(DALLAS) — At least 12 people were shot, one fatally, when gunfire erupted at a concert in Dallas early Sunday, police said.
Three of the victims are juveniles, according to the Dallas Police Department.
The episode occurred several hours before another mass shooting broke out in downtown Sacramento, California, in which six people were killed and at least 10 others were injured.
Dallas police said investigators are working to identify the suspect or suspects in the concert shooting, but no one had been taken into custody as of Sunday afternoon.
“A preliminary investigation determined that at the event, one individual fired a gun into the air, then another unknown individual fired a gun in the crowd’s direction,” the Dallas Police Department said in a statement.
The person killed was identified by police as 26-year-old Kealon Dejuane Gilmore. Police said Gilmore was found lying near the stage with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Eleven other people were injured in the shooting and taken to hospitals in private vehicles. One of the victims was in critical condition while the others were in stable condition, police said.
The shooting broke out about 12:13 a.m. at a venue in south Dallas. Police said the shooting occurred at an event billed as a trail ride and concert.
“Upon arrival, officers learned that multiple victims were shot while attending a concert,” police said in a statement.
The shooting occurred at the concert that was supposed to be headlined by Big Boogie, a rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. A notice posted on the entertainer’s Instagram page said the shooting occurred before Big Boogie arrived at the venue, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas.
A flyer for the outdoor show said the gates were to open at noon on Saturday and that horses and ATVs were welcomed. Children aged 10 and under were to be admitted for free, the flier read.
Dallas police officers were expected to be at the concert for security and the event’s promoters noted that they were “not responsible for accidents or theft.”
A witness told WFAA that the event was “jam-packed” with people and that concert-goers started to run in all directions seeking cover and preventing police and emergency vehicle from quickly entering the scene to treat victims.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and that a motive remains unclear.
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to arrests and indictments of the perpetrators, police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(SACRAMENTO) — At least 18 people were injured, six fatally, when a mass shooting erupted early Sunday in downtown Sacramento, California, and police said no suspects were in custody.
The Sacramento Police Department said several streets in downtown Sacramento just blocks from the state Capitol building and the Golden 1 Center where the Kings NBA team plays were closed as officers responded to the gun violence. The conditions of the victims were not immediately known, police said.
The shooting came just several hours after one person was killed and 10 people were injured when gunfire erupted at an outdoor concert in Dallas, Texas.
The Sacramento shooting broke out about 2 a.m. near the corner of 10th and K Street in a popular nightlife area, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference.
Lester said police officers were in the area and heard the gunshot.
“We had a large crowd in the area. We don’t know if it was part of a club or an event,” Lester said.
She said officers immediately responded and began providing medical aid to victims.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, police said six people were fatally shot and another 12 were injured and taken to hospitals.
Lester asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting, saying no one was in custody.
Pamela Harris of Sacramento told ABC News that her son, Sergio Harris, a married father of two daughters, was among those killed. She said she went to the scene of the shooting at about 2:30 a.m. after getting a call from someone who is not in law enforcement, informing her that her 38-year-old son was among those killed.
“My son was a very vivacious young man, fun to be around, liked to party, have fun, smiling all the time, didn’t bother people. For this to happen … it’s crazy,” Harris told reporters at the scene. “I’m just to the point right now I don’t know what to do. I don’t even think this is real. I feel like it’s a dream.”
Community activist Berry Accius of Voice of the Youth said he arrived at the scene at about 2:30 a.m. after a city council member called him about the shooting.
“It was just horrific,” Accius told ABC affiliate station KXTV in Sacramento. “Just as soon as I walked up you saw a chaotic scene, police all over the place, victims with blood all over their bodies, folks screaming, folks crying, people going, ‘Where is my brother?’ Mothers crying and trying to identify who their child was.”
Video posted on Twitter showed people running through the street as the apparent sound of rapid gunfire could be heard in the background.
“Please avoid the area as a large police presence will remain and the scene remains active,” police officials said in a statement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it is assisting the Sacramento Police Department in the investigation.
Sacramento police asked anyone in the area at the time of the shooting to submit to investigators any photos and video, or other evidence linked to the violence.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg condemned the shooting during a news conference Sunday afternoon in downtown Sacramento.
