FBI Informant's Misconduct Continued after Red Fawn was Jailed

Informant Heath Harmon of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, owned revolver Red Fawn is charged with firing.

Update 2021: Red Fawn served her prison  sentence and was released. Read how paid FBI informant Heath Harmon pursued a romantic relationship with her at Standing Rock Camp in 2016. As police swarmed and arrested Water Protectors, Harmon insisted she wear his coat that secretly had his revolver in it. Harmon was paid $2,000 as an FBI informant.
https://atavist.newspackstaging.com/red-fawn-fallis-standing-rock-pipeline/

Update by Will Parish on Dec. 31, 2017

Paid FBI informant engaged in intimate relationship with Red Fawn and continued intelligence gathering after Red Fawn was jailed

Heath Harmon

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Updated Dec. 22, 2017

The misconduct of paid FBI informant Heath Harmon, 46, of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, has been exposed by The Intercept.
Harmon was a paid FBI informant in Standing Rock water protector camps, giving the FBI regular reports from August to October, while in camp, court documents show.
It has just been exposed that Harmon owned the revolver that Red Fawn Fallis is charged with firing during her arrest.
Harmon engaged in an intimate relationship with Red Fawn, while concealing the fact that he was an undercover FBI agent in Rosebud Camp at Standing Rock.
Even after Red Fawn was in jail, Harmon continued to call her, and withheld the fact that he was an FBI informant. The information from those phone calls was shared with local and federal police officers and prosecutors.
Red Fawn's supporters are now calling for an investigation into the ethics of an FBI informant engaging in a sexual relationship with a target while concealing his identity. Similar cases have successfully been filed in court against undercover officers in England.
In England, after an undercover officer had relationships with women, the women sued. Among the charges they filed were assault, negligence, deceit and misconduct by senior officers.
Harmon's intelligence gathering and deceit did not stop when Red Fawn was arrested on Oct. 27, 2016. Harmon continued his work as an undercover government spy.
The Intercept reports:

Harmon spent the day of October 27 with Fallis and was nearby during her arrest. He continued to withhold his FBI affiliation from his then-girlfriend in phone conversations with her while she was being held at the Morton County jail in Mandan, North Dakota, records show. Investigators’ notes on those calls were distributed to the ATF, two local sheriff’s departments, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Bismarck, among others.

In Florida, prosecutors dropped and reduced charges against defendants, after finding out undercover detective had sex with targets, which violates Florida law, according to case law.

"Having sex with the suspects in the cases constitutes entrapment and violates the defendants’ due process rights, according to Florida case law cited by defense lawyers. Also, any sexual relationship between an informant and a target violates the rules of nearly every law enforcement agency, federal, state or local."

"Prosecutors are dropping or reducing felony drug charges against more than a dozen people who bought Oxycontin from an undercover detective, after learning that the police informant who set up the drug deals had sex with some of the defendants."http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20121108/police-informants-misconduct-leads-to-dropped-drug-charges

In England, women sued after an undercover cop had relationships with women, and fathered children. One animal rights activist sued alleging assault, negligence, deceit and misconduct by senior officers. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-who-child-undercover-cop-4496691
The targeting of Red Fawn by the FBI comes as no surprise.
 Red Fawn's mother Troy Lynn Yellow Wood was active in the American Indian Movement and was among those targeted, before she passed to the Spirit World.
Documents from the Denver Police Intelligence Department exposed a massive spy operation targeting the American Indian Movement in the 1990s. It stretched from Denver  throughout the country, with police and federal agents tracking anyone affiliated with AIM, even those who simply had a Free Peltier bumper sticker on their car.

The Intercept reports:

Federal prosecutors are charging Fallis with civil disorder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and discharge of a firearm in relation to a felony crime of violence — perhaps the most serious charges levied against any water protector. If convicted of discharging the weapon, she faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and the possibility of a life sentence. She has pleaded not guilty.

