Vern Traversie, a blind member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota who has been called a victim of a hate crime, has sued the hospital where he was treated.

Traversie, 69, underwent emergency surgery at the Rapid City Regional Hospital last August. When he was released, he had incisions and marks on his body that appear to look like the letters "KKK."

"I think the Native people have been fighting racial hatred for many years in South Dakota, but you know, it's not all the people that are hateful toward Native Americans," Traversie told the Associated Press. "We have a good segment of our society _ white society _ in South Dakota that are Christian people and they get along good with the Native Americans. In my instance, I believe I'm dealing with the Ku Klux Klan, and that's a small minority."

The lawsuit was filed in federal court.

Get the Story:
Lakota man sues SD hospital over surgical scars (AP 7/17)

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