BREAKING NEWS: Kristi Noem Claims Cartels Are Operating On Tribal Lands After Many Banished Her

being here for this very important press conference discussing uh The Invasion that's happening at our Southern border also our South Dakota troops that are currently serving down there and what we're seeing in this country and in our state as far as cartel and their Affiliates activities as far as drug proliferation and trafficking and the crime and violence that we're seeing I'm going to start off today by reading you some quotes from a tribal leader this quote is we need our federal Partners in Congress to finally step up to the plate and to help the drug crisis it is happening in Indian Country a generation of our people are now born plagued by gangs and cartels human and drug trafficking organized crime abuse and murder now the state of South Dakota lacks criminal jurisdiction in many ways over Indian Country crimes uh in reality The Sole Provider of law enforcement in these areas and in in areas such as the olalo Su tribe is the federal government they have a responsibility to do that we believe that this Federal neglect has resulted in the cartel and their Affiliates moving into our reservations an increase in overdoses an increase in crimes and violence a proliferation of drugs that we've seen in recent years and even drugs and and guns that are more present on our school properties in those areas five years ago we hardly knew about fentanyl or what its impact was or its presence in the state of South Dakota today we have rampant and overdoses we have violence guns cartels and their Affiliates throughout our reservations and throughout the reservations in this country drug use and drug dealers are running rampant on many of these reservations and the communities and the towns and the people and the families that live there are the true victims I hope that we all recognize that that's why we are here today is to talk about those victims and to work together in new agreements and Partnerships to help bring them more safety and to make sure that their children can grow up in a country where they have opportunities if we cannot stop the flow of drugs and the movement of this uh activity on federal lands that are under Federal jurisdiction something is very wrong with our current system now these statements were made just five months ago in testimony in front of a US Senate committee on Indian Affairs by President Frank star comes out of the aalas Su tribe yes the quote that I read at the beginning of this press conference came from the president of the ogala Sue tribe president Frank Stark comes out it's the same president Stark comes out who has banished me from his reservation for making very similar comments for saying the exact same thing that he said in front of that senate committee as far as the factual information that the drug cartels and their Affiliates and their criminal activity have made all of our communities unsafe they've especially made our tribal reservations unsafe and the problem doesn't start there it starts thousands of miles from there we all know that it starts at the open border that is down along our Southern border between the United States and Mexico which has become a war zone because of the neglect of this administration because of the neglect in the change of policies of President Biden and his administration we have seen an infiltration of dangerous individuals people that have come into this country that are on the known terrorist watch list people that have been uh incarcerated in other countries that um are perpetuating violence against others and coming into the United States of America and continuing those activities well South Dakota is going to do something about it we're not going to stand by and continue to ignore the problem that we're seeing every day right here in South Dakota we're doing something about it at the border and we're going to do something about it right here at home now I just got back yesterday from a trip down to the southern border visited with our soldiers that are currently deployed there currently we have 20 National Guard soldiers that are serving they're under the command of Lieutenant Hansen who's doing a fantastic job uh working alongside Texas National Guard to build a barrier wall that is extremely effective at keeping the border secure I was super impressed with them and I was very grateful to have several people from South Dakota travel with me you'll hear from them today I had secretary flute come with me he will share with you some stories of of what South dakotans are saying about this situation we also had algen young come along with us he is our new tribal liazon and adviser to law enforcement that works for the state of South Dakota he will share some of his experiences and his background with you I also was blessed to have three of our legislators travel along with US senator Aon Tobin came with us she couldn't be here for the press conference but she was along for the day and met with the soldiers and got to see some of the activities that we partook in with the border patrol and then also we had JD wangsnes come along and then Senator Walsh traveled and they are here with us today we're also very grateful to have some of our local sheriffs that have mutual Aid agreements with our tribes and are asking for more and we'll talk about what we can do to improve those kinds of agreements and what we can do to train tribal officers here in South Dakota to make sure that they don't have to travel far away from their families and what we're doing by creating a first ofit kind Law Enforcement Training Academy as well you know when I visited with our South Dakota National Guard troops yesterday that are working to build that border wall I was super impressed with them they're an outstanding young group of patriots who are extremely grateful to be serving their country in this way they know that what they're doing is making a difference they're seeing that what they're building actually works and they appreciate the fact that they get the chance to serve their country in such a way this is going to help us keep cartel driven drugs