Read article at The Intercept by Will Parrish:
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/11/standing-rock-dakota-access-pipeline-fbi-informant-red-fawn-fallis/

Water Protector Legal Collective attorneys exposed today that the government is withholding documents in the Red Fawn case:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2017/12/attorneys-government-withholding-key.html

Notes
It is no surprise that Red Fawn was targeted by the FBI. Her mother was also targeted before she passed to the Spirit World, along with all those affiliated with AIM in Denver. The facts were exposed in the 1990s that Denver Police Intelligence Dept. tracked and spied on everyone associated with AIM, even a grandmother who simply had a Leonard Peltier bumper sticker on her car. This spy operation spanned the entire country and was exposed during a court case in Colorado, when boxes of spy files became public. It was only one of these that tracked and targeted. There was also COINTELPRO and the international spy operation Operation Chaos, targeting AIM and other movements and their supporters in other countries. Denver Police agreed to change their policies after the exposure, but of course the spying and targeting continued by the joint task forces. My articles on this are on the web. -- Brenda Norrell

Genocide, Massacre, Apartheid, Resistance: Four Images of Dakota, Lakota, Palestinians as 2017 Comes to an End

As Dakota and Lakota rode in honor of those hanged and massacred, Palestinians were murdered and imprisoned because of the reckless announcement of Trump.

Man Missing Both Legs Murdered by Israeli Forces while Protesting Trump's Reckless Announcement 

A disabled Palestinian man missing both legs is among those killed by Israeli security forces that opened fire on demonstrators in the West Bank and along the border with Gaza, Gaza’s health ministry said. Abu Thurayeh, 29, was shot dead east of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s health ministry as cited by the Times of Israel. He is one of four Palestinians who were killed during a protest over the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. -- Global Research

Dakota 38 Riders Honor Dakota who were Hanged in Largest Mass Execution in U.S. History
MANKATO — The coldest Dec. 26 in more than 20 years didn't stop Dakota riders and runners and a large crowd of onlookers from memorializing the 38 Dakota executed in Mankato in 1862 and continuing the reconciliation effort of today.
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/dakota-honored-amid-bitterly-cold-conditions/article_cbbba4ce-ea63-11e7-902a-87add4296ee7.html

Bigfoot Riders Honor the Massacred of Wounded Knee 1890
Mniconjou Lakota Chief Bigfoot and his band of 400 people were massacred while under a white flag of truce at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. They were massacred by an avenging U.S. Army 7th Calvary, many of which were drunk, Yellow Hair, Custer's old command. 14 years before this, the 7th Calvary was wiped out by the combined forces of the Lakota, Arapaho and Cheyenne along the banks of the Little Big Horn River.

.

Palestinian Teen Arrested after Young Cousin Shot in Face

Ahed Tamimi’s father Bassem took to Facebook to record the incident and told of how his home was raided and their phones, cameras and laptops stolen following his daughter’s arrest. “The IOF [Israeli occupying forces] raid my home and arrested my daughter Ahed Tamimi after the Israeli media attaks [sic] here after she stop the solder [sic] in front of our house when he shot child on his head,” the status read. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171219-israel-arrests-palestinian-teen-who-forced-them-off-her-land/

Apartheid was ended in South Africa. It can be ended in Palestine. -- Censored News

Morton County used Nobel Peace Forum to meet with Norway's mining industry, discredit media on Standing Rock resistance

Morton County with militarized police at Standing Rock. Photo by Rob Wilson.

Morton County used Nobel Peace Prize Forum to Meet with Mining Industry, Discredit Media Coverage of Standing Rock Water Protectors 

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
French translation by Christine Prat at:
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=4375

