Standing Rock boy airlifted to hospital, student athletes charged with assault

Silk said in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 8 incident, a series of “bunning” videos unrelated to her son’s assault were shared on social media among members of the school’s athletic crowd. She shared some of those videos with Buffalo’s Fire.

In the videos, anywhere from one to six youths surround and then restrain their target. The simulated sex is brief but aggressive, often with laughter erupting from those surrounding the target.

One of the videos involves a previous incident with Silk’s son. The video shows him on a weight room bench, surrounded by students. One lifts his legs and   repeatedly thrusts his groin into her son as the other students laugh. Her son protests the entire time and runs away at his first opportunity. Silk said he later told her that the experience left him feeling “humiliated, shocked, embarrassed and violated." Silk said the incident occurred in early October.

Then, not even a week later, he was targeted again, Silk said, this time resulting in the injuries that included three fractured vertebrae. Silk has alleged that Standing Rock school coaches, administrators and board members were aware of bunning incidents but didn’t try to stop the behavior. She provided Buffalo’s Fire with a screenshot she says depicts a Standing Rock Boys Athletics group chat. It includes a video frame of a student who appears to be bunning someone in a bedroom and comments by two people identified as “Coach Ernie” and “Jake Luger,” the name of another Standing Rock coach.

“Uhm, you guys a different level,” wrote “Luger.”

“You guys shouldn’t be posting that,” wrote “Coach Ernie.” 

“Right,” responded “Luger.”

Two other commenters called the video “messed up.”

At the end of 2025 and in early 2026, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court judges issued orders prohibiting three coaches — Hans Young Bird Bradley, Jake Luger, and Ernest Elk — and five students, including Yellow Hammer and Essert, from having contact with Silk’s son. 

Bradley and Elk were charged with child neglect following the assault, according to a letter that Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chief Prosecutor Joseph Hanson sent to Silk’s attorney. “My understanding is that the Tribe does not have jurisdiction over Mr. Luger,” he wrote. 

Bradley and Elk were also charged with failure to report child abuse in relation to the group chat in which “Luger” and “Coach Ernie” commented on the video of someone appearing to be bunned in a bedroom. 

The charges against Bradley and Elk were dropped. Hanson outlined his reasons for declining to prosecute them in the letter to Silk’s attorney, dated March 3. He wrote that there was “insufficient probable cause to support the criminal charges” and that he did not “believe the Defendants had knowledge of child abuse or neglect.” (He made no mention of any charges related to hindering law enforcement.)

About the bunning video “Luger” and “Coach Ernie” had commented on, Hanson wrote: “A reasonable person can certainly watch the video and find it to be a disgusting act.” 

There is some evidence that the coaches felt that the video on the group chat had “crossed the line,” according to Hanson, whose letter mentioned that Bradley also had been on the group chat and had texted: “You guys can get each other in trouble posting stuff like that.”

But, Hanson continued, “The question is, did the alleged juvenile victim appear to be abused or neglected?” Hanson noted the alleged victim was laughing, wasn’t held down, wasn’t trying to get away and didn’t report any abuse. “There is a difference between a distasteful video and a reportable act of child abuse,” Hanson wrote.

The neglect charge against the coaches concerned the incident involving Silk’s son. Hanson didn’t think the charge was warranted. “Leaving juveniles this age alone, in this type of environment — a school weight room under video surveillance — is not Child Neglect,” Hanson explained. “That is a reasonable environment for juveniles that age. That’s not to say a crime wasn’t committed in that environment – crime may be committed in any environment.” 

Hanson also wrote: “It feels to me that the coaches, staff, school board and administration have allowed a culture to exist that led to the type of assault that was perpetrated against [Silk’s son]. From what I have heard second-hand, there’s evidence to support some prior knowledge by the school board (from complaints by parents). If that’s the case, I think [Silk’s son] and his family have a strong case to sue the parties involved.”

Silk sent an email to Buffalo’s Fire after learning that Hanson had decided against prosecuting Bradley and Elk. She said while she understands such decisions are based on evidentiary standards, she was deeply concerned that the simulated sex acts committed by some of the students appear to have become a normalized part of the school culture. 

“As Lakota people, our teachings hold that children are gifts who must be protected and guided with care,” Silk wrote. “Respect requires that adults honor the dignity and safety of children at all times. Behavior that harms or humiliates a child is not part of our Lakota culture but instead stands in direct opposition to the values we teach and live by.”

