rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/drop-the-charges-against-the-black-hills-land-defenders?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-drop-the-charges-against-the-black-hills-land-defenders' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> NDN https://actionnetwork.org/groups/ndn https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg On July 3rd, 2020, 20 protestors were attacked by police and then arrested for defending the Black Hills in Lakota homelands in South Dakota. These protestors, also known as “land defenders,” were demanding the closure of “Mt. Rushmore” returning of Indigenous Lands (LandBack) and protesting Trump’s pre-Independence Day visit -- an unwelcome intrusion on stolen land. Even though protestors were peacefully exercising their First Amendment right to protest, police officers arrested and charged these land defenders with over 20 misdemeanors and 2 felonies in total. One land defender, Nick Tilsen, faces nearly 15 years in prison. Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation and the president and CEO of a local activist organization, NDN Collective, is believed to have been unjustly targeted by law enforcement and the state’s attorney office for his role at the protest.   We demand that State’s Attorney Mark Vargo drop all charges against all 20 land defenders including Nick Tilsen. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/drop-the-charges-against-the-black-hills-land-defenders