“This is a senseless and unacceptable tragedy. And I emphasize the word unacceptable,” Steinberg said. “Thoughts and prayers are not nearly enough. We must do more as a city as a state and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed. How many unending tragedies does it take before we begin to cure the sickness in this country? Let us be honest, this is a sickness.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer, issued a statement, saying he was monitoring the shooting and that his administration is working closely with law enforcement.
“Sadly, we once again mourn the lives lost and for those injured in yet another horrendous act of gun violence. Jennifer and I send our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and to the wider community impacted by this terrible tragedy,” Newsom’s statement reads. “What we do know at this point is that another mass casualty shooting has occurred, leaving families with lost loved ones, multiple individuals injured and a community in grief. The scourge of gun violence continues to be a crisis in our country, and we must resolve to bring an end to this carnage.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(DALLAS) — At least 12 people were shot, one fatally, when gunfire erupted at a concert in Dallas early Sunday, police said.
Three of the victims are juveniles, according to the Dallas Police Department.
The episode occurred several hours before another mass shooting broke out in downtown Sacramento, California, in which six people were killed and at least 10 others were injured.
Dallas police said investigators are working to identify the suspect or suspects in the concert shooting, but no one had been taken into custody as of Sunday afternoon.
“A preliminary investigation determined that at the event, one individual fired a gun into the air, then another unknown individual fired a gun in the crowd’s direction,” the Dallas Police Department said in a statement.
The person killed was identified by police as 26-year-old Kealon Dejuane Gilmore. Police said Gilmore was found lying near the stage with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Eleven other people were injured in the shooting and taken to hospitals in private vehicles. One of the victims was in critical condition while the others were in stable condition, police said.
The shooting broke out about 12:13 a.m. at a venue in south Dallas. Police said the shooting occurred at an event billed as a trail ride and concert.
“Upon arrival, officers learned that multiple victims were shot while attending a concert,” police said in a statement.
The shooting occurred at the concert that was supposed to be headlined by Big Boogie, a rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. A notice posted on the entertainer’s Instagram page said the shooting occurred before Big Boogie arrived at the venue, according to ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas.
A flyer for the outdoor show said the gates were to open at noon on Saturday and that horses and ATVs were welcomed. Children aged 10 and under were to be admitted for free, the flier read.
Dallas police officers were expected to be at the concert for security and the event’s promoters noted that they were “not responsible for accidents or theft.”
A witness told WFAA that the event was “jam-packed” with people and that concert-goers started to run in all directions seeking cover and preventing police and emergency vehicle from quickly entering the scene to treat victims.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and that a motive remains unclear.
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to arrests and indictments of the perpetrators, police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(SACRAMENTO) — At least 18 people were injured, six fatally, when a mass shooting erupted early Sunday in downtown Sacramento, California, and police said no suspects were in custody.
The Sacramento Police Department said several streets in downtown Sacramento just blocks from the state Capitol building and the Golden 1 Center where the Kings NBA team plays were closed as officers responded to the gun violence. The conditions of the victims were not immediately known, police said.
The shooting came just several hours after one person was killed and 10 people were injured when gunfire erupted at an outdoor concert in Dallas, Texas.
The Sacramento shooting broke out about 2 a.m. near the corner of 10th and K Street in a popular nightlife area, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference.
Lester said police officers were in the area and heard the gunshot.
“We had a large crowd in the area. We don’t know if it was part of a club or an event,” Lester said.
She said officers immediately responded and began providing medical aid to victims.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, police said six people were fatally shot and another 12 were injured and taken to hospitals.
Lester asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting, saying no one was in custody.
Pamela Harris of Sacramento told ABC News that her son, Sergio Harris, a married father of two daughters, was among those killed. She said she went to the scene of the shooting at about 2:30 a.m. after getting a call from someone who is not in law enforcement, informing her that her 38-year-old son was among those killed.
“My son was a very vivacious young man, fun to be around, liked to party, have fun, smiling all the time, didn’t bother people. For this to happen … it’s crazy,” Harris told reporters at the scene. “I’m just to the point right now I don’t know what to do. I don’t even think this is real. I feel like it’s a dream.”