Dion Killsback, an attorney with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, told Buffalo’s Fire that federal prosecutors are often free of the conflicts of interest that can exist in the tribal justice system. While he has no firsthand knowledge of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s handling of the alleged assault against Silk’s son, he said that tribal governments and legal staff are often part of the same “tight-knit communities” as the accused.  

“Unfortunately, this is rampant through Indian Country,” said Killsback. “And that's why tribal governments are a little bit more open to allowing the federal government to come in.” 

Terry Van Horn, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota, declined to answer questions from Buffalo’s Fire about the charges against Yellow Hammer and Essert, including whether prosecutors had considered charging them with sexual assault, which can carry a heavier penalty. 

Buffalo’s Fire sent emails to Standing Rock Community High School Principal Annette Munoz and Superintendent Michael Talley, asking if they’d known of prior bunning incidents involving their students and if any changes had been made to the open gym program since the Oct. 8 incident. Neither responded. But documents obtained by Buffalo’s Fire show that Talley held a meeting with a safety specialist on Feb. 17 to develop new emergency plans, and a follow-up consultation is planned for the summer. 

Bradley could not be reached for comment. A man who answered the Standing Rock Community High School's athletic department phone said Bradley had stopped working there “in October.” A family member of Bradley’s told Buffalo’s Fire that Bradley had “no interest in responding to an incident he wasn’t involved in and has no knowledge of.”

Buffalo’s Fire reached out to Elk via email. He has not responded. The Standing Rock Community School website lists Elk as an employee of its elementary school. A woman who answered the phone at the school said he works as a hall monitor. 

Luger, a certified teacher, works for Fort Yates Public School and is a contracted track coach for the high school. He declined to comment on the incident involving Silk’s son. He has not been charged with any crimes related to the alleged assault.

Buffalo’s Fire emailed all five members of the Standing Rock School Board, asking if they were aware of the bunning trend or had made any efforts to address student safety following the alleged assault on Silk’s son. No one has replied. 

“This is a battle of accountability,” Silk said.

However, documents obtained through a FOIA request show that behind the scenes, Standing Rock administrators were scrambling to address concerns raised by the Bureau of Indian Education. In a letter emailed to Talley on Oct. 23, Cherie Poitra, BIE’s associate deputy director for tribally controlled schools, wrote that the “deeply troubling incident” at Standing Rock Community High School had raised “significant concerns about the overall safety environment.” She informed Talley that the bureau would be initiating a review of the school’s safety policies and procedures.

Talley responded the following day, submitting personnel policies and other requested documents. He called the alleged assault “a result of a lack of supervision” and mentioned that the principal had placed several students on “out-of-school suspension.” Talley also noted that the head coach had resigned and that an assistant coach was on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation into child neglect. 

Talley also referred to a new “Gym Facility Access Policy” that had been  developed “to prevent the very reasons we are in this situtation [sic].” Talley wrote that he had personally met with the athletic director and coaches on Aug. 27, 2025, and emphasized “proper supervision of the gym and weight room,” as well as liability issues should students be injured due to a lack of supervision. 

“Put simply, the coaches are aware of the rules and their responsibilities,” Talley wrote. “They failed to uphold those responsibilities.”

Yellow Hammer and Essert, the student athletes charged in the assault, are scheduled to appear July 14 in the U.S District Court for the District of North Dakota in Bismarck, according to court records. The trial is expected to last three days, and if found guilty, the men could face a fine, up to ten years in prison or both.

Attorneys for Yellow Hammer and Essert declined to comment, stating they do not discuss pending cases. A woman who answered the phone at Yellow Hammer’s residence told Buffalo’s Fire not to call anymore. Efforts to call Essert at home were met with an automated message saying the number was “disconnected or no longer in service.” A staff member at Standing Rock Community High School’s athletic department said he would relay a request for comment to Essert. He has not responded. 

Silk said that her son and the family have felt ostracized for speaking out about his injuries. She said that as he lay in a hospital bed recovering in Fargo, a classmate texted him about a rumor that all Standing Rock sports had been frozen. “They said your parents are suing the school so no sports,” the classmate wrote.

“This gotta be ragebait,” her son responded.

On March 5, Silk’s son started distance learning to avoid seeing the students he has accused of participating in the alleged assault. 

Silk said she and her ex-husband have been doing their best to protect their son from harassment, including shadowing him at games. She wants the community to see how her son’s life has been affected, and she hopes such aggressive and degrading behavior will be stopped in Indian Country and elsewhere. 

“This whole thing altered my entire family's lives, the trust that I have,” said Silk. “I just want to bring awareness and to get behavior like this stopped. My son is going to have back issues for the rest of his life.”