Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Media Fail: Denver Post Spins Wounded Knee into Pro-Military PR

Censored News Page 2: Denver Post: Biased and twisted article about military helicopters at Wounded Knee

The Denver Post published a biased and twisted article concerning the Lakota protest of the military helicopters attempting to land at Wounded Knee on Saturday. The Denver Post twisted the facts into a pro-military press release, disguised as a news article, without quoting any of the Lakotas or their reasons for halting the helicopters.

The statements by Debra White Plume, Lakota, and others were easily available on the Internet on Monday, even an armchair journalist at the Denver Post could have found those.

Read full post...

Watch the OST press conference yourself: http://www.youtube.com/user/OglalaSiouxTribe.

What I heard was Tribal President Theresa Two Bulls apologizing to the Lakota people for not communicating with the community before agreeing to let the choppers land. What I heard was her commending the protesters. What I heard was her agreeing the incident, and the events leading up to it, were handled badly by the Tribal Council. She apologized all around and asked for help and forgiveness. But the Denver post twisted this beyond recognition.


ETA: Additionally, a Resolution of the Oglala Sioux Tribe concerning the incident and future actions at Wounded Knee was PASSED, Monday, May 3, 2010. It reads in part:

Whereas, the United States Military arrived at the Wounded Knee Mass Grave on May 1, 2010 in three Military Transport Helicopters that held 40 and more members of the Armed Services of the US without the free, prior, informed consent of the Oglala Lakota people and thus were prevented from landing.

Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Oglala Sioux Tribe will take every action to see that the United States Reclaims the Twenty Medals of Honor from the 7th Calvary for their role in the Massacre at Wounded Knee, to remove any recognition the US Military bestows to its entities for the Massacre at Wounded Knee, and to obtain the return of personal items taken from Lakota people at the 1890 Massacre.

Therefore Be It Further Resolved, that the Oglala Sioux Tribe, its members, any entity, organization, or resident on the Pine Ridge Reservation will not allow the United States Military from this time forward to come anywhere near the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre Mass Grave in order to demonstrate Honor and Respect for the Lakota people buried there, and to ensure a peaceful, nonviolent, weapon-free zone for the Mass Gravesite area.

Read the full resolution... (page down past Debra White Plume's report)

Support the Lakota in requesting the Medals of Honor be rescinded

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