and human trafficking out of our country and they know that they are serving a life of significance by making sure that they're actively contributing to the Safety and Security of the United States of America those soldiers represent the sixth deployment of South Dakota guard troops to defend our border as you know uh we have sent troops several times over and we the first state in the country to send National Guard troops when Governor Greg Abbott first asked for help um I also recently went down there when the federal government sued Texas and was trying to force them to tear down the barrier uh and when I was down there the one thing that Governor Abbott asked for was people who knew how to help build people who were Builders and and so that's why we have an engineer unit down there today that's helping to facilitate and partnering with them to do that now a lot of folks across the country would say why does a small state care so much why ises South Dakota care so much that we are sending soldiers over and over again to help and to partner uh with Texas to do this and it is because the federal government is failing they're not doing their job and let me be clear the federal government is breaking federal law by the policies that they have in place today and so we will step up and we will continue to protect and do our role to protect the people of South Dakota and make sure that they are as safe as possible those failed border policies of President Biden have turned South Dakota into a border state and we've seen the effects here every single day with the crime and the violence that's perpetuated within our own state borders I have repeatedly reached out to all of our Native American tribes and their leaders the tribal councils and their presidents and chairman and I've asked for Mutual Aid agreements so that we can partner together to bring Law and Order to their their tribal areas we also have spoken about facts that we've seen what we've seen taken place on tribal lands and listen to people that live in those communities and their stories and what they go through each and every day instead of working with me many of them have chosen to banish me and I will ask them right back why have they not banished the cartels why have they not banished the cartel's Affiliates why have they focused their attention on me who has only offered them help and not gone after those who are perpetuating violence against their own people banishing me does absolutely nothing to solve this problem and all it does is help those who are perpetuating horrible violence and crimes against the people that are citizens of the state of South Dakota I'm calling on all tribal leaders to address the cartels and the cartel Affiliates from tribal lands I'm going to speak to some of those facts today and I'm also going to share some information with you that you maybe haven't known before if you remember the last time I went to the southern border I immediately came back and addressed the legislature and the reason I did that was to be transparent to share everything that I knew with the legislators on what I saw down there what I heard and what an unprecedented time we were serving in to see what was going on down at the southern border today is another one of those days where you may not be aware of really what all is going on in this country because you certainly haven't covered it in your news coverage there have been over 80 stories written about me being banished there hasn't been a single story that I've read to where you've really held a tribal leader accountable to seeing what they're doing to get rid of those who are perpetuating violence in their tribal areas I would encourage you to go to our tribal leaders to our presidents and our chairman and say what are you doing to banish the cartel Affiliates and the cartel that's in your areas I'm going to speak to some of that today because it hasn't been widely reported and when I gave my address about the war zone at the southern border to that joint session I referenced a particular gang that we have seen operating on the Pine Ridge reservation and also a gang that is calls themselves the go the ghost dancers uh I know that many people uh said that I shouldn't have said the name of the gang but I did not name the gang they named themselves they wear the patches proudly it is a matter of fact in investigations it's part of their strategy to hide behind this name so that people won't say it but the truth is is that this gang the ghost dancers is a Bandidos or in support of the Bandido motorcycle club now FBI intelligence going back over a decade has shown that cartel Affiliates and the cartels have been operating in tribal areas throughout this country we know that for a fact look at the pictures that I'm showing you today and you will see the patches you will see the the presence of them in in areas of the state and without other parts of the states and drug trafficking on our reservations often use our reservations to hide because of jurisdictional challenges that we face in one case we had three drug traffickers one from Guatemala one from El Salvador and another one that uh came into South Dakota to distribute meth Fentanyl and heroin they were pursued by law enforcement they hit on the reservation they wanted a new ride they carjacked uh ended up with an FBI employee getting involved and uh thank goodness the FBI employee was able to escape but it was a well reported fact but what I would say is that these situations don't only happen on one reservation they happen on other reservations and not just in South Dakota but in other states as well this is a nationwide crisis that we see people who are committing crimes using our tribal areas as safe havens to proliferate a lot of their drugs and their trafficking their raping of women and children and their selling of human beings and perpetuating violence against them now just the largest fentanyl bust in South Dakota history took place recently on the cidan reservation the Roberts County Sheriff seized enough fentanyl to kill the population of the state of South Dakota four times over and the perpetuators of this fentanyl