Racism Flourishes in South Dakota

DIRK AND DAKOTA GARNIER'S STORY

This is the story of the night two Lakota boys were beaten to within an inch of their life, hounded like wild frightened animals, and then turned around a acused of attempted murder. And this is considered normal behavior by our fair town of Hot Springs. Here's the real story of what happened to two Lakota boys, Dirk and Dakota Garnier, enrolled members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Much of what we know, we heard from Lance Russell, States Attorney, as reported in the Rapid City Journal and the Hot Springs Star, who tell only one side of the story. We need to hear the other side, the real story of what happened.

On June 2, 2005, Dakota Garnier, age 20, was walking on the side of the road with his friend Danny, age l6, to his Dad's house. On the way 4 boys were standing outside by a house on the corner. Dakota and Danny were chased by Seth Shaffer and a Dustin Dillon. Seth had a golf club in his hand. They ran to Danny's house since they were within in a block of it. Sister, Georgiana was called, and told what had happened. She came over and picked up Dakota and took him to her house. In their own words, this is Dirk speaking.

"From there, Dakota and I left the house on foot. We saw our friend Theodore Eagle about 1/2 block away near 20th street. Theodore wanted us to walk with him towrd his house. Theodore wanted to cash a personal check. None of us own a car. Where ever we go we have to walk. We went as far as up by Evan's Plunge, but no one would cash the check. We were walking back and met George Birlou, age 23, who said he could cash the check in a place called The Bar. We noticed 5 cars full of guys mainly, and maybe 4 girls driving back and forth. They were calling us names like they usually do. "We are going to catch you one by one and kick the shit out of you." "You'll wish you never haved moved to our town when we get down with you." "You boys with your long hair, we will scalp you before we kill you." They kept driving back and forth saying, "You'll wish you were never born brown skinned." They drove by about 4 or 5 times. George and Theodore went into The Bar to cash the check. My sister, Geogianna, stopped by in her car, just before the fight began. She told us to be careful because she could see a lot af carloads of guys. She had babies and car seats, and neices in the car or we would have got in.

Just after she left, we started walking towards Theodore's house. Unknown to us at the time, the guys had parked their cars down the street in a parking lot, by an abandoned liqour store, where they couldn't be seen. By the time we noticed them, they was about 15 guys and 5 or 6 girls, walking towards us. They were carrying baseball bats, iron pipe, and garden tools like hoes and rakes, and broom sticks. Just before we met up, a police officer went by, turned came back, and went on, paying no attention to a large number of people armed with clubs.

Met up. Matt Pepin who was walking out front, leading, said to us, "What the fuck are you going to do now that we have you cornered?" Seth Shafer yelled, "Which one of you dirty ass Indians wants to fight me?" He was armed with a bat that he was swinging near the ground. As soon as he said that, the gang started to surround us. Pepin said, "you have no business walking around like you're tough."

We tried to talk to them, saying, "Why are you trying to fight us. We didn't do nothing to you guys. We're just walking to Theodores house."

I said, "Lets go then." I pushed Dakota. Theodore was scared, "Go! go! Keep going." Someone came swinging a bat towards our heads. We took off running and saw our sister going by. Seth was swinging a bat. I saw a guy was working his way up front swinging a bat. I don't know who he was. Matt Pepin was standing in front of me, while this guy was swinging. We took off running as fast as we could. Dakota was hit in the leg, and fell, 9 to 10 guys, kicking punching, clubbing him, but I didn't know it at the time.

I was running. I heard someone yell. My sister pulled up and stopped on the other side of the street. I told her to call the cops. Things were being thrown at my sister, glass, bottles. I heard my brother calling for help. I turned and saw Dakota on the ground with 10 guys kicking him and hitting him with a bat. I was scared but I was more worried about my brother, so me and Theodore turned back to help Dakota. And George Birlou was quite a ways ahead and kept running.

I ran up and began hitting guys with my bare fists. I grabbed Dakota's sweater to pull him up but there were too many of them. Someone pulled me down to the ground by my long hair. Theodore came from behind and helped me get up, and we both helped Dakota to get up. About 15 more joined in, about 30 in all.

