North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights |
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R.H. Interviewed May 20, 2005
I moved to Fargo in April of 2004 so that I could find a better job and better schools for my daughter. I have had two incidents each within weeks of each other that singled me out because of my Native American culture and skin color.
In early August 2004, after leaving work mid-evening I stopped to get a check cashed in West Fargo and then return home. Shortly after pulling out of the parking lot with my sister and her boyfriend in the car, also Native Americans, a West Fargo police car began to follow us for a few blocks. He turned off on a side street but at the next block another police car began to follow us. As we turned left on to one of the major streets this police car also departed, only to be followed by a third police car. At this point, we were wondering what was going on. This third policeman proceeded to pull us over as three other police cars surrounded our vehicle. The policeman approached the vehicle and told us that his reason for pulling us over was a loud muffler. He then asked for my license, insurance and registration and asked me to step out of the vehicle and enter into his.
After I had entered his vehicle about five other officers approached the other passengers in my vehicle. I was asked for consent to a drug search of the vehicle to which I did not give my consent. Even though I protested, the officers disregarded these protests. They detained my passengers and searched the vehicle. During this time, the officer that originally pulled me over began checking all three of our licenses and doing warrant checks for a supposed loud muffler.
After almost an hour, the officer who pulled us over gave me a ticket for having no liability insurance. The vehicle that I had been driving was a friend’s car who had just bought it only a few weeks ago and so the insurance company had not sent the updated insurance card. The correct sticker was in the window stating this was a newly purchased car. In addition, since I was not the owner of the car, I asked the police officer why he didn’t give the ticket to the owner. He simply replied that I was the one driving so I got the ticket.
After almost an hour and after they had found nothing in the car most of the officers just left saying nothing. I asked them why they thought it was necessary to do this and the original officer who first passed us pointed his finger at me and said, “If I was you, I’d shut up while you’re ahead. You’re just lucky I’m not charging you for evading.” He claimed that my sister’s boyfriend had been driving when he first passed me and since he does not have a valid driver’s license, he would be in violation. He asserted that we switched drivers at some point between the first time he saw us and when we were pulled over. This didn’t make sense to me, since there was a cop following us ever since we left the parking lot but I stayed calm and got back into my car. All six police officers got back in their cars and drove away with no apology or explanation.
Two to three weeks afterward, a similar situation occurred with the Fargo police. While on my lunch break from work, I was pulling out of the driveway of McDonalds with two other passengers. As we were pulling out, a Fargo police officer was parked straight across from us and pulled out behind us as we left. He followed for approximately ten blocks and then pulled us over in another parking lot. As he approached the car, I asked him the reason he stopped us. He claimed that our license plates were out of date and so I asked him to check, though I already knew that the plates were current. He came back to the car and instead of letting us go, he proceeded to ask for my license, registration and insurance. I had the same car as last time and the insurance papers still had not arrived, but I did have the policy number. The officer didn’t see this as proof enough and cited me for no liability insurance. I ask him if the ticket should be sent to the owner of the car instead of me, but he explains that since I was driving I get the ticket.
Since the nature of these tickets required a court appearance I appeared before a judge. At this point, I was tired of being humiliated and feeling powerless so I decided to protest both of the tickets. To help me clear the tickets I asked for a court appointed attorney so that I could defend myself properly, but since I was not facing jail time at this point, this request was denied. Since I couldn’t get an attorney through the court system, I tried to find my own. I contacted the Fargo Human Relations Commission to see if they could help me. They tried to make a few phone calls to the prosecuting attorney, but she didn’t return these calls. At the next court appearance, the prosecuting attorney tried to turn my case from a first time offender to a third time offender. This change threatened me with a $750,000 bond and possible jail time. After this, the judge found me guilty and suspended my license. At this point I pleaded with the judge to give me a court appointed attorney to appeal the decision and reluctantly the judge granted it.
In the attorney’s first appearance, he was able to get the judge to dismiss the case. Unfortunately the decision came too late. It was during this time that I had been offered a well-paying position that I had accepted. Unfortunately because of the first guilty finding, the company rescinded their offer stating that their drivers needed a clean driving record. In total, it took six court appearances in West Fargo and 13 court appearances in Fargo to get these tickets taken off my record. In most other similar cases, this kind of situation is taken care of in one. I feel that the reason why it took so long was because the system was biased against my skin color and cultural heritage. They tried to find the worst punishment they could and find ways to implement that punishment.
Because of this action I have had to make 19 court appearances and thus was not able to continue on my previous job. It was only a few weeks ago that the case was resolved and the charges dropped. Unfortunately it took 11 months to go through the court system for this to happen. I’m still battling to take the charges off of my record so that I may work for my previous employer.
In another attempt to share my experience, I spoke with both police departments to ask that they investigate the situation and resolve it. My call to the West Fargo police told me that they would investigate, but my call was never returned. I called the Fargo department three times only to be told by the Director of Internal Affairs that Fargo police officers do not racially profile members of the community and included that he “resents that you people say we do that.”
