Rumors prompt tighter security

By Steve Miller

Journal Staff Writer

HOT SPRINGS - Additional police officers will be atFriday night's football game between Hot Springs and Pine Ridge high schoolsbecause of talk of retaliation over a June 2 fight in Hot Springs that left oneman seriously injured and two tribal members facing felony charges and possibleextradition from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Shannon County Sheriff Jim Daggett said this week that he has heard rumors that there may be retaliation at the game because of the fight and the attempt by Fall River County State's Attorney Lance Russell to extradite brothers Dakota and Dirk Garnier on charges related to the incident.

"Some of the people from Pine Ridge feel that thestory has been distorted," Daggett said in a phone interview. "Because of that,there are some pretty hard feelings. There may be some repercussions at thegame," he said.

Daggett covers Shannon County, which includes the Pine Ridge Reservation. He said he passed his concerns on to Russell.

Russell on Wednesday said that there will be an increased police presence at the game and that sheriff's deputies also would be available.

Hot Springs Police Chief Roger Exum said Hot Springs school officials asked him to provide extra security for Friday's football game at Woodward Field where the Hot Springs Bison will host the Pine Ridge Thorpes.

"We'll probably have four to six officers at the game," Exum said. He said there usually are a couple of officers at football games in Hot Springs anyway, although there had been no problems at past games between the two high schools.

Vern Hagedorn, chief executive officer of the Hot Springs School District, said he was aware of the concerns. "I will be talking to the activities director to make sure that everything is safe and secure before the game, as safe and secure as we can make it."

Robert White Eyes, acting superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs schools at Pine Ridge, said he had not heard of any impending trouble but couldn't comment beyond that.

The dispute stems from charges the Garnier brothers face in Fall River County from the June 2 fight involving two large groups of juveniles and young adults in downtown Hot Springs.

Dakota Garnier, 19, and another man, George Birlew, 23, are charged with attempted first-degree murder in a beating that left Matthew Pepin, 18, of Hot Springs hospitalized with head injuries. Authorities contend Dakota Garnier hit Pepin in the head with a baseball bat. Pepin since has partially recovered from his injuries.

Both Dakota and Dirk Garnier, 20, are also charged with aggravated assault in the case. Birlew is being held in Fall River County Jail.

The Garnier brothers, after questioning by police, left for the reservation. After they were indicted by a Fall River County grand jury, Russell asked Gov. Mike Rounds to seek their extradition. In mid-August, Rounds sent a formal request for the Garniers' extradition to Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder.

Fire Thunder said last week that she would probably take two or three weeks to decide whether to grant extradition.

Russell said he wrote Fire Thunder a letter this week asking to meet with her about the case.

A civil-rights group on the reservation has written Fire Thunder expressing its concerns about the extradition request.

The Garnier brothers maintain that they were the victims, not the perpetrators, of an assault, according to Janis Schmidt, co-founder of the Lakota Wawokiya Civil Rights Organization.

Schmidt said she has spoken to the brothers' parents and is convinced that the Garniers had to flee for their lives after being beaten by a white gang in the incident. She said one of the Garnier brothers still has a lump on his head from the fight.

Schmidt said that she hadn't heard talk of trouble at Friday's football game but that she has heard outrage from tribal members about the case. "The moral outrage, from their point of view, is the injustice, the unfairness, of this," Schmidt said. "The talk is why aren't these white boys being held accountable for the beating?"

Russell said he wouldn't characterize the incident as either race- or gang-related. He said there were at least two whites in the Garnier group, Birlew claims to be Hispanic, and there were some people of Indian heritage in the group with Pepin.

Russell also has said that both sides in the fight had some culpability. He said a juvenile from the group accompanying Pepin is facing two misdemeanor charges in the incident.

But Russell acknowledged that the June 2 fight has increased tensions in Hot Springs. "There have been some words exchanged by different people since the event."

Hagedorn said he didn't know whether the June 2 fight was racially motivated. But he said, "There is prejudice in this community on both sides of the issue, in both racial groups."

He said the incident has increased racial tension in town. "I think it has drawn more attention to it, maybe drawn a wedge even further."

Hagedorn, a former middle school principal in Hot Springs, said teenagers are sometimes less likely than adults to let disputes drop. "There's not a lot of forgiving."

He added, "I hope there's nothing that's antagonizing from our community. I hope everything stays peaceful and calm."