Community activist Berry Accius of Voice of the Youth said he arrived at the scene at about 2:30 a.m. after a city council member called him about the shooting.
“It was just horrific,” Accius told ABC affiliate station KXTV in Sacramento. “Just as soon as I walked up you saw a chaotic scene, police all over the place, victims with blood all over their bodies, folks screaming, folks crying, people going, ‘Where is my brother?’ Mothers crying and trying to identify who their child was.”
Video posted on Twitter showed people running through the street as the apparent sound of rapid gunfire could be heard in the background.
“Please avoid the area as a large police presence will remain and the scene remains active,” police officials said in a statement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it is assisting the Sacramento Police Department in the investigation.
Sacramento police asked anyone in the area at the time of the shooting to submit to investigators any photos and video, or other evidence linked to the violence.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg condemned the shooting during a news conference Sunday afternoon in downtown Sacramento.
“This is a senseless and unacceptable tragedy. And I emphasize the word unacceptable,” Steinberg said. “Thoughts and prayers are not nearly enough. We must do more as a city as a state and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed. How many unending tragedies does it take before we begin to cure the sickness in this country? Let us be honest, this is a sickness.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer, issued a statement, saying he was monitoring the shooting and that his administration is working closely with law enforcement.
“Sadly, we once again mourn the lives lost and for those injured in yet another horrendous act of gun violence. Jennifer and I send our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and to the wider community impacted by this terrible tragedy,” Newsom’s statement reads. “What we do know at this point is that another mass casualty shooting has occurred, leaving families with lost loved ones, multiple individuals injured and a community in grief. The scourge of gun violence continues to be a crisis in our country, and we must resolve to bring an end to this carnage.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(HOUSTON) — Three people have been charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of an off-duty Texas deputy, authorities said.
The incident occurred Thursday night around 8:30 p.m. outside a grocery store in North Harris County.
Harris County Deputy Darren Almendarez, 51, and his wife were walking to their car from the store when he saw two men under his truck allegedly attempting to steal the vehicle’s catalytic converter, authorities said.
Almendarez told his wife to run. As he approached his truck the suspects began firing at him, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Almendarez returned gunfire, striking two of the suspects, before they fled the parking lot in a car, the sheriff said.
The deputy was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead from his gunshot wounds, authorities said. Almendarez’s wife was not injured.
The two suspects wounded in the exchange showed up at the same hospital in the suspect’s vehicle later that night in stable condition, authorities said.
The suspects — Joshua Stewart, 23, and Fredarius Clark, 19 — have been charged with capital murder in the shooting death of Almendarez, authorities said Friday.
A third suspect sought in the incident, 17-year-old Fredrick Tardy, was arrested and charged with capital murder, authorities said Friday night.
Stewart was denied bail on Saturday, court records show. During a hearing on Saturday, probable cause was found in Clark’s case, court records show.
Stewart and Clark are scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Attorney information was not immediately available for the three suspects.
Almendarez was a 23-year veteran of the agency and had served in the automobile theft unit for the past year, Gonzalez said.
“Heartbreaking,” the sheriff said after the deputy was identified.
Almendarez “loved being a deputy” and was an “outstanding member” of the agency, Gonzalez said.
“A remarkable man and public servant. Humble beginnings, grew up in Second Ward and played sports at Settegast Park,” Gonzalez said on social media. “From his first job as a teen at Whataburger on Harrisburg to fulfilling his goal of being a cop.”
The sheriff’s office shared a video spotlighting Almendarez released earlier this year.
“I work a lot on my days off and my time off, but I don’t mind,” Almendarez said in the video. “I’m going to help out as much as I can because it just, it feels right to do something like that.”
“You go home with a sense of not only relief but also a feeling of satisfaction, like, I did my job, I did what I could and I helped somebody out.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for the death penalty in the killing of the deputy.
“Deputy Darren Almendarez lost his life while answering the call to serve and protect his fellow Texans, and this tragedy is a heartbreaking reminder of the sacrifices our law enforcement officers make both on and off duty,” Abbott said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — The Orlando amusement park ride that killed a 14-year-old boy last week was “up to par,” officials said Friday.
