PIERRE, S.D. — The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe alleges the federal government has been trying to coerce and threaten the tribe ever since South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem asked for help stopping its COVID-19 checkpoints on state and federal highways.
The tribe filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that since Noem’s White House plea, the federal defendants have been abusing their power to coerce the tribe to dismantle its checkpoints. When that didn’t work, the tribe contends the defendants have tried to take over tribal law enforcement.
The complaint was filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C. Noem asked the White House in May for help to make the Cheyenne River and Oglala Sioux tribes remove their checkpoints on state and federal highways.