Tobacco shop raided in dispute over casino

Michael Mello

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

CHARLESTOWN, R.I. -- The chief sachem and seven other members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe were arrested Monday by state police in what onlookers described as a violent raid of the tribe's new tax-free tobacco shop.

Gov. Don Carcieri called the raid "truly regrettable, but clearly necessary" after tribal leaders said they would only cease operations of the smoke shop if the governor dropped his opposition to a casino, which the tribe has been trying to build for years.

Carcieri said the troopers entered the reservation under a court-issued search warrant. Carcieri ordered the warrant be executed.

"We do not take today's actions lightly," Carcieri said. "We deliberated long and hard before authorizing today's response."

Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and other tribal members were arrested as police entered the Narragansett Smoke Shop, which opened Saturday. State police also confiscated the cigarettes that remained on the shelves and took about $900 from the cash register.

Col. Steven Pare, the superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, said all eight arrested tribal members had been released by Monday evening. Seven were released on personal recognizance, while one tribal member posted bail.

Pare said one person was injured in the melee. But Paulla Dove, a member of the tribe's council, said between eight and 10 people complained of injuries. Some of them, including her 36-year-old son, Adam Jennings, were taken to the hospital. Dove believed her son may have re-injured an already sore ankle.

A videotape of the raid shows state police troopers marching in a line toward the smoke shop and forcibly opening its doors. Several tribal members who resisted were wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.

The video also shows Thomas with his arms wrapped around a state trooper at the top of the shop's front steps, while one tribal member appears to have his hand on the trooper's throat. Shortly afterward, two troopers pull a man down the steps, and then pull Thomas after him.

The tape also shows a police dog nipping at the clothing of a man who is handcuffed and face-down on the ground.

"The Narragansett Indian Tribe did what it's always done -- it stood to protect its land," said Thomas, who had two bandages on his left arm and a swollen right wrist. "It's unfortunate because it's 2003."

Pare said state police officers in plain clothes were inside the store and handed a search warrant to the clerk that ordered the tribe to "stop the illegal activity."

The officers were told in the store that the tribe did not intend to acknowledge that order," Pare said, and the troopers then entered the shop.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch said the videotape showed the officers acted with restraint.

A hearing on a motion to issue a temporary restraining order was scheduled for today in Superior Court.

Carcieri said his administration had been meeting with the Narragansetts and had said it would work to stimulate the tribe's economy.

"I indicated that I was willing to discuss the possibility of entering into some sort of compact with the tribe, but first they must cease operations" of the smoke shop, Carcieri said.

"Their demands were totally unacceptable," he said. "They demanded from me, that in turn for closing the smoke shop, that I must drop my opposition to a casino.

"From my perspective that was outrageous," Carcieri said.

Carcieri has said the shop violates federal and state laws.

The Narragansett Indians, who have been federally recognized since 1983, began selling cigarettes without sales tax or the cigarette tax, in an effort to make money.

"I'm disgusted in the way this was handled," said Randy Noka, the tribe's first councilman. "This is over cigarettes."

By law, Indian sales to Indians aren't subject to government sales taxes, but tribal businesses are supposed to collect taxes on sales to non-Indians.

Richard Collins, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Law, said the question of whether Indian tribes can sell tobacco tax-free has been to the U.S. Supreme Court three times, with the states usually coming out on top.

"So long as the state's tax is levied on the buyers and the buyer is not a member of the tribe, the Supreme Court's decisions have certainly favored the states," he said.

To collect tobacco taxes, some states make compacts with individual tribes. The National Association of Convenience Stores has said more than a dozen states have compacts with at least some tribes within their borders.

"The tribes make a moderate profit, but that's all, and the state figures that it's a tolerable amount to let them do," Collins said.

But many states have been unwilling or unable to reach compacts. In New York, for instance, sporadic efforts to reach tax agreements with tribes in the Iroquois confederacy prompted protests that briefly closed an expressway near Buffalo in 1992. In May 1997 troopers in riot gear responded to melee over a bonfire on an interstate highway in Syracuse.

More recently, federal agents have raided tax-free smoke shops in Washington state and Idaho looking for evidence that non-Indians may have bought tobacco products without paying state taxes.

Thomas has said tribal leaders were following the trend in other states and that the shop is part of his long-range plan to help the 2,600-member tribe gain solid financial footing. The tribe for years has been stymied in its efforts to build a casino in the state.

Before Monday's raid, he said if state police attempted to enter the property, "we'll throw them out."

After Monday's arrests, tribal members gathered in a circle around a small ceremonial fire and linked hands.

"This is outrageous. We won't take this lying down," said Loren Spears, a teacher from Charlestown who is a tribe member. She said the federal government should step in and "tell the people of Rhode Island we have a right to be here and support our families."

The tribe has a deal with Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. to develop a West Warwick casino, pending voter approval.