Native American Tribe Issues Bizarre Response to Kristi Noem's Border Remarks

One Native American tribe has banned South Dakota Kristi Noem from visiting their reservation over remarks she made about the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border.

Noem warned that Mexican drug cartels are using the southern border to enter the U.S. and wreak havoc across the country.

She said in a speech earlier this week: South Dakota is directly affected by this invasion.

We are affected by cartel presence on our tribal reservations; by the spread of drugs and human trafficking throughout our communities; and by the drain on our resources at the local, state, and federal level.

Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out of the Pine Ridge Reservation accused Noem of using the plight of Native Americans to get Donald Trump re-elected.

“Due to the safety of the Oyate, effective immediately, you are hereby Banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe!” the president said in a statement on Friday, according to Politico. Star Comes Out said he took issue with Noem's comments because many of those entering the U.S. are indigenous people who are merely "in search of jobs and a better life."

What makes the reaction of Star Comes Out all the stranger is that his reservations are indeed plagued by criminal activity, some of which comes from illegal immigrants who crossed the southern border.

Last November, the tribe even declared a state of emergency over the lack of federal funding to combat skyrocketing crime across the reservation, as the AP reported at the time: Gun violence, drug offenses and rapes have become increasingly common on the Pine Ridge reservation. Only 33 officers and eight criminal investigators are responsible for more than 100,000 emergency calls each year across the 5,400-square-mile (14,000-square-kilometer) reservation, tribal officials have said.

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Failed Republican Candidate Allegedly Hired Gunman for Drive-by Spree on Democrats

A man has pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in a plot to conduct a series of drive-by shootings targeting Democratic politicians in New Mexico. The Justice Department announced the defendant’s plea on Friday in a press release.

This case is further complicated by the fact that those who carried out the shootings were allegedly hired to do so by a failed Republican candidate for political reasons. The Justice Department issued a statement explaining the plea and the circumstances surrounding the case.

Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Demetrio Trujillo pled guilty to conspiracy, two counts of interference with federally protected activities, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and discharging said firearm. Trujillo, 42, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

Trujillo’s guilty plea provides a concrete link back to Peña and will undoubtedly play a role in his trial later this year. It is believed that Peña “orchestrated drive-by shootings at the homes of Democratic officials” because he lost his campaign for the state legislature.

It is also worth noting that the shootings seemed intended only to scare their targets rather than actually inflicting harm. However, it does highlight the growing threat of political violence that seems to be cropping up in the U.S.

This incident prompts a troubling question: Is political violence becoming more commonplace in the United States?

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