Campbell 'sickened' by raid of Narragansett smoke shop

The head of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has written Attorney General John Ashcroft about the state of Rhode Island's raid of the Narragansett Reservation.

In a July 23 letter, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) said he had "deep concern" about the incident. "Anyone who witnessed the episode on videotape -- as I have -- surely was sickened and profoundly disappointed at the tactics used by the state in its dispute with the tribe regarding sales of tobacco on the tribe's lands," he wrote.

Campbell did not call outright for a probe of the July 14 raid. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Resources Committee, has asked the Department of Justice to investigate.

Campbell instead urged Ashcroft to make sure tribal-state "disputes are handled in a peaceable way that respects both the sovereignty and perspectives of the states and tribes involved."
Letter: Campbell to Ashcroft (July 23, 2003)