Morton County used the Nobel Peace Prize Forum to meet with the Norwegian Mineral Industry, which controls coal and other mining, and to discredit the media's coverage of Standing Rock Water Protectors.
Standing Rock Water Protectors said a self-appointed mediator, Stephanie Hope Smith, acted without any authority when she invited Morton County Commission Chairman to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, where Water Protectors were representing Chief Arvol Looking Horse.
Further, Standing Rock Water Protectors said Smith was "thrown out of camp twice" for bringing in Morton County during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock in 2016.
Further, a report reveals that Smith took a visiting Native delegation to meet with the joint command -- comprised of multiple law enforcement agencies -- during the Standing Rock resistance in October of 2016.
Water Protectors said she acted without any authority. Among the topics discussed with the joint command was the arrest of Red Fawn Fallis, charged with firing a gun at officers. The revolver actually belonged to FBI informant Heath Harmon of Fort Berthold, North Dakota, who engaged in a relationship with Red Fawn in camp, and continued to deceive her while she was in jail. The notes from Harmon's misconduct and deception, while Red Fawn was jailed, were given to the prosecutor, reports The Intercept.
Dakota Lakota Delegation Ambushed at Nobel Peace Forum Ambushed by Self-Appointed Mediator
At the Nobel Forum, Smith described herself as a "sacred site and cultural conciliator." Previously, she described herself as "natural mediator," registered with Morton County.
The Nobel Forum said Smith is responsible for bringing  Morton County Commissioner Cody Schulz to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum this month, in December of 2017, in Norway.
Morton County's violent, brutal assault on Water Protectors
Morton County was responsible for the violent, brutal assaults on Standing Rock Water Protectors, by local law enforcement, and militarized police from throughout the country.
Water Protectors were shot with rubber bullets and tear gas and water cannons in freezing temperatures. Women and elderly were arrested, strip searched and jailed in "dog kennels" with numbers written on their arms as was done by the Nazis.
Numerous Water Protectors suffered serious injuries, as they stood peacefully to protect the water of the Missouri River from the Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners. About 800 were arrested and many continue to face charges.
Morton County used Nobel Forum to meet with mining industry, discredit media coverage of Standing Rock
Morton County Commission Chairman Cody Schulz released a statement saying that he met with the Secretary General of the Norwegian Mineral Industry while at the Nobel Forum.
Schulz said this mining contact was made possible by way of the Nobel Forum sponsor -- the global non-profit Peace Through Commerce.
Further, Schulz criticized the national and international media coverage of the pipeline resistance. Schulz said he presented Morton County's opposing view of Standing Rock while at the Nobel Forum.
“My goal was to make sure that all of the facts of the situation were properly understood and the perspective of local landowners, law enforcement, and emergency responders were represented because I believe the media, especially at the national and international level, did a very poor job reporting that side of the story,” said Schulz. “I was really quite impressed with PTC’s approach of multi-sector, multi-level engagement that looks at values, causes, and effects.”
Chief Arvol Looking Horse responds
Last Real Indians exposed the role of Smith and published a response from Chief Arvol Looking Horse.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse said he asked Water Protectors to represent him at the Nobel Forum in Norway, because he was unable to attend. The delegation of Dakota Lakota Water Protectors were unaware that Smith had intervened and included Morton County at the Nobel Forum.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse said, "I feel responsible for putting my friends and relatives in a situation where they were unaware of the Commissioner’s attendance because I asked them to attend on my behalf. This uncomfortable situation has jeopardized the reputation and safety of my friends and relatives that attended, as well as myself." 
Read more at Last Real Indians:
https://lastrealindians.com/oceti-sakowin-nobel-peace-prize-forum-attendees-speak-out/

Stephanie Hope Smith called herself a mediator. Water protectors said she was thrown out of camp twice for bringing in Morton County. Acting with no authority, she called herself a sacred site cultural conciliator, and again brought in Morton County at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Norway, where Water Protectors were representing Chief Arvol Looking Horse.

Read more at Censored News: Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Deceives, Betrays Standing Rock Water Protectors
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2017/12/nobel-peace-prize-forum-deceives.html

Please check back for updates on this breaking news story from Censored News.

Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

San Carlos Apache Tribe: History of Genocide against Apaches

Photo Russ McSpadden, Center for Biological Diversity

San Carlos Apache Tribe

History of Genocide against Apaches Published

December 27, 2017

Contact: Cali Stands

San Carlos Apache Reservation – New research reveals that the mining of the eastern Arizona mountains owes its early success to a conspiratorial campaign of murderous vigilantism against Apache families waged by the government and the mining industry. The article, titled "Earth, Wind, and Fire: Pinal Apaches, Miners, and Genocide in Central Arizona, 1859-1874," appeared on December 22, 2017, in Sage Open, an interdisciplinary, open access journal of peer-reviewed, original research. The article is available for free viewing and downloading here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244017747016

The author is Dr. John R. Welch, a professor at Simon Fraser University, jointly appointed in the Department of Archaeology and the School of Resource and Environmental Management.