smuggling ring were a woman from California and a man from Al Salvador I'd like to introduce to you secretary flute and I'd like to him to share a few of the stories that have come into my office since we've been drawing attention to this crisis that we're seeing in South Dakota he'll share with you some of the stories and testimony of people who live on our tribal reservations and what they're dealing with and and share some of that and I want to remind you that secretary flute is a former chairman former chairman of the San tribe he also served in our military proudly I'm grateful he's in my cabinet and one of my closest advisers and I appreciate him being with me here today so with that I'll let him share a few of the stories and testimonies from some of the people that he knows that have been dramatically impacted all right thank you governor excuse [Music] me say good morning uh to each and every one of you I am honored to be here to talk about how we can restore Public Safety on South Dakota tribal reservations you know Governor gome is speaking the truth of what is happening across the state including in our tribal communities she's speaking out because she cares about the safety of our people but don't take it from her and don't take it from me take it from the hundreds of calls emails and text messages that our Administration has received from folks on tribal reservations asking the governor and supporting the governor's work asking her for her for her help now I'm going to read just a few of the those examples here today of the people that have called emailed and text messaged this Administration this is from the shyen river Sue tribe I disagree with the shyen river Sue tribe's decision that banned you from coming here to me that speaks volumes for shyen Rivers Su tribe and the guilt they are portraying to the claims you have made another one tribal leaders do not speak for all tribal enroles and we have our own voice the drug use on the reservation needs to be looked into this is from a member of The Standing Rock Sue tribe another one we received a call from an individual who worked in casinos for 20 years as a as a security officer and saw the sex and drug trafficking firsthand they saw cartel members pretend to work on Dairy Farms as a cover and that reservations are their favorite place to go they were personally threatened by a cartel member while working at the tribal Casino one caller has experienced housing corruption Corruption of Emergency Management Programs and egregious misuse of federal funds on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation they have videos of drug deals and sex trafficking taking place they say the federal government was kind enough to give the tribe money and our tribe put our own people in poverty y our own Indian people did this another one and finally an anonymous member of the yalu tribe called to thank the governor speaking the truth and stated that there is corruption amongst the tribal council and tribal employees covering for one another the tribal council gave themselves a $10,000 raise and some of them do not even live under reservation she stated that some of the council members are are are the largest drug dealers under the reservation and that they personally benefit from Cartel being on the reservation she stated that if tribal employees ask questions or push back they they are blackballed they will lose their job and they will be prohibited from working any place on the reservation and finally I'd like to say that Governor gome wants our kids and our families to live in safe homes and safe communities the reality is Tribal Law Enforcement does not have jur dition over non-tribal members that's how the cartels slip through the cracks there aren't tribal members they are not tribal members and there is not enough federal law enforcement presence to enforce the law so as long as they are careful they can hide on our reservations and take advantage of our tribal communities I know families who have lost loved ones to overdoses and drug drug related murders I live on the reservation I see it firsthand and it is not and it is not always spoken out loud but those drugs from the cartels they come from the cartels everyone knows it but not everyone says it Governor gnome is trying to do something about it she will not remain quiet and neither will I she is offering her help and she is offering her heart I have seen her step up for our tribal communities again and again she is again stretching her arms out today to our Indian people all of our tribes need to is to need to meet her in the middle and come to the table and talk thank you thank you secretary flute we've we have been uh overwhelmed with the amount of phone calls emails conversations meetings that I've personally had with people who have come to share their stories and their testimonies with us many of them are fearful of consequences of speaking of out many of them realize it could financially hurt them with the tribe that it could hurt their safety of their families and they live in dangerous communities where they're not certain if their kids or their family members will be safe so I appreciate those who have been bold enough to come forward and to share their stories with us so we can continue to work to build new relationships with our tribes to help bring safety to these communities the reminder is is that ultimately this responsibility lies with the federal government they are the ones who have the responsibility for Law and Order and tribal reservations uh we've had many conversations uh over the years with what the federal government should be doing and how they they should be funding of Public Safety for our tribal reservations how they are under funding uh and I have a long record of saying that that they are underfunded but we also need to make sure that those dollars are being spent appropriately once they get to the district level once they get to the tribal level once they get to the area level that those Public Safety dollars are truly being utilized to make these communities more safe um I have um a clip I want to show you right now I've been calling out uh on this