I’m here to tell you that racial profiling is alive and well in Fargo. They are not willing to admit that there may be a problem and therefore not willing to investigate or even attempt to solve the problem. It is this attitude that builds resentment against police officers by Native people. If one does something wrong, then they need to pay for their actions, but when police officers are making judgments based on biases and prejudices they have a serious effect and cost on those that are affected by these biases. The chances are that racial profiling will happen again. I don’t think any citizen should have to go through this. It violates people’s rights and it’s illegal.
Update: Interviewed July 14th, 2005.
Shortly after our previous interview, I had another incident with the Fargo police at approximately 10:30 at night on May 31st. I was pulled over by Fargo police for the reason that the tags on my vehicle were expired. This of course was not true; instead the officer checked my license. He then called for back up. Two to three more officers showed up and surrounded my car. The first officer commanded me to get out of the vehicle with my hands up. With his hand on his gun, he then told me to walk slowly towards him and empty my pockets. I thought that if I put my hands in my pockets, they would fire upon me, so I refused to empty my pockets. I told them that I was not a criminal or violent and I didn’t know why they were acting so aggressively. I had done nothing wrong and my record was clear. Slowly, after much more talking, the situation diffused.
At this point I was in shock because of their aggressiveness and almost having a gun pulled on me. The original officer took me to his car and put me in the back seat. He then told me that “We’ve got a problem.” He then proceeded to tell me that I was driving with a suspended license. I told him that this could not be the case and there must be a mistake and I asked him to check it again. The officer then exploded at me with screaming, spitting and foul language. He told me to “Stop complaining about the conduct of police officers in the past,” and continued with “Keep your mouth shut,” “Never complain again!”
He then threatened that he would drag me out of the car, handcuff me, muzzle me and put me in a submissive hold. He then continued to say that I had already committed a felony offense of making terroristic threats against a police officer. At this point I tried to keep completely quiet, in fear of my life. He charged me with driving while under suspension and not wearing a seat belt, but then continued to threaten arrest. He threatened my arrest because he attested to the “fact” that I don’t live in Fargo. This of course, is not true, because I do live in Fargo.
The first officer told me to get out of the car and I tried to walk back to my car, but I was walking very slowly. I tried to tell one of the back up officers that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but the original officer yelled at me to start walking. I was so frightened that I just walked back to my car and left.
Because of this incident I have had a myriad of problems from legal to physical to psychological. I have had to enter into counseling to help move past this incident, but it has been very difficult. It has been complicated because I have stress induced asthma and cannot go to sleep at night because of it. This entire event has been disorientating to my life, my home and my family. I cannot seem to find a resolution.
My legal problems have just compounded. Even though I was found not guilty of all original charges, a letter was sent to Bismarck saying that my license should be suspended and no notification was sent to me. On June 8th, I plead not guilty and asked for the letter to be withdrawn. The judge told me to talk to the city prosecutor and walks out of the courtroom. So I tried to talk to the city prosecutor, but he tells me to go talk to the court clerk. I go to the court clerk and (he/she) tell me that they need to see the records of my court appearance. I try then to go see the judge about getting those, but he had already walked out by this time and left me standing there with no one to assist me. As for the driving while under suspension and driving without a seatbelt charge, I have yet to receive notification of a court date.
When I attempted to speak with the police about this last incident, they used all of their power to degrade me. I asked for a mediation session between the police and one of my elders. It had been my understanding that this would be a conversation between the two parties to try to understand what had happened. Instead, they told me that they would be making a written record of what was said and I had the impression that it would be more like a police interrogation. In other words, anything I said could be used against me in a court of law. Though I was encouraged to file a complaint with the Dept. of Labor, the officer from Internal Affairs told me that if they didn’t find any credibility to my statement, they would send the complaint to the city prosecutor and charge me for giving false information. I saw this as a veiled threat. It is through these kinds of actions that the system makes themselves prevail. I feel that this is a denial of equal access to the use/benefit of public services. As a result, I decided that I would file a discrimination complaint.
This struggle has cost me more than I could imagine. It has cost me money, time, my job and health. The struggle doesn’t seem to be letting up. They keep knocking me down. Though I have been trying and trying to clean this situation up, I am treated like a second-class citizen. I’m afraid to leave the house because of more retribution from the police. It seems that the police see the Native population as a problem instead of seeing them as a vital part of the community. Native people are afraid of the police and because of what has happened to me, I’m considering moving out of Fargo. I do not want to live in a place where I have to feel afraid of walking outside my door. I do not want to live somewhere that treats me as a second class human being. No one deserves that kind of life.
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition P.O. Box 1961 Fargo, North Dakota 58107-1961 Phone: (701) 239-9323 Fax: (701) 478-4452 Email: humanrights@ndhrc.org
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