Terry Rambler, Chairman, a direct descendant of the Tsé Binesti'é (Surrounded by Rocks People) Apaches (Aravaipa Band) who, with the T'iis Tsebán (Cottonwoods Gray in the Rocks People) Apaches (Pinal Band), occupied the rugged Pinal Mountains between Winkleman and Superior, said "Archaeologists and historians are finally verifying what my elder relatives have been saying for generations: pioneer settlers wanted the silver and gold under our camps, hunting areas, oak groves, and spiritual areas. They used every means at their disposal to kill our people and chase us away. Welch deserves credit, and I hope the powers that be will pay attention to his research even if they have ignored Apache voices. The time has come to break a century and half of mining industry control over government decision making and public land and water. The proposed Resolution Copper Mine reveals that Congress cares little about Apache welfare or spirituality, the potential contamination of the local aquifer, or a fair return to the American people for the billions in copper ore planned for extraction from national forest lands."

Welch's article chronicles cold-hearted miner propaganda that portrayed Apaches as bloodthirsty savages to incite scorched earth campaigns that killed over 380 Apaches in and near the Pinal Mountains in less than 15 years. In an 1865 example cited in the article, U.S. Army General John S. Mason ordered that "Apache Indians in this [Arizona] Territory are hostile and all men old enough to bear arms who are encountered will be slain. . . . All rancherias, provisions and whatever of value belonging to the Indians . . . will be destroyed." In 1870, U.S. Army Captain H. Moulton and miner Calvin Jackson led a joint, Army-prospector foray by into the Pinal Mountains, hunting Apaches and staking mining claims for themselves, their superior officers, and their investors. The following year Arizona Governor Anson P. K. Safford led a similar expedition across Tsé Binesti'e and T'iis Tsebán territory. A striking pattern emerges from the 35 attacks known to have killed Apaches in their Pinal Mountain homelands: Federal and Territorial government officials authorized militarized gangs to hunt and kill families, often at dawn's early light. The great majority of those murdered were T'iis Tsebán and Tsé Binesti'é women and children. Welch's grim tally does not include the approximately 80 Pinal and Araviapa Apache women and children slaughtered on April 30, 1871 while under Army protection at Camp Grant

Most non-Indians think Apaches started the so-called Apache wars, massacred helpless settlers, then got what they deserved when the tables turned. Welch exposes this thinking as historical fallacy. During that same period, Pinal and Aravaipa Apaches killed only about 70 non-Apaches, all or most of them men. Welch found that most of the 34 incidents that resulted in non-Apache fatalities occurred when Apache expeditions to find food were intercepted. In an honest comment about the lopsided slaughter, U.S. Army General John Pope's 1871 report states, "depredations of the Apaches have been continuous for twenty-five years past, but they are insignificant in extent and generally confined to the plunder of a few sheep and mules and the occasional murder of a lonely sheepherder." Welch's research reveals that Americans were the aggressors in the "Apache Wars" and that, at least in eastern Arizona mountains, miners plotted the bloody campaigns then reaped the benefits.

The article offers one important basis for the San Carlos Apache Tribe's leadership in protecting the western reaches of the Pinal Mountains from destructive mining. The Tribe has worked with dozens of other tribes and hundreds of allies to prevent and repeal Section 3003, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act ("SEALECA"), of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). After more than a decade of relentless pressure by mining industry executives and lobbyists, the U.S. Congress adopted the SEALECA as a "rider" to the NDAA two years ago.

The SEALECA rider gives 20,000 acres of Tonto National Forest lands to Resolution Copper, a limited liability corporation created by foreign-owned mining companies (Rio Tinto and B.H.P. Billiton) to enable the largest copper mine in North America, which will destroy the Chi'Chil Bildagoteel (known as Oak Flat), a Pinal and Aravaipa Apache sacred place. Chi'Chil Bildagoteel will be destroyed by subsidence caused by the copper ore removal, some 7,500 below ground, through a method known as block and cave mining. In addition, the Resolution Copper Mine will consume nearly 680,000 acre feet of water over 40 years, enough water for 168,000 homes, and likely destroy the aquifers below the Town of Superior, Arizona.

