuffle wascaught on videotape and aired on television news broadcasts acrossthe state.
Despite the striking footage, an internal investigation by statepolice determined troopers acted properly. That finding only angeredthe Native Americans involved. Two dozen protesters were arrested.
However, a local judge, citing a lack of probable cause for thearrests, dismissed the charges against all but one of the protesters.
"I don,t think the lawsuit is high enough", said KennethKappelmeier, the lone remaining defendant in that case and one of thelawsuit's plaintiffs. "I think each one of us deserves at least $25million. I think it's about time that New York State pay for whatthey've been doing to us," said Kappelmeier.
His felony assault case is up Wednesday. A county judge willdecide whether to dismiss it for set a trial date.
The lawsuit said state police intruded on a peaceful gathering ofOnondaga people being held on private property. Abramowitz said someof those attending were there to protest the actions taken by theirchiefs while others were participating in a religious ceremony andcommunity dinner.
"Without giving any warning .. and without any explanation orjustification for their actions, state police moved in on the unarmedplaintiffs and with nightsticks drawn, punched, kicked, beat andarrested many plaintiffs," the lawsuit said.
Abramowitz accused troopers of carrying out "an organized andretaliatory response" against the Onondage protesters because of thecivil unrest a month earlier on the Seneca territory in Bryant. Morethan a dozen troopers were injured during a clash with the Senecasthat closed down a 30 mile section of the New York Thruway forseveral days.
Like the Onondagas, some Senecas were angry over a temporaryagreement with the state over taxes on gas and cigarettes sold tonon-Indians. Gov. George Pataki has since proposed doing away withthose tax collections.
In response to the disturbance on the Seneca Nation, the statepolice formed an "Indian detail" to deal with future situationsinvolving Native American tribes, Abramowitz said.
The group was "not sufficiently trained in non-violent crowdcontrol methods ... nor sufficiently trained in the use of force andthe procedure to be used in effecting arrests," the lawsuit said.