Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Video shows police stop of Native American teens on tour

In this Nov. 6, 2017 photo, a sculpture stands outside the front door of the veterinary school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. The mother of two Native American teenagers who campus police pulled from a Colorado State University campus tour after a parent reported feeling nervous about them said she believes her sons were victims of racial profiling and she feared for their safety after learning about the encounter. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) In this Nov. 6, 2017 photo, a sculpture stands outside the front door of the veterinary school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. The mother of two Native American teenagers who campus police pulled from a Colorado State University campus tour after a parent reported feeling nervous about them said she believes her sons were victims of racial profiling and she feared for their safety after learning about the encounter. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

By Mary Hudetz and Kathleen Foody

Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Police body camera footage and telephone recordings captured an incident in which two Native American teenagers were pulled from a Colorado college tour and questioned after another tour member reported “odd” behavior by “creepy kids.”

The camera footage released Friday by Colorado State University shows two police officers searching the teens’ pockets and questioning whether they were part of the tour.

The officers eventually determined that 19-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray and his 17-year-old brother, Lloyd Skanahwati Gray had done nothing wrong and let them go after about five minutes.

Please read the rest of this story HERE from the Associated Press and watch the video footage below.

 

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.