The Chi'Chil Biłdagoteel Historic District is a multi-tribal traditional cultural property formally listed in the U. S. National Register of Historic Places.

Mountain Protector Rally Planned as Snowbowl Furthers Desecration

Contact: mountainprotectors@gmail.com

Mountain Protector Rally Planned as Snowbowl Furthers Desecration

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Despite having no natural snow, Arizona Snowbowl has opened a handful of runs at their controversial ski area with snow made from 100% treated sewage on the San Francisco Peaks. A Mountain Protector Rally is being held to address environmental issues, public health concerns, and ongoing religious freedoms violations of the 13 Indigenous Nations who hold the Peaks sacred.

"We will continue to resist desecration of the San Francisco Peaks by Arizona Snowbowl, our cultural survival depends on it," stated Klee Benally, volunteer with ProtectthePeaks.org, "Snowbowl, the Forest Service, and the City of Flagstaff clearly don't care about our environment, public health, or religious freedom as Indigenous Peoples."

Arizona Snowbowl operates their private business on the Peaks under permit from the US Forest Service. The Forest Service approved ski area expansion and treated sewage snowmaking in 2005. Lawsuits by environmental groups and Indigenous Nations ultimately failed and Snowbowl started making treated sewage snow in 2012. The Hopi Tribe is currently in litigation with the City of Flagstaff over the city's contract to sell wastewater to Snowbowl.

When: Wednesday, December 20, 2015 at 10:30 AM.

Where: San Francisco Peaks, Arizona Snowbowl, meet at lower Humphrey parking lot.

More info: mountainprotectors@gmail.com, www.protectthepeaks.org

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/150546562238546

###

NOW! TACOMA SHUT DOWN Blockade at fracked gas plant opposed by Puyallup Indian Nation

By Last Real Indians

Censored News

December 18, 2017

All three entrances to the construction site for a fracked gas plant at the Port of Tacoma have been successfully blockaded! Workers have been sent home.Water protectors continue to occupy and block the entrances.

The proposed fracked gas plant at the Port would hold 8-million gallons of liquefied natural gas from the Bakkens. It is being constructed without all the permits for construction and without the consultation and consent of the Puyallup Tribe, who oppose the facility.

#NoLNG253

Photos from 350 Seattle

Attorneys: Government Withholding Key Evidence in Red Fawn Case -- Revolver Belonged to Paid Government Informant

Government Withholding Key Evidence in Standing Rock Federal Prosecution

Revolver Belonged to a Paid Government Informant

By Water Protector Legal Collective

Censored News
Posted on December 14, 2017

BISMARCK, North Dakota -- Federal defense attorneys for Red Fawn Fallis filed a Motion to Compel Discovery yesterday in the District of North Dakota. The motion outlines numerous videos and other crucial documentary evidence that have been requested by defense but not provided by the government.

Among the documents that the government has not produced are details related to the role of the paid FBI informant who owned the gun that was allegedly recovered at the scene of Ms. Fallis’s arrest. The existence of this informant was first addressed publicly at the end of a Motions hearing on Monday December 11, and is also described in a recent article by The Intercept. According to the motion, the requests left unanswered by the government include:

A detailed request for documents and other information relevant to the government’s use of a paid FBI informant who infiltrated the Water Protector camps, established an intimate relationship with the defendant herein, and provided contemporaneous information to the government. This informant was an eyewitness to Ms. Fallis’ arrest and the discharge of a firearm. . . . [and] the revolver that was allegedly seized from Ms. Fallis at the time of her arrest, belonged to the government’s informant.

Defense has also sought:

A detailed request for documents and other information relevant to additional informants utilized by the government, the State of North Dakota, police agencies involved and/or DAPL and/or its agents.

This motion comes only days after the conclusion of a hearing on defense Motions to Suppress, where attorneys presented evidence demonstrating that law enforcement had no probable cause to arrest Ms. Fallis. Law enforcement testimony during that hearing confirmed the existence of at least one additional informant, undercover officer or security contractor who was providing information to law enforcement. The hearing also produced evidence confirming the existence of numerous cameras mounted on law enforcement vehicles or operated by officers, for which audio or video have not been produced by the government as required by law.

