{"id":235378,"date":"2022-10-04T07:12:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T12:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=235378"},"modified":"2022-10-05T18:26:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T23:26:50","slug":"native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous Rights Group Wants Judge to Toss Hotel Casino\u2019s Counterclaims in Racism Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Indigenous activist group has asked a federal judge in South Dakota to dismiss a hotel casino\u2019s claims of trespass, nuisance, defamation, and civil conspiracy.<\/p>\n

\"Connie
Connie Uhre sprays a protestor in the face with Pledge in the parking lot of the Grand Gateway Hotel. The NDN is suing the hotel over racial discrimination. (Image: NDN Collective)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The group, the NDN Collective, sued the Grand Gateway Hotel<\/a> in Rapid City and its owners, Connie and Nicholas Uhre, in March after they appeared to ban Native Americans from booking rooms and visiting its casino bar. That followed a fatal shooting<\/a> in one of the hotel rooms. Both the shooter and victim were Native American.<\/p>\n

NDN\u2019s lawsuit accuses the hotel of racial discrimination. It wants the Uhres’ actions last March to be declared unlawful and seeks compensatory, general, and special damages.<\/p>\n

\n

The Uhres countersued, arguing NDN had organized a conspiracy to trespass and to defame them. In the days following the apparent ban, several members of NDN Collective visited the hotel to try to book rooms to test whether it was real. They were denied.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Subsequently, the group protested in and around the hotel, calling for a boycott. During one of these protests, Connie Uhre emptied a bottle of dust spray into one demonstrator\u2019s face, according to NDN.<\/p>\n

According to their website, NDN Collective is an indigenous-led activist and advocacy organization. They focus on “organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change.”<\/p>\n

\u2018A Protest is Not a Nuisance\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a motion to dismiss the counterclaims, lawyers for NDN argued that the group could not be trespassing at the hotel because it was a public place. The hotel\u2019s claim that members of NDN cannot legally enter its property is further proof that it discriminates against Native Americans, they argue.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, they say the Uhres\u2019 nuisance claim fails because \u201ca protest is not a nuisance, nor does the Counterclaim adequately plead any legal duty or underlying unlawful act.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c[The Uhres] are not victims here,\u201d argued NDN\u2019s lawyers. \u201cThey may not like that NDN is holding them accountable for their discrimination, but that disagreement does not transform legitimate First Amendment protest into actionable torts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eviction Notice <\/strong><\/h2>\n

News of the ban caused local Sioux tribal leaders to issue the Grand Gateway with an eviction notice.<\/p>\n

Rapid City isn\u2019t part of any of the tribes\u2019 reservations. Still, they argued the hotel\u2019s policy violated an 1868 treaty between the Sioux and the US government, which they believe is still valid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The treaty states:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2026no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the [land north of the North Platte River or east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains]; or without the consent of the Indians first had and obtained, to pass through the same.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Indigenous activist group has asked a federal judge in South Dakota to dismiss a hotel casino\u2019s claims of trespass, nuisance, defamation, and civil conspiracy. The group, the NDN Collective, sued the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City and its owners, Connie and Nicholas Uhre, in March after they appeared to ban Native Americans from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":235381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60],"tags":[83047,82103,83046,81713],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNative Group Wants Judge to Toss Hotel Casino\u2019s Claims in Racism Case<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NDN Collective argues that Grand Gateway hotel\u2019s counterclaims don\u2019t hold up in court. 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The group is suing for racial discrimination.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-04T12:12:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-05T23:26:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/connie.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"987\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"553\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case\/\",\"name\":\"Native Group Wants Judge to Toss Hotel Casino\u2019s Claims in Racism Case\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/native-group-wants-judge-to-toss-hotel-casinos-claims-in-racism-case\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/connie.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-04T12:12:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-05T23:26:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"NDN Collective argues that Grand Gateway hotel\u2019s counterclaims don\u2019t hold up in court. 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