Truth for months um asking for some coverage and for people to become aware of the true problem that we're dealing with here in South Dakota how dangerous it is for our children and for our families that live in our tribal reservations but even off of our tribal areas the impact that we're seeing an increasing crimes and Drug overdoses and Fentanyl um I've asked our reporters to cover that and to go down there and to uh take their cameras and interview people that are living in these situations I have not seen that I have not seen the South Dakota media focus on it it's been very disappointing for me to see the lack of coverage that has happened uh but somebody else is covering it you've probably heard of Chris Hansen Chris Hansen from To Catch a Predator uh he is well known and earlier this week he shared with me some of the findings from his investigation that he conducted on the Pine Ridge reservation and other reservations in the state of South Dakota he showed me some video clips and his interactions with tribal members long story short he has eyewitness testimony documented proof that there is drug cartel presence and Affiliates on reservations and with that I want to just show you one short clip of what he is working on to talk about the fentanyl crisis here in the United States and what we see happening right here in South Dakota as well so with that I'll turn your attention to the clip Governor we'll make this clip available to them can you unplug the computer and play it the audio in the room yes we we've uh dealt with the cartel already here and where we had people from the res that's been killed by the cartel where is the feral coming from right now as far as we know it's all comes from Mexico Mexico it comes through Mexico and then it comes through different channels Denver different places like that right here to the reservation these are vast Community are living in some cases destitute the cartels have found a Haven you know they might hand them a couple guns some cash say go do this for me and it makes them feel like somebody so then that's how they get involved more deep and then next thing you know you know 90% of the young people right now are doing a lot of prison time now our next speaker doesn't need Chris Hansen to tell him about how drugs and cartel influence are destroying our tribal communities Chris Hansen will be coming out with a lot more footage and a lot more information that he gathered while he was here in South Dakota and he is doing a larger um series that has to do with fentanyl in the United States of America but but focusing as well on well documented um testimony and evidence of what is happening on reservations throughout the country but the next speaker that we have um doesn't just hear the stories he actually has lived it I'm proud to welcome someone to our team that has a long history of serving this nation in the military he also worked within Bia for many years the Bureau of Indian Administration uh understands how funding comes to our tribes um and how it flows to our tribes and how it can best be utilized and recently recently served as a chief of police down in Pine Ridge as the olala Sue tribes chief of police for several years and now he is an adviser to me on law enforcement what we can do to build Mutual Aid agreements to bring more safety to these communities he's done his very best his entire life to keep his community safe even when we's he's been faced with Incredible challenges such as an inadequate Federal funding I'd like to welcome Alan Young our new Tribal Law Enforcement liaison to say few words today thank you Governor good morning my name is aleny Young I'm an enrolled member of the Galu tribe I have over 23 years of Indian Country law enforcement with both Bia and tribal programs I was associate director for Bia as well as a regional agent in charge and a director for Indian highway safety just to name a few uh positions I am very proud to join Governor n and her Administration in the role of Le tribal liaison between the state of South Dakota and each of the nine tribes I will also be a senior adviser to the governor's office the department of tribal relations and the Department of Public Safety in this position I get to stay connected with Indian Country law enforcement and make a positive difference in South Dakota I have testified in front of the United States Senate committee on Indian Affairs about the drug crimes that impact our reservations um recently I testified to the increase of illegal drugs and the increase of gun crimes which I testify to gun crimes are two we were facing two and a half gun calls a day um in my previous position in closing um I took the position with the governor because her position is they need help and that's what we intend to work for so thank you app next I wanted to invite our legislators to come forward and to share some of their experiences we had three legislators travel yesterday with us um to the southern border we spent some time with our soldiers building the barrier wall had the chance to visit with them about that uh and then also went to another location down in the Del r sector uh where that border patrol unit is in charge of 240 mies of the Southern border and I had the chance to go out with secretary flute and ride horse with them on patrol and go down to the river and spend some time covering some miles talking about the challenges that they face every single day what was interesting to me is that these border patrol officers said that no elected official that they remember has ever taken the time to go out there and actually ride a patrol with them like that before spend that many hours with them and to hear their stories of the true CH challenges that they face um they've recognized the change in policies and how that impacts the flow over the Border they also talk about the fact that now they see crossing the border uh now U the same amount of people in one week that they used to see happen and cross in a year and the one thing I said what do you wish people like me knew and what do you need the most and they said what we need is timely adjudication they need that when somebody comes