Alaska Native activist and former Green Party political candidate Desa Jacobsson was arrested at a
Choose Respect rally in Anchorage on Thursday.
Jacobsson, who has described herself as a domestic violence survivor, was arrested for trying to go the podium as
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was speaking.
"One dog from the Iditarod dies and the whole world protested," Jacobsson later told The Anchorage Daily News. "Native women are killed in Alaska all the time and everybody is still silent."
Murkowski reportedly tried to talk to Jacobsson while Lt. Gov. Tread Meadwell (R) was speaking at the rally. Murkowski acknowledged Jacobsson's concerns in her speech.
"When a local newspaper calls Alaska the 'rape capital' of the nation that should devastate us all," she said, The Alaska Dispatch reported. "And, to Desa Jacobsson, who was just here calling us to shame, we should be ashamed. I am ashamed. I'm ashamed that in a state as beautiful and majestic as it is, that we are the rape capital of the nation. This is horrible."
Get the Story:
'Choose Respect' rally features fiery exchange between activist and lieutenant governor
(The Alaska Dispatch 3/28)
Arrest marks "Choose Respect" rallies
(The Anchorage Daily News 3/29)
Fairbanksans rally to end domestic violence and sexual assault
(The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 3/29)
Can state, tribes protect Native women?
(The Alaska Dispatch 3/31)
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Over 100 tribes in Alaska
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Alaska tribes excluded from jurisdiction provisions
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Myron Naneng: Blatant
discrimination against tribes in Alaska (03/19)
Natalie Landreth: Alaska
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Column: Alaska politicians
oppose protections for Native women (03/12)
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