Ms. Fallis was arrested on October 27, 2016 and is charged with Civil Disorder, Discharge of a Firearm in Relation to a Felony Crime of Violence, and Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Convicted Felon. “Civil Disorder” is a rarely used statute that criminalizes participation in a public disturbance and has historically been used primarily against political activists and communities of color. The Motion to Compel demands that the government disclose if any of the “violent acts” that form the basis of the Civil Disorder charge were instigated by paid informants, undercover officers or private security.

Ms. Fallis is represented by attorneys Molly Armour, Jessie Cook and Bruce Ellison and is scheduled for trial on January 29, 2018 in United States District Court for the District of North Dakota in Fargo. She was incarcerated without bond for one year and is currently confined to a halfway house as she prepares for trial.

Red Fawn Fallis, a Lakota Sioux woman, is one of seven federal defendants with cases arising from the events of October 27, 2016 at Standing Rock, and she will be the first to trial. Over 300 Water Protectors are still awaiting trial in their state criminal cases.

Links:

Defense Motion to Compel Discovery (December 13, 2017)

The Intercept article: An Activist Stands Accused of Firing a Gun at Standing Rock. It Belonged to her Lover – An FBI Informant. (December 11, 2017)

Red Fawn’s Support Committee

*This statement or portions thereof not quoted from court documents may be attributed to: Water Protector Legal Collective.

Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) provides on-the-ground legal representation and coordination for Water Protectors engaged in resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, ND.

'Cancel NAFTA, No Wall!' Farmworkers, Students, Maquiladora Workers Speak Out, Binational Conference In Depth Report

 

https://tinyurl.com/ybnymgcz

PRESENTATION

On December 2-3, 2017, the Binational Conference to Cancel NAFTA, Tear Down the Wall of Shame / End All Deportations, Stop Privatizations, and Promote Labor Rights on Both Sides of the Border was held in Carson, Calif., with the participation of more than 200 unionists and activists from the United States and Mexico. The first all-day session was held at California State University-Dominguez Hills and was hosted by the university's Modern Language Department and the CSUDH chapter of the California Faculty Association; the second half-day session was held at the hall of the United Steelworkers Local 675.

LISTEN Dine' CARE on KTNN Forestry, Fracking and the Water

https://nmtribune.com/news/radio-forum-focuses-on-environmental-issues/

Wednesday December 13, 2017

Censored News targeted in law enforcement dragnet of Standing Rock water protectors

Censored News coverage of Standing Rock water protectors, police excessive force and DAPL security brutality.

Collusion of big oil, big money and law enforcement results in targeting of Censored News for coverage of Standing Rock Water Protectors

By Brenda Norrell, publisher
Censored News

The Intercept exposed a blueprint of the intelligence operation at the North Dakota fusion center targeting Standing Rock water protectors, which includes Brenda Norrell, Censored News.
In regard to leaders of the movement at Standing Rock, it is obvious that the intelligence operation did not have a clue as to how the movement began or grew as a global force.
While I am honored to be on the same page with these global heroes, the water protectors of Standing Rock camps, it is disturbing to view how this reporter and Censored News were targeted in this diagram by the fusion center, comprised of multiple law enforcement agencies.
Equally disturbing is the fact that most of those identified were arrested.
Censored News was created in 2006, after I was censored and terminated, without any cause stated, as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today. I had served as a staff reporter for most of the years after it was created in 1995.
Today, Censored News is a service to Indigenous Peoples and others engaged in the struggle for human rights. There are no ads, revenues or salaries. Now in our 12th year, we have 17 million page views.
As a news reporter, I began as a staff reporter at the Navajo Times in 1982. During the 18 years that I lived on the Navajo Nation, I worked as a stringer for The Associated Press for five years, and USA Today for seven years, primarily covering the Navajo Nation government and federal courts.
My work as a news reporter has appeared in Outside magazine and newspapers throughout Indian country and the west. 
The intelligence operations targeting Standing Rock water protectors were an attack on peaceful defenders of the land, water and air, and sacred burial places.
Standing Rock water protectors sacrificed personally to protect their drinking water and the Missouri River from the Dakota Access pipeline.
The intelligence operation diagram exposed by The Intercept, and the arrests of journalists, reveal that this United States intelligence operation is part of the ongoing collusion of big oil, big money and law enforcement. 
The facts exposed by The Intercept reveal that now, more than ever, is a time for journalists and land defenders to bolt into the global arena and halt the ongoing destruction of the Earth for corporate gain and political expediency. 
It is with gratitude to the courage of the water protectors that I write this. I am especially thankful to the photographers, videographers and Standing Rock Spirit Resistance Radio for making possible our coverage at Censored News.
I look forward to the global work ahead.
Brenda Norrell, publisher, Censored News

