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Fronk, who works as the emergency management coordinator for his tribe, said law enforcement agencies do not treat missing teenage girls as a priority. But as he was offering to lend his expertise to the task force, the government contractor running the Operation Lady Justice sessions silenced him. "The program that we're using will automatically mute the line after the three-minute mark," said Sweeney, who herself got disconnected during the session, according to a another federal official on the call. Later on in the session, Roger Smith, a council member from the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, also got automatically silenced as he called on Operation Lady Justice to address gaps in jurisdiction. He too has been personally impacted by the crisis of the missing and murdered in Indian Country. "I have nearly 20 years in law enforcement," said Smith, who was at the White House last November when Trump signed the executive order establishing the task force. "I also sit on the Minnesota governor's task force on MMIW." "I look at Fond du Lac as [having] good relationships with the different state agencies," Smith said. "But through COVID, it really shines the light that we still need some work to do." "There are some counties in Minnesota that do not cooperate with tribal law enforcement," he continued. "It makes policing difficult."Heartbreaking: Monte Fronk (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) lost his teenage daughter to trafficking in #Minnesota. Thankfully she made it back home. But the software for the Operation Lady Justice listening session automatically cut his comments off at the 3-minute mark. #MMIW #MMIWG
— indianz.com (@indianz) June 2, 2020
Smith was the only elected tribal leader who was able to voice comments during the entire session. At the beginning of the call, the audio went blank but federal officials kept talking, unaware that no one could hear their remarks. Once people were able to reconnect, they found the audio extremely choppy. Participants were then instructed to use their phones to dial in and listen. The audio eventually improved -- about halfway through the 90-minute mark. "Good use of $240k!" one Native woman advocate told Indianz.Com, in reference to a federal contract awarded to Saxman One, LLC, earlier this year to provide "logistical support" for the Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, according to documents on GovTribe.Com, a government contracting site. 'Unbelievable," added the advocate, who was silenced during the first listening session on May 27 and was unable to offer any comments due to technical difficulties.Officials expressed gratitude to Monte Frank for sharing his family's story. Operation Lady Justice listening sessions are being run by SaxmanOne, an Alaska Native corporate subsidiary with millions of dollars in federal contracts. @USIndianAffairs @ASIndianAffairs #MMIW #MMIWG
— indianz.com (@indianz) June 2, 2020
Since November 2019, when the task force was announced, Saxman One has been awarded more than $3.1 million in contract awards by the Department of Justice, according to GovTribe.Com. A contract worth up to $20 million, plus another worth $3 million, were awarded in 2019, according to the site. Saxman One is owned by Cape Fox Corporation, an Alaska Native village corporation based in southeast Alaska. The firm has at least one more logistical task on its hands -- the fourth and final Operation Lady Justice listening session on Wednesday afternoon. Aware of the repeated problems with the calls, Saxman One on Wednesday morning via email announced "Important changes Operation Lady Justice Listening Session." All participants must use their phone lines to listen to the final teleconference despite spotty cellular coverage in many parts of Indian Country. Several Native women have cited lack of phone service as a hindrance to addressing the crisis of the missing and murdered.Major technical difficulties AGAIN with the Operation Lady Justice listening session. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney @ASIndianAffairs began speaking but everyone's audio got cut off. #MMIW #MMIWG #MMIP @USIndianAffairs
— indianz.com (@indianz) June 2, 2020
According to Trump's executive order, Operation Lady Justice is supposed to deliver an initial report about its efforts in November, around the time of the 2020 presidential election. As part of the process, the task force intends to hold at least one in-person session in Montana in July. The task force is also accepting written comments through OperationLadyJustice@usdoj.gov. None of the federal officials have indicated whether there is a deadline for submissions.This is the 3rd Operation Lady Justice listening session, held via teleconference due to #COVID19. https://t.co/0yYFAWhPO9 playlist from first two sessions on SoundCloud:https://t.co/SaXVtVNDoD#MMIW #MMIWG #MMIP #Coronavirus
— indianz.com (@indianz) June 2, 2020
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