Post by Okwes on Jul 15, 2006 21:45:19 GMT -5
Police investigate group's 'tribal' laws
By chris conrad
Mail Tribune
www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0712/local/stories/cp_indian_cas\
e.htm
<http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0712/local/stories/cp_indian_ca\
se.htm>
CENTRAL POINT — Police are investigating a group claiming to be an
Indian tribe for allegedly enforcing its own laws without proper
authority.
Central Point police Lt. Chuck Newell said detectives are finishing the
investigation into the "Latgawa Native American Indian Tribe" and plan
to turn the case over to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office
within the week.
The organization, which is not one of Oregon's nine federally recognized
Indian tribes, claims to exercise police powers including prosecuting
and jailing members.
Police early Tuesday served a search warrant at president John Newkirk's
home in the 700 block of Manzanita Street, seizing paperwork and the
group's computer hard drives.
"We found the group has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
for federal status but has not received it," Newell said. "Because it's
an Indian group does not affect how we handle the case. We look at the
criminal act and not the group responsible."
Newkirk, 80, said he has never applied to the BIA and that the group has
been harassed by the Central Point police. He claims that he has asked
city officials to participate in a public forum to discuss the group's
activities, but the city never responded.
"We do not have to be federally recognized to do what we do," Newkirk
said. "All we need is other tribes to recognize us. We communicate with
them all the time."
Newkirk hired a company called Positive ID Inc. (www.PositiveID.com
<http://www.positiveid.com/> ) to print "driver's licenses" for the
group's 300 members. The group also has four cars, including a dark-blue
retired police Crown Victoria complete with holding cage, which have
"Latgawa" license plates.
"We only police our own," he added. "We don't even have printed tickets.
Our people, when we catch them doing something illegal, are hauled into
our court."
Newkirk and perhaps others within the group could face felony charges of
first-degree forgery, simulating legal process, impersonating a police
officer and falsification of financial responsibility, Newell said.
Newkirk is no stranger to controversy. Throughout the 90s he campaigned
for the U.S. Senate and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners,
losing each bid. He also battled the Bureau of Land Management for eight
years over his eviction from a mining camp claim near Jacksonville.
With this latest row, he is prepared to dig in for the long haul.
"If Central Point wants to fight, they're not going to get off cheap,"
he said. "We're prepared to take this all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court."
By chris conrad
Mail Tribune
www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0712/local/stories/cp_indian_cas\
e.htm
<http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0712/local/stories/cp_indian_ca\
se.htm>
CENTRAL POINT — Police are investigating a group claiming to be an
Indian tribe for allegedly enforcing its own laws without proper
authority.
Central Point police Lt. Chuck Newell said detectives are finishing the
investigation into the "Latgawa Native American Indian Tribe" and plan
to turn the case over to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office
within the week.
The organization, which is not one of Oregon's nine federally recognized
Indian tribes, claims to exercise police powers including prosecuting
and jailing members.
Police early Tuesday served a search warrant at president John Newkirk's
home in the 700 block of Manzanita Street, seizing paperwork and the
group's computer hard drives.
"We found the group has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
for federal status but has not received it," Newell said. "Because it's
an Indian group does not affect how we handle the case. We look at the
criminal act and not the group responsible."
Newkirk, 80, said he has never applied to the BIA and that the group has
been harassed by the Central Point police. He claims that he has asked
city officials to participate in a public forum to discuss the group's
activities, but the city never responded.
"We do not have to be federally recognized to do what we do," Newkirk
said. "All we need is other tribes to recognize us. We communicate with
them all the time."
Newkirk hired a company called Positive ID Inc. (www.PositiveID.com
<http://www.positiveid.com/> ) to print "driver's licenses" for the
group's 300 members. The group also has four cars, including a dark-blue
retired police Crown Victoria complete with holding cage, which have
"Latgawa" license plates.
"We only police our own," he added. "We don't even have printed tickets.
Our people, when we catch them doing something illegal, are hauled into
our court."
Newkirk and perhaps others within the group could face felony charges of
first-degree forgery, simulating legal process, impersonating a police
officer and falsification of financial responsibility, Newell said.
Newkirk is no stranger to controversy. Throughout the 90s he campaigned
for the U.S. Senate and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners,
losing each bid. He also battled the Bureau of Land Management for eight
years over his eviction from a mining camp claim near Jacksonville.
With this latest row, he is prepared to dig in for the long haul.
"If Central Point wants to fight, they're not going to get off cheap,"
he said. "We're prepared to take this all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court."