Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe voted to formally banish South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem from their lands because of disparaging remarks.
On Friday, the second-term governor spent part of a 51-minute press conference in Pierre lamenting the seven prior banishment measures and continued to emphasize her claim that Mexican cartels are using South Dakota’s Indian lands as “safe havens” to distribute drugs in the state.
“Banishing me does absolutely nothing to solve this problem,” Noem told reporters Friday. “All it does is help those who are perpetuating horrible violence and crimes against the people of South Dakota.”
Is there any evidence to the claims that she's been making? This article didn't mention any details.
While there is some cartel activity in South Dakota according to the DEA (like in every state), the specific violence and crimes she is alluding to doesn't seem to have a specific reference base or specific numbers.
The DEA info and a statement from a South Dakota native American sheriff are interesting to read.
There's a lot of crime on reservations because there's a lot of poverty on reservations. I wonder if the U.S. government she's proud to be a part of has anything to do with that?
I wonder what the DEA document reads. Based on this second article shared though, it seems South Dakota has much much less of a problem respectively than other states. It seems very odd that the governor's focusing so much on it.