Federal Appeals Court Heard Case of Marcus Mitchell, Navajo, Shot in the Eye at Standing Rock

Photo by Erica Crazy Hawk, Crow Creek Lakota

Federal Appeals Court Heard Case of Marcus Mitchell, Navajo, Today Shot in the Eye at Standing Rock

Article by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Dec. 18, 2025

ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- A federal appeals court heard the excessive force case filed by Marcus Mitchell, Dine'/Navajo, today. Marcus was shot and blinded in his left eye, at Backwater Bridge at Standing Rock, while protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline construction in 2017.

Mitchell's attorney Devi Rao argued that Mitchell was targeted with excessive force by officers and was not posing a threat. Rao said officers began firing without a warning. Mitchell was standing still and was not committing serious crimes when he was fired on.

Attorney Rao told the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that Mitchell continues to suffer after being shot by officers firing 12-gauge shotguns filled with lead-filled bean bags.

"Mr. Mitchell is blind in his left eye. His senses of hearing and smell are irreparably damaged, and he has chronic and debilitating pain on the left side of his face despite many medical procedures," said Rao, an attorney with MacArthur Justice Center.

Navajo Shot in the Eye at Standing Rock, Denied Justice: A Federal Court will Hear the Case

Diné Shot in the Eye at Standing Rock Denied Justice: A Federal Court will Hear the Case 

Tohono O'odham Ophelia Rivas: Honoring the Ha'shan in Spain: International Peace Building

 

Women Civil Rights Center, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, province of Barcelona, Spain
Ophelia and Carmen Uros, Director of Civics, Volunteering and International Cooperation of Santa Coloma de Gramenet City Council. Photo courtesy Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham.

The Honorable Ha'shan International Peace Building

Courtesy Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, and Women's Civil Right Center, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain, Censored News, Dec. 16, 2025

The humble Ha'shan was honored as a part of a photograph exhibition by Ophelia Rivas, at the 2025 Build Peace Conference at the La CIBA, Women Civil Rights Center in Santa Coloma de Gramenet in the province of Barcelona, Spain.

Ophelia is from Ali Je'gk (Little Clearing) village on the Tohono O'odham reservation located in the state of Arizona, on the United States and Mexico border.

Listen: Sophia Wilansky's Case Before Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals

Sophia Wilansky. Nov. 21, 2016

Listen: Today Federal Appeals Court Hears the Excessive Force by Law Enforcement at Standing Rock

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Dec. 16, 202

ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case of Sophia Wilansky today in St. Paul, Minnesota. Wilansky's left arm was blown apart by an explosive fired by law enforcement at Backwater Bridge at Standing Rock on the night of Nov. 20, 2016. The MacArthur Justice Center filed the civil rights lawsuit, which names the law enforcement who fired at Wilansky, and those who gave the orders. 

Wilansky's attorney argued today whether she was fired on while obeying orders and dispersing. The argument focused on whether she was struck when she stopped to pick up a piece of plywood as a shield, or whether she was fired on before she stopped. Wilansky's attorney said law enforcement rapid-fired on her while she was running away. She was struck by a flash bang type explosive fired from a shotgun. Her attorney said law enforcement laughed at her after she was struck.