Excerpt from the article An activist is accused of firing a gun at Standing Rock. It belonged to her love, an FBI Informant, by Will Parrish, The Intercept.

Sara Jumping Eagle, a physician on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation who was among the first DAPL opponents arrested in August, said the heavy-handed law enforcement response at Standing Rock was not altogether surprising. “There’s a long history of the U.S. labeling people who stand up as terrorists, so some of us figured they were gonna use those same tactics against this movement as well,” she said.
Jumping Eagle was among some two dozen activists featured on an early blueprint for the intelligence operation at the North Dakota fusion center, a “links chart on leaders of the movement,” obtained by The Intercept via public records request. The document mapped out connections between DAPL opponents purportedly affiliated with the Red Warrior and Sacred Stone camps, two of the main nerve centers of pipeline resistance on the Northern Great plains. Nearly everyone on the chart is an indigenous person.
.

The Intercept exposes FBI informant owned gun in Red Fawn case at Standing Rock

Read article

.https://theintercept.com/2017/12/11/standing-rock-dakota-access-pipeline-fbi-informant-red-fawn-fallis/

Article by Will Parrish, The Inter6

Heath Harmon, 46, tribal member from Fort Berthold, was an undercover paid FBI informant. He engaged in a relationship with Red Fawn. Heath owned the revolver that police claim Red Fawn fired during her arrest, reports The Intercept. He was at Rosebud Camp at Standing Rock.
The Intercept reports:

Heath Harmon
FBI informant 

Ninth Circuit Court Allows Desecration of Moadag at Gila River

9th Circuit Court Allows Desecration of Moadag
December 9, 2017
Contact: Andrew Pedro
Apedro7556@gmail.com

Censored News

After years of opposition from the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), both on the community and tribal government levels. The first lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Trasportation and the Federal Highway Administration by GRIC and Protecting Arizona’s resource and children(PARC) was conjoined by the district court judge Diane Humetewa. She is Praised for being the native American federal court judge. Yet she allowed construction to happen during the court proceedings, dismissing injunctions to halt construction until the case was over. In the end she ruled in favor of ADOT to continue construction of the freeway in the summer of 2016.

GRIC and PARC filed to appeal the ruling which lead to the 9th circuit court, the 3-judge panel rejected all arguments from PARC and GRIC. The court also barely addressed the arguments of Moadag(South Mountain) being a sacred place. This issue was brought to attention not only by GRIC but also in an amicus curia brief from the Inter-tribal council of Arizona which is comprised of 21 tribes, all saying the south mountain is a sacred place. On December 8th, the 9th circuit court of appeals ruled in favor of the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration allowing the ongoing construction of the South Mountain Loop 202 freeway. In a press release from GRIC they say they are considering further court review options.

In a recent meeting in GRIC, there was a presentation on Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) Enhancement and Evaluation for the freeway. There were four specific sites identified within ADOT’s right of way area that were considered TCP. These places are very sacred places for the O’odham and Piipassh.  Even though these sites do not lay in the blasting area, they are in close proximity and the vibrations from the blasts will affect them, the presenter said, “the results could be catastrophic.” While those are just few places they are other ancient trails and petroglyph sites that do lay in the blasting area. ADOT’s mitigation is to remove any rock art and place them somewhere else nearby.