The Orlando FreeFall opened in last December at ICON Park. The ride has been touted as the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower at a height of 430 feet. Up to 30 passengers at a time ride to the top of the tower, where they are tilted toward the ground before going into a nearly 400-foot free fall at over 75 mph.
On March 24, 14-year-old Tyre Sampson, who was visiting Orlando from Missouri with his football team, died after falling off the ride. A video posted to social media captured the fatal fall, which occurred at the end of the ride’s descent.
An investigation into the ride’s safety is being conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. During a press briefing Friday, officials declined to comment on the ongoing investigation but said inspectors followed the proper protocols before the ride opened to the public.
“Everything that we saw that we inspected to open up the ride … we followed the protocols, we followed the manual and everything was up to par per the manual of the manufacturer,” Nikki Fried, commissioner of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told reporters.
An initial permit inspection of the ride on Dec. 20, 2021, found “no deficiencies,” the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs said last week. The ride’s next inspection would have been after six months of operation, it said.
The Orlando FreeFall is closed amid the state’s investigation.
Earlier this week, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service released the accident report related to Tyre’s death. According to the report, the over-the-shoulder harness in his seat was “still in a down and locked position when the ride stopped.”
The ride’s operator, SlingShot Group, said in a statement following Tyre’s death that it was “heartbroken” about the incident and was cooperating with authorities and ride officials in the investigation.
On Monday, ICON Park announced it had demanded that the SlingShot Group suspend the operation of another ride that opened late last year, the Orlando SlingShot, “effective immediately, until the attractions are proven to be safe by authorities.”
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — Jurors are hearing closing arguments against four of the six men who allegedly plotted to kidnap and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
Federal prosecutors said Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft, Adam Fox and Daniel Harris trained extensively and were serious about carrying out their plot against Whitmer and her family. The four men on trial have pleaded not guilty.
The other two men, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, have pleaded guilty to kidnapping charges.
“You know what was in their minds when they thought nobody was listening, you know what was in their hearts,” U.S. attorney Nils Kessler told jurors in a Michigan court. “They said they wanted to kidnap the governor. They trained to kidnap the governor. They cased her house in the middle of the night. They knocked it out. They planned it. They gathered weapons and bombs … they were going to be opportunistic and strike when the asset arises. That is the conspiracy that they’re charged with. And in America it’s a crime.”
The alleged kidnapping would have taken place before the 2020 presidential election, the government said.
The four men could face life in prison if found guilty. Prosecutors allege the men were predisposed to violent tendencies.
“The evidence proves all of them were already willing to commit the crime,” Kessler said.
Christopher Gibbons, the defense attorney for alleged ring leader, Adam Fox, said he was a “big talker” and Fox never had “any intention” of actually kidnapping Whitmer.
Fox was also influenced by a government informant who took advantage of Fox’s poverty and history of substance abuse, according to Gibbons.
“He talks about things the government doesn’t like,” Gibbons said. “He talks about storming the Capitol. He talks about citizens arrest. He talks about a government that doesn’t appreciate its citizens that takes advantage of its citizens from his perspective. He talks bad government talk. Talk, it’s just talk. There’s no crime here.”
After the alleged plot was thwarted, Whitmer told “Good Morning America” that the plan was larger than her.
“This was a very serious thought-out plot to kill police officers, to bomb our capitol, killing Democrats and Republicans alike, and to kidnap and ultimately put me on trial and kill me as well,” Whitmer said. “These are the types of things you hear from groups like ISIS. This is not a militia; it is a domestic terror organization.”
(NEW YORK) — Tribal land in Virginia will be returned to the Rappahannock Tribe during a celebration hosted by the Department of the Interior Friday.
Secretary Deb Haaland will join the Rappahannock Tribe, Chesapeake Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in honor of the tribe’s historic reacquisition of roughly 465 acres at Fones Cliffs.
The Fones Cliffs lie on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River and are located within the authorized boundary of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
“Threatened by development for decades, this ‘crown jewel’ of Virginia has immense significance, not only for the surrounding environment but for American history,” the Conservation Fund’s website states.