into this country country illegally them to get a court date and to be processed and to be deported on a timely manner they said when someone comes into this country that's not supposed to be here and not following federal law they shouldn't get a court date that's five or six years into the future that they need to have the resources from the federal government to make sure that they're able to do their jobs and that they're able to bring safety to the United States of America so with that I'd like to introduce Mike Walsh to come forward and share a little bit of of his thoughts on what his day was like yesterday down at the southern border thank you Governor my name is Mike Walsh from the district 35 state senator uh retired law enforcement and former military member and both of those things come into play here first uh visiting with the soldiers down there I was inspired they are motivated they are dedicated uh and they're working very hard um and I it's not just what they told me that they're happy they're pleased to be down there it's the levity in which they were working it's it's the way they spoke having been around military people my entire life I know when they're happy and when they're not and these soldiers down there under the commander Lieutenant Hansen we're doing a fantastic job and we're happy to be there second with the drug problem I spent six years in Narcotics I got to see firsthand every case we worked the devastation that it reaped on children and that's the reality the kids don't have a vote in this and the amount of drugs coming across the border uh is is is staggering not just on the reservations but the entire state of South Dakota including my district this is the this is what the governor is trying to prevent this is what the governor is trying to solve I got to see firsthand her dedication to what's going on down there uh because it doesn't just affect the United States it's it affects South Dakota directly and uh it was evident as we spoke with the border of Patrol as we spoke with the soldiers that they see it every day they see the changes that have occurred in the past few years and they're working very hard to solve that problem these soldiers and these border patrol officers who are working mere feet from Cartel control territory are dedicated to their job and I came away from this experience inspired to do my part to help not only state of South Dakota but the governor in her Mission thank you next we have JD wangsness who's going to come up and share with you some of his thoughts on the day good morning thank you for having uh representative JD wangsness District 23 uh I serve on the military and Veterans Affairs committee so it's important for me to go down and see what our troops are doing and how our mission is uh is unfolding and down at the border uh they are they're very motivated the morale is great they're having uh they're they're enjoying getting their job done in a timely manner uh talking to the Guardsman and also to border patrol is very enlightening that it has been there's changes being made and they very positive changes we are having an impact on On the Border and the problems with it so and as far as for my district in District 23 well I don't have a reservation on it we border reservations and this isn't just a reservation problem this is a Statewide problem earlier this week in Han County there was an arrest with significant amount of drugs seized and illegal weapons and things like that so we have to work together I'm looking forward to working with Mr Mr Young and with secretary flute and uh finding solutions to the problems that we have with the drugs in our whole state it's a it's a public protection issue we've got to take care to look out for our kids and our grandkids because it's it's all over it's a big issue I appreciate the governor inviting me along for this trip it was very educational and uh thank you very much thank you JD I appreciate that we're going to be giving you an article as well that I think you'll be able to utilize in your reporting that is a DEA report that finds that there's cartel and cartel Affiliates operating in every single state in the United States of America it is followed follow up with this report that has been put out giving you facts and information that you may find helpful that shows that there is cartel activity in every single state in the United States of America which will help you um with some of the information that you need to put together stories covering what's happening here in South Dakota in our tribal areas but also um in in other places and other states that are struggling with these same same challenges in fact we've seen Congressional leaders be very bold uh I know I've been very outspoken as a governor as to what's happening in our tribal reservation areas I want to remind you of my history I've served in the state legislature before and saw some of the challenges we saw with poverty and underfunding that happened to our tribes back then served in Congress for eight years and worked with our tribes to get them resources that they needed to help take better care of their communities and their people housing dollars I served on um the state committee for the Farm Service Agency which oversaw a lot of projects and tribal areas uh then also now as Governor have said repeatedly over and over again that we wanted to partner with our tribes in new ways we work with them on a daily basis we sign sales tax agreements gaming compacts uh we respond in emergency situations if there is a flood we send in teams to help rescue we deliver wood with our National Guard to their elders and help care for them in Stormy Weather we help clear their roads we work with them on Child Protective Services our department of social services interacts with our tribes every single day there's incredible Partnerships that are going on consistently with how we're responding and how we're able to serve and work with our tribes and uh those are Partnerships that don't always get talked about but they happen every day with the state of South Dakota in fact we even were the first state uh and I was the first governor to