 “anti-freeway fight appears dead” was the title of an article that came from Ahwatukee Foothills News on December 9th. It’s easy to look at this as a dead issue, being a settler, you can leave and find somewhere else to live. For us as O’odham this is our home, these places we call sacred are extensions of our identity, from mountains, water, and the land itself. Our very existence means the fight isn’t dead, it is not over until every O’odham is gone.

Sandoval County commissioners ordered oil and gas study they don’t plan to use

Pena Blanca Town Hall - Sandoval County Commissioner Holden-Rhodes; Oil & Gas Ordinance

Why did some Sandoval County commissioners order a $62,000 oil and gas study that they don’t plan to use? 

Contact: Mike Neas, Placitas resident, mikneas@aol.com
Miya King-Flaherty, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Public Lands Fellow
miya.king-flaherty@sierraclub.org
Censored News

Why is the county spending $62,000 to pay for an oil and gas resource assessment of Sandoval County if it does not plan to use it?

In July 2016, the county entered into an agreement with New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology costing taxpayers $62,009.07. Services include assessing potential oil and natural gas resources throughout Sandoval County as well as mapping aquifer distribution and depth to understand the effects of modern drilling on groundwater (which 90 percent of New Mexicans depend on for their drinking water in Albuquerque Basin Aquifer). 

On Nov. 29, District 1 Sandoval County Commissioner James Holden-Rhodes released a public letter to his constituents outlining his concerns over inadequate water protection in the oil and gas ordinance currently under consideration in Sandoval County. In his letter, Holden-Rhodes wrote, “it needs to be forcefully stated that any drilling in this area poses an extremely high risk for contamination of the drinking water aquifers...”

While the New Mexico Tech Petroleum Recovery and Research Center is the research arm for the oil and gas industry in NM that trains students to work in oil, gas and other extractive industries, it is still critical to have its mapping and aquifer-impact information informing any oil and gas ordinance in order to safeguard residents’ drinking water. 

At the Nov. 16 County Commission meeting, Chair Don Chapman said the New Mexico Tech Assessment was only a “review” likely to be done by a junior geologist that will simply review data and provide a report to the county. He added that the report will not likely inform drafting the oil and gas ordinance and will be based on geology, not aquifer or surface-water distribution. 

“The Sandoval County Commission has not adequately addressed and assessed all aspects of future oil and gas development in the County prior to voting on an oil and gas ordinance,” said Sandoval County resident Mike Neas. “And they blatantly ignore the only scientific assessment they have commissioned at a taxpayer cost of $62,007.09.”

Commissioners Holden-Rhodes and Eichwald moved to table the ordinance until the assessment is complete and the commission has ample time to review it. The motion died in a 3-2 vote. The report is due in May 2018. 

In 2005, Chair Chapman retired from his previous work experience as VP of Global Sales from Dover Chemical Corporation--a company that sells drilling mud additives, which are known chemicals used for horizontal fracking.

Before the meeting, geologist Donald Phillips submitted comments to the commissioners that summarized the general geology of Sandoval County and risks for contaminating drinking-water aquifers from horizontal drilling and fracking. In summary, the report showed high risks for contaminating aquifers in the Albuquerque Basin and extremely high risks on the eastern side of the Albuquerque Basin.

“Due to the heavily faulted nature of the Albuquerque Basin in Sandoval County, unconventional drilling (which includes horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking) poses a significant threat to the quality of drinking water aquifers,” said geologist Donald Phillips. “In many locations, the Mancos Shale (proposed drilling target) is in direct fault contact with drinking water aquifers.  Elsewhere, the Mancos Shale is heavily faulted.  Such fault zones provide natural geologic conduits for oil, gas, and chemically-laced fracking fluids to move upward and contaminate aquifers.” 

In his letter, Holden-Rhodes called for his constituents to contact all county commissioners and request they table voting on the ordinance until the commission has had ample time to analyze the NM Tech study.

The commission is expected to vote on a motion to publish and post the ordinance at the Dec. 14 meeting. The commissioners could take a final vote on the ordinance as early as January 2018.

Community meeting with Commissioner Holden-Rhodes, December 9th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1qLmsHsAnY
.

​