A meeting to swear in Chukchansi tribal council members was canceled Monday night after leaders said there was a "credible threat" made against those attending the meeting.
The group headed by Reggie Lewis that's in charge of the tribe's operations said they called off the meeting because of concerns it could be interrupted by protests from supporters of an opposing group led by Morris Reid. OP: NO first amendment issues here! They don't care about no stinking 1st amendement
Had the meeting on the rancheria near Coarsegold taken place, however, only Lewis, out of four winning candidates, was expected to be sworn in. Three candidates who won council seats in a December election were told last week that they will likely not be joining the new council. Their seats could soon be taken by other tribe members, either through a special election or appointments.
"Based on credible information forwarded to public safety officials and the history of past actions of a small number of agitators, the council determined out of abundance of caution that safety should rule the day," Lewis said in a statement.
Reid said his group wasn't a threat to the Lewis group's meeting because they were meeting at the same time Monday night in Oakhurst and had no plans to protest.
There was no information about a "credible threat" made to the Madera County Sheriff's Office, spokeswoman Erica Stuart said Monday night.
Roger Salazar, the Lewis group's spokesman, said the tribal council meeting and swearing-in ceremony will be rescheduled.
Three seats will remain open. The Lewis council issued letters of removal on Friday to Reid and one of his supporters, Dora Jones. That put them on the sidelines along with another Reid supporter and winning candidate, Dixie Jackson, all barred from the building where the tribal council meets. All three were involved in disputes with the Lewis council that started with a contentious Dec. 26 meeting and continued with a Feb. 27-28 standoff at the rancheria.
A hearing on the removal of Reid and Jones is set for April 24, Salazar said. Since Jackson was never an incumbent, she's not eligible for a hearing, Salazar said.
Read more about the cancellation here
What type of "Tom-foolery" is this latest exibition of "Criminal Activity" by "Lewis? He now wants to negate another election by not letting elected "Tribal Members" be sworn in. What the "Hell" is going on? Lewis thinks he is above the "Law." Morris's election should have been deemed "Legitimate." And the B.I.A. stands for this "Injustice?" The "Tribe" is in utter "Ka-aus."..."Eagle Eyes."
ReplyDeleteThe people that won the prior election need to file a law suit against the banks that are honoring the rogue holdover government and
ReplyDeleteto freeze accounts or at least put them on notice until the bia issues a formal recognition to the legitimate government....hold your own elections or at least start functioning as a legitimate government...bia has to choose one or the other. I know, easy to say, but you need to do something constructive.
The BIA must be pressed HARD. Don't give up and work harder to get more people involved.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the exact particulars of your struggle, or even whether the people were in deed even wronged, but if you do have right on your side, you will ultimately prevail, never give in, never give up.
ReplyDeleteThere was never a threat of violence. And had the meeting taken place, we would surely would have been there with our signs of protest of the unlawful election and signs to boycott the casino. I know that Fresno channel 24 news called Reggie Lewis and reminded him that he said he was going to seat the winners of the Dec 3rd election. We (Chukchansis)know that was a bold face lie and that they never intended to seat any of our people.
ReplyDeleteword on the street is that reggie lewis and the "council" plan to seat dustin graham and sam lawhon as "interim" on the council asap...
ReplyDeleteeveryone knows that dustin graham was censured and prohibited from attending tribal events, holding office, and per cap almost immediately after having lost the 2008 tribal council election for improprieties against the tribe while on council and as tribal chair--reportedly for a period of YEARS...
sam lawhon was removed from tribal council, disallowed from meetings, etc. for an even longer period for violating the "violence" policy by actually attacking a relative at a council meeting and it was said to be a removal for life...
now, dustin is being interviewed at the tribal offices on the news like some kind of leader for lewis's faction at the "takeover" february 27th and 28th, and sam is seen being interviewed as the "mediator/liason" for the "general council" meeting and "election" of march 10?
give me a break...these two are nothing but common criminals and thugs...appointment to the picayune council??? bia and the department of justice needs to get in there at picayune and launch an investigation YESTERDAY!!! AND they should investigate the role of current tribal council member nancy ayala in the theft of tribal funds, vehicles, and other properties back in the early 1990's, for which she and others of the wyatt and ramirez families were removed from the tribe for periods ranging from several years to LIFE...
congress, bia, nigc, doj, fbi...WHERE ARE YOU???
I think Reggie has paid off the bia, why else would they allow such blatent fraud to be perpetrated on the tribe.
ReplyDelete