Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

Charges Dismissed Against Nick Tilsen, CEO of NDN Collective, for 2020 Mt. Rushmore Protest

RAPID CITY, S.D. - NDN Collective announced today that all charges against NDN Collective president and CEO Nick Tilsen have been dismissed by the Pennington County State Attorney's Office. Tilsen's charges stem from a protest organized during former President Trump's visit to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2020.

"My case held a mirror up to the so-called legal system, where prosecutors – fueled by white fragility and fear of Indigenous power – wasted years of state resources to intimidate, criminalize, and violate me," said Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of NDN Collective in a press release. "The fact that I've gone from facing 17 years in prison to all charges dismissed is not a coincidence or an act of justice – it's evidence that the charges were bogus from the start. We only won because we had effective tools and a strong network to fight them, and did not back down until we had exhausted the system that was built to exhaust us."

Tilsen was charged with second-degree robbery and grand theft in the alternative, as well as two counts of simple assault against law enforcement officers and three other misdemeanor crimes: standing on highway with intense to impede-stop traffic, failure to vacate/ordered to leave, and disorderly conduct-unlawful assembly. Tilsen's felony charges stem from allegedly stealing a shield from a female Air National Guardsman and assaulting her, all felonies in South Dakota.

https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/charges-dismissed-against-nick-tilsen-ceo-of-ndn-collective-for-2020-mt-rushmore-protest

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/29/2024 03:13