According to the organization, the Fones Cliffs are the site where Captain John Smith and his crew were ambushed by Rappahannock Tribe members.
Smith’s ships continued their journey unharmed, but the fund states that the Fones Cliffs are a reminder of the tribe’s dedication to preserving its land.
The land will remain publicly accessible and will be given to the Rappahannock Tribe with a permanent conservation easement that legally limits the use of the sacred land for conservation efforts.
The news comes just as the Virginia state legislature passed a bill to create the Virginia Black, Indigenous and People of Color Historic Preservation Fund.
The fund would award grant money to recognized tribes and nonprofit organizations to acquire and preserve land that is of cultural or historic significance to Black and Indigenous communities, as well as other communities of color.
The legislation is now awaiting Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s signature.
(NEW YORK) — A Connecticut judge has denied a motion to halt financial penalties imposed on Alex Jones. As of Friday, the conspiracy theorist and right-wing provocateur owes $25,000 for declining to sit for a deposition in a defamation lawsuit by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims.
Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis assessed the fine, which increases exponentially each day Jones refuses to appear, and on Friday denied his motion for a stay.
Jones appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
“The defendant in this case is Alex Jones, and, to many, that is reason enough to uphold any fine or sanction. But the law, our law, is better than mere vendetta,” defense attorney Norm Pattis wrote in the state supreme court appeal.
Jones, founder of Infowars, claimed the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax. Families of those killed sued him for defamation and Jones failed to comply with court orders to appear at a deposition on March 23 and 24.
In Novemeber, Bellis found Jones liable for damages by default because Jones and his companies, like Infowars, showed “callous disregard” for the rules of discovery. She previously faulted the Infowars host for failing to comply with requests for documents and other procedures.
Jones’ attorneys said he can sit for a two-day deposition April 11 and 12. That would make his running fine $525,000, Pattis said.
“Jones and others are sued for comments they made denying that the shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 took place. For many Connecticut residents, that is reason enough to hate Jones. One suspects Judge Bellis has succumbed to that hatred,” Pattis wrote.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Christopher Mattei argued, successfully, to keep the fines in place, saying a promise to appear April 11 is not the same as “real-life attendance” at the deposition.
“The escalating fines were imposed to compel his appearance and should not be set aside merely because Mr. Jones has yet again said he will appear,” Mattei wrote in a court filing.
Twenty children and six staff members died in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut, school at the hands of gunman Adam Lanza.
(NEW YORK) — Hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families over a span of 150 years, made to live in boarding schools across the U.S. that were run by the federal government and churches in an effort to force assimilation.
“It was a national policy to take Indian children, to beat their native language out of them, to remove them from their families so they wouldn’t have that cultural teaching,” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told ABC News’ Nightline.
“Native kids are born into not just their mother’s arms, but into the arms of their entire communities … when you are born into that nurturing community and all of a sudden [you’re] ripped away from that – imagine how much trauma that would have on a child,” she continued.
According to Denise Lajimodiere, a Native American scholar and the author of Stringing Rosaries, the purpose of these residential schools was “total assimilation into white European culture.” Native American children were forced to cut their hair and wear uniforms to conform.
“I think they just saw these kids that they weren’t even human. They saw them as savages,” she told Nightline.
Once they were at the schools, the children were forced to work without getting paid and some children never made it home.
Scholars estimate that tens of thousands of children died at the schools from abuse or disease and, in some instances, their remains were buried in unmarked graves in school cemeteries. Some children died while working on what was called an “outing,” where children from the boarding schools were hired out to work for families.
“The corporal punishment was pretty horrendous. Boarding school survivors tell of kids being taken away and disappearing and never being seen again,” Lajimodiere said.
A legacy of generational trauma
For more than a century, Native Americans have urged the government to acknowledge and address the generational trauma and lasting impact from the boarding school era, which spanned from 1869 through the 1960s.
After nearly 1,000 unmarked graves of Indigenous children were unearthed in June 2021 at Indigenous boarding schools in Canada, Haaland, who is the first Native American to hold a Cabinet position, launched a federal boarding school initiative to investigate the United States’ role in implementing these policies.