In the thick of the fight, I was scared for my life and for my brother. Being so outnumbered, I was afraid we would be killed. I was terrorified and was just blindly striking out, trying to protect myself as best I could and my brother too. But most of the time I was on the ground on my knees. I didn't know what to do. I thought it was over. Too many against us. I felt like I was fighting for my life. It all happened so quick.

Dakota, age 19, Dirk's brother, said, "Before the fight began, when we took off running, someone hit me with a bat causing me to fall. I felt a lot of guys around me, kicking me behind the head, in the ribs and sides, legs, many people kicking me. At the same time, they were screaming, "Kill him! Hurt him bad! Stomp him down!" All the while I was being hit on the back with a bat. I was scared for my life. I thought I would end up in the hospital. I felt total terror, and helplessness at being overcome by so many. I tried to get up, but I kept getting knocked back down on the pavement. I was being beaten with the intent of force to kill me. I hollared for my brother. I wanted to get up and run. But I couldn't. It seemed like a long time. But it wasn't. It seemed like an eternity, like I would be dead. I never noticed the pain because I was so scared.

I felt Dirk grab me by the shoulder and pull me up. I got up and started swinging. They were all around me still fighting. They pulled Dirk down by his hair. Theodore was helping out Dirk, and I was punching wildly. That's when the cops pulled up.

Two cop cars pulled up, one from each direction. The white boys scattered, but some were still standing there, like Seth Shafer was standing there with an aluminum bat. Some ran, some stayed.

When I was in the police car, I felt relieved that they couldn't hit me anymore. I first started noticing the pain in my back and neck, sides and legs, my ribs hurt every time I breathed. The police asked us what happened. When we pointed out the cars that were going by, and in these cars were the ones who ganged us, the cops paid no attention. They just told us to get in the police car. I asked if they wanted to take our statements. The cop said, "Hold on, I'll ask the other officer in the other car," the one who was questioning the white guys. He got out of the car and walked over to the other car. I was shaking and my heart was racing, as I realized the cops were not going to help. I was scared that they would put us in jail. They didn't seem to be too concerned about our injuries. I just wanted to get out of there alive. And I hurt so bad, all over my body I hurt. I just wanted to go home.

The cop came back and told us there were about 30 pissed off people, meaning the white guys who had almost killed us. While we were in the cop car, these carloads just kept driving by. The cop didn't even ask us why they were picking on us. Guys driving by us would call us names while we were sitting in the police car, things like "long haired faggots" "you guys are little bitches for calling the cops". Cops just ignored them like they never heard it. Another fear struck me then, from the pit of my stomach down to my toes. With a sickening realization I knew the cops were going to somehow blame us for what happened. We had survived the white guys only to face a more powerful enemy: the law. I was scared. I hurt so bad on the outside of my skin, but it was the big growing knot of sickening fear in the pit of my stomach that grabbed me now as I realized they all hated us, just because we are brown skinned, because of our long black hair, because we were Indian. I realized there was no law for us. Strange. I felt my heart beating so hard, like a drum, like a drum long ago, when it was a crime to be Indian.

After the cops tooks our statements, they offered to take us back to our sister's house. I was scared, yet I was afraid for my little neices and sister, because I didn't know what these guys would do after the cops left. I was worried that Pepin and his gang would come and break into the house and harm my little neices or cause trouble for my sister. Me and my brother took off. I was terrified because I didn't want to leave. But I felt I had to go. I didn't want to go. We left a note for my sister, who was sleeping, and we headed out into the night.

I could hardly walk, I hurt so bad. They had really worked me over good. I don't know which hurt more, my injuries on the outside, or my heart on the inside. We kept watching for Pipen and the Dillons. Home to the Reservation. If we could just get home, we knew we would be safe.

It took us four days to get back. We walked the back ways and cut across. We never knew Matt Pepin had any injuries until 8 days after the fight, when a story came out in Rapid City Journal. We never knew that we would be blamed for Pipin's injuries or that we would be charged with attempted murder. We were almost killed. I was fighting only for my life and that of my brother, otherwise, I would not have been fighting."

South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds has ordered Tribal Charwoman, Cecilia Fire Thunder, to allow Dirk and Dakota to be extradited from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to stand trial in Hot Springs in State Court for attempted murder .