Protesters plan to boycott stores

By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer | Thursday, May 01, 2003

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

RAPID CITY -- The Walk for Justice Committee, a group formed to protest the fatal shooting of an American Indian man by a Rapid City police officer, is encouraging people to boycott three local businesses for the next week.

Activists plan to picket Wal-Mart, Prairie Market and the East North Street McDonald's restaurant from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through May 7, group spokesman Stacy Scares Hawk said. The committee is urging everyone, especially Indian people, to support the boycott and to help picket.

Indian people spend a lot of money at those three businesses, Scares Hawk said, and the boycott is meant to show the power Indian people can have on the local economy. Protesters also hope the boycott will persuade city officials to meet the Walk for Justice Committee's demands, which include firing the police officer who shot and killed Lucas Grey Day-Ghost Bear.

Ghost Bear died March 9 after he was shot by Rapid City Police Officer Marc Black. After an investigation, South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long ruled that the shooting was justified, citing witness testimony that Ghost Bear had lunged at Black with a knife and threatened the officer and others.

The Walk for Justice Committee organized two marches to protest the shooting and to demand that Black be fired and prosecuted. On April 3, the group marched to Mayor Jerry Munson's office to make these additional demands:

n Further investigation into the deaths of eight Indian people found near Rapid Creek several years ago and four other unsolved deaths of Indian men.

n Election of a Rapid City Council representative from the Sioux Addition by today.

n "Sioux Addition returned to trust status and reparations paid with interest."

Munson did not meet with marchers, saying he had a prior commitment. At the time, he said he would be willing to meet with the Walk for Justice Committee to discuss housing, education, jobs and general concerns but not to discuss requests to fire Officer Black.

The committee's demands were not met. Now, protesters say they will hit the city in the pocketbook by boycotting businesses they say have been unfair to Indian people. "Boycotting three businesses will show how powerful we are and give them a warning shot of an entire city boycott," a flier about the boycott states.

Marchers said Wal-Mart, where Ghost Bear had worked, refused the committee's request for paper products to help feed marchers.

Scares Hawk said she has heard reports of McDonald's supervisors throwing away job applications from Indian people, and she added that she was treated rudely at the restaurant's drive-through window.

As for Prairie Market, Scares Hawk said many Indian people are arrested at the grocery store, where many Indian people shop. She did not know what the arrests were for.

Scares Hawk acknowledged that some people have questioned the connection between local businesses and Ghost Bear's death. "Because we couldn't get the mayor to respond to what we wanted to do," she said, marchers decided to take action. The main goal is to have Black fired and the police department investigated, she said.

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com