“Families deserve to know what happened. And so we are working to compile decades and decades of information so that we can hopefully give them some answers,” she said.
Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe, oversees the government agency that historically played a major role in the forced relocation and oppression of Indigenous people. Haaland’s great grandfather was taken to the United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which was open from 1879 to 1918.
Lajimodiere, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa or Ojibwe, said that the painful legacy of these boarding schools has impacted every Native American family.
Her father attended the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon, from 1925 to 1929 when he was 9 years old.
“He was stolen,” she said.
At Chemawa, Marsha F. Small is on a mission to locate human remains of Indigenous children who were buried on school grounds.
“People don’t like to learn the ugly America. They want the America the beautiful,” Small, a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and a doctoral student at Montana State University-Bozeman, told Nightline.
“Without this healing, I don’t think that America itself can heal,” she added.
Small and her team use ground penetrating radar technology to look for graves. So far, she says they have found about 222 graves, with some dating back to 1885.
“When I go into cemeteries …I talk to the children and I, and I tell them, you know, that those that want to go home may have a possibility of going home. You’re not forgotten,” she said.
A journey of healing
The boarding school era lasted for more than 150 years. By the late 1970s, many schools had closed, but others like Chemawa remained open.
Today, Chemawa’s mission is to honor “unique tribal cultures.”
The number of boarding schools that were run by the U.S. government is unknown, so Lajimodiere launched her own efforts to locate as many boarding schools as she could.
Rita Means, a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe, attended St. Francis Indian Mission School — a school operated by Jesuits from 1886 until 1972 — from the sixth grade until the 12th grade.
“In my time, I don’t think anybody was forcibly taken, but I know that feeling of separation from your family,” she said.
“Any place that you can’t leave is a prison. We were definitely locked in until we, you know, had to go to church at six in the morning,” she added.
Her daughter, Shelley Means, said that two generations of her family were disconnected from their children, who attended Indigenous boarding schools.
“[They] didn’t learn parenting skills the way traditionally we would have taken care of each other,” she told Nightline, adding that she had to work hard at learning how to emotionally support her own daughter, Shylee Brave.
For Brave, her grandmother is a “survivor” and she is doing her own part to bring healing to her community.
As part of the Sicangu Youth Council in Rosebud, South Dakota, Brave traveled in July 2015 to the school in Carlisle, where more than 150 children from over 40 tribes were buried, including nine from the Rosebud Sioux tribe.
“The thing that really sparked this whole movement was asking, why are our kids still there?” she said.
“It like, really hit, like, wow, this could be my cousin, this could be my uncle, this could be my relative. What if I didn’t get to go home? It just really like sunk in, like, what if this was me?” she added.
After sharing her experience with her grandmother, the Sicangu Youth Council launched an effort to bring the remains of the children of the Rosebud Sioux tribe at Carlisle back home.
They had to request the remains from the U.S. Army, which owns the school, and on July 2021 the remains of six children were finally brought back home and were escorted by Brave and members of the the youth council.
The children are now buried in the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Veterans Cemetery in South Dakota. Their names are Maude Littlegirl, Lucy Take the Tail, Alvin Braveroaster or One that Kills Seven Horses, Dennis Strikesfirst, Warren Painter and Rose Long Face.
“It was a really hard, long journey. I mean, we really had to fight,” Brave said.
“They didn’t get to grow up. They didn’t get to have a family,” she added, as she visited the cemetery. “I’m really happy that they’re home, but at the same time it’s like this shouldn’t have happened.”
Haaland, whose great grandfather attended Carlisle, told Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega that she is “grateful” to have an opportunity to address this painful past.
“I have a great obligation, but I was taught by my mother and my grandfather and my grandmother that when you are asked to do something for your people that you step up,” she said.
For Lajimodiere, Haaland’s efforts are part of her journey of “healing.”
“I just wept,” she said, recalling Haaland’s announcement.
“It’s like, finally, finally, after a decade of working toward this moment, here it is. And it took a native female head of the Department of Interior to make this moment happen and to start the healing journey for so many survivors,” Lajimodiere added.