put state employees in our IHS facilities to help with case loads and to help process paperwork so that those cases could get referred quicker and people could get better health care that are getting Health Care taken care of by Indian Health Services so with all of that we have several Congressional leaders that have been bold speaking out on what they have seen as far as um uh cartel activity in their states um we have videos that we will share with you after this press conference but I want to read to you what some of their quotes were one of them was from Senator John tester who is from Montana and he said in a congressional hearing I can speak to this issue from the large landbased tribes which we have in Montana I'm telling you what you guys live we've got cartels in Indian country and we've got a lot of bad going on President Jeffrey stiff arm from Fort bellcamp Indian Community in Montana also said we're fighting a losing battle the cartels are winning the drug dealers are winning and they're overrunning our reservations they encounter them the cartels pretty much on a daily basis and the remoteness of our reservation and the access to get into the remote areas it's pretty easy for these cartels to come through there's back roads from the Rocky Boy reservation to Fort belnap and that's one of the routes that they take a couple of weeks ago we had a cartel killing in Rocky Boy they killed two tribal members we are left alone to fight this battle representative Bruce Westerman from Arkansas he said just recently we held a field hearing down in Southern Arizona in Sheriff Mech Daniels made a statement we're no longer dealing with an illegal immigration problem we're dealing with an organized crime problem an organized crime problem that reaches from sea to shining sea and that includes Indian country and then president Frank star comes out from the oglalas Su tribe right here in South Dakota we're made in front of that US Senate committee in December TW December 20th in 2023 that we need our federal Partners in Congress to finally step up to the plate and to help curb the drug crisis in Indian Country a generation of our people are now born play by gangs and cartels human and drug trafficking organized crime abuse and murder every day we see more fentanyl enter our reservation the relationship between these drugs and child abuse and neglect robbery domestic violence and gun activity is a very real problem the state of South Dakota lacks criminal jurisdiction over Indian Country crimes thus in reality The Sole Provider of law enforcement services to aasu tribe is the federal government We Believe this Federal neglect has resulted in the cartel moving on our reservation an increase in overdoses and a proliferation of guns on our school properties these videos will all be made available to you so that you will have them for your reporting um but I also want you to know that we have heard these stories these testimonies and these facts from Democrats from Republicans and from tribal leaders and from people who live in these communities including those here in South Dakota and those in our neighboring states we've heard it from our own tribal leaders here in South Dakota um they have said that they cannot do this alone that they need Partnerships and that is what we have continuously offered is mutual Aid agreements that the state of South Dakota will participate in that will help them bring safety to their communities um we have continuously said that we will do that even though that is not a role that the state of South Dakota typically fills but we've done it before in different ways for short periods of time but we are willing to step up and to do that and have offered that repeatedly my state agencies are consistently working with our tribes to meet thousands of needs that happens in every aspect of their lives from Child Welfare to Emergency Response tax collection agreements our governor's office of Economic Development gave a $250,000 loan to a small grocery store in picktown in the Yankton reservation DSS collects and distributes child support to more than 2,000 different tribal court orders our Division of Motor Vehicles facilitated more than 2500 driver's licenses just this last year on Pine Ridge alone our game fish and Parks conservation officers conduct joint operations with tribal cosos all the time law enforcement Mutual Aid agreements will go a long ways to help restore safety and order I'm hopeful our tribal leaders will partner with us in a new way to do that we stand ready to help banishing me does not help anything what I would ask ask them is why do they not banish those who are committing the crimes in their tribal areas and partner with us to bring safety to their people let's fight to protect our women and our children from rape let's fight to protect our children and our women and our people from Human Trafficking let's bring peace and safety to communities that are overrun with drugs and with gun violence I'm going to be very honest with all of you I'm very disappointed in your coverage of the situation I'm very disappointed in the fact that South Dakota is not paying attention and making sure that we're working and holding leaders accountable to doing what they can to serve people to make sure that kids can get up in the morning and go to school safely and can come home and walk the streets and be safe at night I'm going to continue to do my job and to continue to work together but I also want to bring forward a couple of our sheriffs that we have with us that have worked with some of our tribes and talk about the impact that we can have with these Mutual Aid agreements and also about how important it is that for the first time we believe ever a state is stepping up like South Dakota is with our attorney general to create a Tribal Law Enforcement Training Academy for years what has happened is our tribal officers and Bia officers have had to go to New Mexico for a 13-week training in order to come back and serve their communities I have offered and many of our tribes are taking us up on the opportunity to get trained right here in South Dakota so they don't have to leave