[Pnews] Indigenous Water Protector Jailed in North Dakota for Refusing to Cooperate With Secret Grand Jury

[Prisoner News]

 *Story Follows*
https://supportstevemartinez.com/Support Water Protector Steve Martinez
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/supportstevemartinez> <http://www.jailatm.com>

Steve was first subpoenaed to a federal grand jury related to indigenous
resistance at Standing Rock in 2017. He refused to cooperate then. Now, 4
years later, he has been dragged in front of another grand jury
investigating NO DAPL resistance. He is currently incarcerated for again
standing by his principles and refusing to cooperate.
Write to Steve

Steve Martinez
PO Box 2499
Bismarck, ND 58502
(Only plain black ink on plain white paper)
_______________________________________________

https://www.devilslakejournal.com/story/news/2021/02/10/indigenous-water-protector-jailed-north-dakota-refusing-cooperate-secret-grand-jury/6712247002/
Indigenous
Water Protector Jailed in North Dakota for Refusing to Cooperate With
Secret Grand Jury
February 10, 2021
------------------------------

*Steve Martinez Takes Principled Stand Against Use of Grand Jury to Repress
Indigenous Environmental Movement*

BISMARK - Water Protector Steve Martinez is confined in Burleigh County
Detention Center after refusing, on principle, to give testimony before a
federal grand jury. This Grand Jury, like the one at which Martinez refused
to testify three years ago, ostensibly involves a criminal investigation
into events leading to the grievous injury of Water Protector Sophia
Wilansky. It has been the position of Morton County, ND that Ms. Wilansky
was not injured as a result of excessive force by law enforcement, but by
the actions of Water Protectors. In a federal civil rights lawsuit against
Morton County, however, Wilansky says she was shot in the arm with a
concussion grenade by a sheriff’s deputy on November 20, 2016, when law
enforcement attacked hundreds of unarmed people objecting to the
construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”) with high pressure fire
hoses, impact munitions, explosive grenades and chemical weapons.

Opposition to DAPL rallied thousands of environmental and Indigenous rights
activists to the Oceti Sakowin prayer camp at Standing Rock, ND in 2016 and
2017. These Water Protectors were met with heavily militarized intervention
from the oil company’s private security forces, the Morton County Sheriff’s
Office, and numerous assisting agencies. Since March, 2017, DAPL has leaked
over 1000 gallons of oil into sensitive water sources, and the Energy
Transfer link connecting DAPL to Texas has leaked over 5000 gallons of oil.
On January 26, 2021, the appeals court in Washington D.C. upheld a lower
court ruling which found that the permit allowing DAPL to cross beneath the
Missouri River — on unceded Lakota / Dakota / Nakota lands – violated key
federal environmental laws, by failing to consider the risk the pipeline
poses to the Standing Rock Sioux and other Indigenous nations who depend on
the river for drinking water, as well as cultural, spiritual, and economic
survival. After years of struggle and irreversible harm to both land and
people, the rulings affirm the positions of the Water Protectors, and mean
that DAPL is currently operating illegally.

After Mr. Martinez refused to submit to a grand jury in 2017, US Attorneys
released him from subpoena. Three years later, Mr. Martinez was served a
new subpoena, just days after a significant ruling in Ms. Wilansky’s civil
suit. The near simultaneous timing of the civil order and the new grand
jury subpoena casts doubt on the legitimacy of the subpoena, argued
Martinez’ lawyers in a motion to excuse him from the Grand Jury. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal denied that motion.

After Martinez appeared before the Grand Jury on February 3, and invoked
his First and Fifth Amendment rights, Magistrate Judge Senechal ordered him
to give testimony. Martinez refused. In a secret proceeding in a sealed
courtroom, the Court held him in contempt of its order, and over the
objections of counsel, had him confined until such time as he agrees to
testify, or the Grand Jury investigation terminates — up to 18 months.

The Government’s efforts to force Steve Martinez to collaborate with the
Federal Grand Jury seeking to shift the blame for Sophia Wilanski’s
injuries from law enforcement to Water Protectors have been plagued by due
process violations, procedural errors, undue haste, and secrecy, say his
lawyers. Martinez intends to challenge the finding of contempt, but remains
prepared to serve the term of confinement, rather than participate in a
proceeding characterized by secrecy and coercion.

Grand juries are secret proceedings, at which prosecutors control the
presentation of evidence to grand jurors in an effort to secure an
indictment. Neither defense counsel nor judges — nor any member of the
public — may be present. Witnesses must answer questions or risk being
jailed until either they are coerced into compliance, or the grand jury
expires. “Due to their secrecy, grand juries are highly susceptible to
abuse,” said attorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen. “There is a long history of
grand juries being used to intimidate politically disfavored groups, from
abolitionists to union organizers, anti-war advocates, and civil rights
activists. This Grand Jury, which criminalizes movements for native
sovereignty and environmental justice, is one more instance of such abuse.”

In addition to his objections to the grand jury as an institution, Martinez
believes it is being used to suppress his rights to assembly, association,
religion, and free speech. In a call from jail Saturday morning, he
reaffirmed his conviction, saying “The state should not be intimidating
people and trying to blame us for harm they caused. I didn’t want to lose
my freedom, but they are not going to break me.” Martinez’ partner Leta
Killer wrote in a heartfelt social media post: “Yesterday, my love Steve
Martinez stood his ground as a Grand Jury Resistor regarding the movement
at Standing Rock. … [T]he Feds are still grasping straws trying not to be
held accountable for the terrible things law enforcement did to peaceful,
prayerful Water Protectors. … Seeds of awareness & unification [will]
spread all over the world for voices to speak out [about the need] to
protect our natural resources for all of our future generations.” Martinez
enjoys widespread support, as he joins, for the second time, a long line of
activists committed to the welfare and self-determination of their movement
communities. Mni Wiconi! (Water is Life!)

*K. William Boyer is the Managing Editor of the Devils Lake News Journal.
He can be reached at kboyer at gannett.com <kboyer at gannett.com>, or by phone
at (701) 662-2127.  *

*Be sure to follow Devils Lake Journal on our twitter page,
@devilslakenews,** and like us on Facebook! *
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