White Clay Legal Support Fund

“For over 100 years the women of the Oglala Lakota nation have been dealing with an attack on the mind body and spirit of their relatives. We have been silenced through chemical warfare waged by the corporations who are out to exploit and make a profit off of the suffering and misery of our people. The time has come to end this suffering by any means necessary.”—Olowan Martinez, Oglala Lakota

WHITE CLAY, NE—Five activists with Deep Green Resistance, and other groups were arrested on Sunday, August 26th, at 7:40pm for blockading the town of White Clay, Nebraska. Taken to jail in a horse trailer while still connected to each other by lock-boxes, the arrestees were later released on their own recognizance when they agreed to unlock themselves.

The blockade shut down the town and four infamous liquor stores that define the 14-person municipality, for more than six hours, and preventing an estimated $5,250 in liquor sales. They were being held at Sheridan County Jail in Rushville, NE. A solidarity legal fund has been set up to raise money for bail, legal, and court fees and supporters are asked to donate here. 

We need to raise as much money as we possibly can to support those brave individuals—Alexander Knox, Rachel Collins, Alex Budd, Val Wesp, T.R. McKenzie—who put their bodies on the line against the chemical warfare being waged against the Oglala Lakota. We need to work to make sure that those arrested are supported for the sacrifices they made. Their collective fines are estimated to be, at maximum, $10,000. Anything you can give will go a long way towards levitating the immense costs facing the five full-time activists.

Donated funds will also go towards supporting a juvenile Lakota boy who was pepper-sprayed and arrested by police, after defending himself in a physical altercation with four adult males (some of whom are associated with White Clay liquor stores).

White Clay has a population of 14, yet 4 liquor stores in the town sell 12,500 cans of beer each day. The stores have been documented repeatedly selling to bootleggers, intoxicated people, minors, and trading beer for sexual favors. 150 years ago, it was the U.S. Calvary and smallpox-infested blankets; today, White Clay is the face of genocide for the Oglala Lakota.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Donate to the Solidarity Legal Fund here: http://funds.gofundme.com/TR-Mckenzie/index.php?route=donate2&url=TR-Mckenzie/12n51c

Spread the word to your friends, families, and networks. We’ll be putting out updates on the situation as things change here:

CONTACT:

Ben Barker of Deep Green Resistance (262) 208-5347

ben_dgr@riseup.net