their families for 13 weeks they can go through an academy that we will pay for the state of South Dakota the Attorney General's office a free of charge to our tribes and many of our tribes are taking advantage of that opportunity uh this is something that these sheriffs have talked to me about have asked me to do we did it and we are hopeful that it will be extremely successful not just in making it easier for tribal officers to get trained and put into place to to be able to operate and partner more with our tribes and those councils but also that it'll build relationships it'll build relationships between those instructors and other agencies that are trained here in South Dakota and improve the kind of Partnerships that we need to see develop so I'd like to ask if the sheriffs would like to come up and share a few words with us I think that would be fantastic hello my name is Ash arpan I'm the sheriff for dwey County I am a member of the shine River Sue tribe and uh my county is on shine River uh I am a veteran officer police officer uh I myself know what it's like to be assaulted in the line of duty when I was a tribal officer uh I was stabbed by an individual that was under the influence of drugs and uh so I got to see the impact to my family U being a victim and being placed in that situation uh so when we talk about the uh drug issues on reservations you it rings true to me uh I want to see us have more solutions and uh I think that the academy that uh the governor has initiated for tribal officers I think is a a positive step and a good step and uh My Hope Is that in the future we can have more solutions and less focus on politics thank you my name is Gary Cudmore I'm the sheriff of ZB County up in dpri I'm an enroll shine River travel member um The Academy that the governor has started up will be a a great thing because like I said you go to Aria I've been to Aria to the Indian Police Academy for 13 weeks IID came back uh got hired on with the sheriff's office I went through the state academy uh it was good because I was home on the weekends I could do work a couple shifts I still had a home life but you know when you're stuck down in Aria for 13 straight weeks it gets a little nerve-wracking with everything else but like I said the the program that the governor is starting up you know everything he's paid for they can come home on the weekends still have some family time and I think it's a it's a great asset for our reservations you great you thank you I'm want to thank you all for being here today and I appreciate um your interest in this yesterday when we were at the border um I was extremely grateful for the time that was spent with us with the border patrol how much time they spent giving us information on what they saw at the southern border and the challenges that they face what new policies can bring even just what enforcement of federal law can bring and how grateful they were for our South Dakota National Guard members that are down there I know I I want to take a minute to speak to the families of those South Dakota National Guard members uh we have seen our National Guard members activated over and over again uh either federally deployed or in state activation or in service to another state and they do so because they love this country and a country with no borders is no country at all and that is truly what we are seeing at the southern border right now and we have seen now that that battle and that Invasion has infiltrated the state of South Dakota that is why we are talking about this today and that is why we are talking about how proud We Are of our soldiers that are down there building this barrier wall that is working and is helping to secure and give us more safety down there and helping slow down the flow but also we need to take some action here at home as well we have communities that are suffering with a lot of violence and they are suffering with drugs and it is impact every single community in the state and I'm hopeful that we can get new Partnerships with tribal leaders that will want to work together to enforce Tribal Law and to bring Law and Order to areas in a way that we haven't done before so with that I'll open it up to any questions that you may have please and Dr cpb what's your plan for getting tribal governments to sign on to these Mutual Aid agreements you know I think secretary flute and algen are going to be incredibly powerful uh their knowledge and understanding of what it's like to be in tribal government is wonderful they've sat in their shoes they've been there and seen the challenges and and I'm open to new ideas if they want to sign an agreement that looks different than what the state has done before I'm all ears um I've I've had some of the chairman and presidents reach out and want to know what they would look like we've had some participate in the past um but I also am hopeful that algen will bring some new ideas uh he's been in leadership in Bia which I've never had that kind of wisdom in my office before the understand understands how the formula Works um how underfunded it is and why we need to pass audits why these tribes need to be audited and not just at the tribal level down at the district level um that there's some accountability there to how it's spent so that we can go to Congress and make an ask for more dollars and prove that they are underfunding our law enforcement so that that really is a strategic approach that we're using that I'm hopeful our tribal leaders will partner with us in a way that they just haven't before and these two men come in a in a good way uh with a good heart um recognizing that they want to help and serve their communities as well yes South Dakota search light how many officers have signed up for the training course do you know you know we've it's fluctuated because they sign up and then they go through background checks and paperwork I think at this point in time we have 13 we may have 15 uh so they continue to have the ability to sign up we think that's fantastic I don't know if it's four or five different tribes that have are sending Tribal Law Enforcement Officers and uh but we will have a full class regardless and again I appreciate the Attorney General partnering with us on that um when I asked him to to do this and brought this idea to him after visiting with the sheriffs uh that this really would be helpful in recruitment um boy he worked hard and we made it happen and this summer is when that will begin I believe it'll begin June 1st what's the date third okay June 3r Governor Austin gos Scout uh with the bands from majority of the state's tribes how do you work back from that and try to rebd that relationship so that you can accomplish a lot of what you've talked about today I keep calling them they all have my personal cell phone number we reach out uh every month and send them a letter to reinforcing and send them emails and calls I think that secretary flute probably hears from most of them on a weekly basis don't you it's phone calls text messages tribal council members are very powerful in these positions many of these tribal councils are split have you know some of the members of the tribal council want to do an agreement and some don't and you know you talk about politics there's politics that happens at the tribal level as well um but I think algen and his relationships will be will be helpful and uh if they go and have those conversations um I'm willing to be creative and see what we can do to make them work yes govern logistically how does it look for the US Attorneys Office would they be involved if these tribal officers are being State Certified versus federally certified does that create any jurisdiction legal issues as far as the arrests they make and whether the state certification qualifies them to make those Federal well and maybe algen can add some more details but they will Bia is partnering with us in this so they will they have the ability to get the Bia training that they need here in South Dakota too as well uh and then they are our Tribal Law Enforcement Officers have gone through ourmes before but they've had to leave for a few weeks and go down to New Mexico in order to complete it now they can get the entire training here as well and alen if you want to add some more perspective you sure can Governor I think you hit hit it right on the head um the it's already happening and and um like like the sheriff's talked about it's going to be a One-Stop shot for everything so the two weeks of Indian law is going to be streamlined to two days in this training so it it's going to work thank you so it's happening it's just being figur yep it's happening and they will still be Tribal Law Enforcement Officers like they've always been they'll get their training here but they'll also be able to get their Bia certification here in South Dakota too which is wonderful many times tribal officers have had to go to New Mexico for the full 13 weeks or if they chose to go through our Academy they at least had to go there for two weeks away from their families to do that that's no longer necessary this is the first time we believe that a state has done an Academy training like this for Tribal Law Enforcement Officers and Bia officers and and we're grateful for the idea that came from our sheriffs and brought it to us um it's been discussed before in the past but it's wonderful to see the amount of Partnerships that have have already happened from it and that some of the tribes are taking advantage of it Governor um yes one more questions radio corn yes go ahead was that JP thank you very much yes that's yeah okay go ahead JP thank you very much um I was wondering uh regarding uh reaction from the uh Federal side of law enforcement here what are they thinking about the state providing the training to the uh tribal officers well I won't speak for them I guess but Bia has participated and has been willing to send instructors to do the Bia training here so that's been good it's been wonderful uh the the problem we have I think is not enough hand hands on the ground feet on the ground you know help on the ground as far as federal federal agencies and resources so we're going to continue to to advocate for that um I think that that is something that we'll be working with our federal delegation to make sure that we have more funding that comes to the tribe that is actually put into officers and their training and yes last question yep and yes last question yep govern I'm hear from you today is that cartel influence is a not only a major issue on tribal land but statewide right correct okay so why so much focus on land not we have two major interstates intercept we have Rapid City or the stur motorcycle r I focus on cartel activity so much on some of our most rural areas instead of our most urban areas we are very focused in those areas and we've got great Partnerships there with local law enforcement with leaders there that happens every single day the problem that we have right now is that these cels and their Affiliates are finding a Haven in our tribal reservation areas and the crimes that are being committed there have increased so dramatically the last several years uh and these community members keep reaching out asking for help everybody knows that when you get into tribal areas the jurisdiction challenges are there um what's the responsibility of the federal government what do the treaties say is the responsibility of the federal government versus the state they're a Sovereign Nation so that's a different relationship than what we have with the city of sou Falls or the city of Rapid City but uh counties sign Mutual Aid agreements with our tribes as well so that's a wonderful model that we can participate in um my message to our tribal leaders is bring to me your ideas let's work together um stop stop focusing on politics and banishing me bring to me a solution let's banish the cartels and their Affiliates from your land so that we truly can protect all of our people govern the tribal chairman asky about comments you made about children on the reservations do you plan on issuing an apology about those comments that were done in March okay [Music]

Channel: Forbes Breaking News

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Length: 50min 55sec (3055 seconds)

Published: Fri May 17 2024