{"id":259,"date":"2020-09-11T13:52:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T18:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/w\/?p=259"},"modified":"2020-09-14T11:26:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T16:26:53","slug":"leader-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-under-scrutiny-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/09\/11\/leader-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-under-scrutiny-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader of Oglala Sioux Tribe under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"<img itemprop=image src=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/02\/24\/julianbearrunner.jpg class=\"img-fluid wow fadeIn\"><\/img>\r\n<figcaption class=figure-caption>President Julian Bear Runner of the Oglala Sioux Tribe addresses the National Congress of American Indians in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 23, 2019.\r\nPhoto by <A href=\"\/m.asp?url=https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\">Kevin Abourezk <I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab  fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/figcaption>\r\n<h1>Leader of Oglala Sioux Tribe under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations<\/h1>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Friday, September 11, 2020<\/div>\r\n<div class=byline>By <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\">Kevin Abourezk<\/A> <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/div>\r\n<div class=source>Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<STRONG> Tune In: <a href=http:\/\/www.kiliradio.org\/>KILI Radio<\/a> | <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/2CdgqXO2An8>KOLC-TV<\/a><\/strong>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nJust days ahead of an impeachment hearing for the embattled president of the <a href=https:\/\/oglalalakotanation.info\/>Oglala Sioux Tribe<\/a>, the FBI has reportedly begun an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BearRunnerForOglalaNationPresident\/>Julian Bear Runner<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAt a <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/363891590650357\/videos\/388021632169674\/>meeting on August 24<\/a>, the tribal council voted to accept a complaint against Bear Runner and suspended him without pay. An <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/09\/01\/president-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-suspende.asp>impeachment hearing has been scheduled<\/a> for Monday.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAccording to some reservation residents, the <a href=https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/>FBI<\/a> has begun questioning people with knowledge about allegations made by a young resident of the <a href=https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation>Pine Ridge Reservation<\/a> who has accused Bear Runner of engaging in inappropriate contacts. The individual said the contacts began when he was 17 years old and continued recently after he turned 18.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAccording to a post circulating on social media, Bear Runner took the teen to a hotel in Rapid City, off the reservation, in June and engaged in unwanted physical contact in the room. The teen and his family members and supporters have shared the post, which led to a written complaint against the president.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAn <a href=https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/contact-us\/field-offices\/minneapolis>FBI spokesman in Minneapolis<\/a> this week declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into Bear Runner\u2019s activities, per the agency\u2019s policies regarding active investigations. The young man who posted allegations on social media about inappropriate contacts with Bear Runner said he didn\u2019t know about an FBI investigation.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nHowever, two Pine Ridge residents with knowledge about the investigation said FBI agents have interviewed the alleged victim and others who may know about his allegations. One reservation resident said a second victim also may be speaking at Monday\u2019s Tribal Council impeachment hearing, which will be held at the <a href=https:\/\/www.prairiewindcasino.com\/>Prairie Winds Casino<\/a> on the reservation starting at 10 a.m. MST.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe hearing will be broadcast on <a href=http:\/\/www.kiliradio.org\/>KILI Radio<\/a> and <a href=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCTGFIg0gEdDL0lnCGG26vzA>KOLC TV on YouTube<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/07\/15\/ost-president-bear-runner-suspended-for.asp>Bear Runner was  suspended for 30 days<\/a> in July in connection with <a href=\/covid19\/>COVID-19<\/a> directives he issued on the reservation. He <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/363891590650357\/videos\/2672876932958974\/>returned to work<\/a> in early August.\r\n<P><\/p>\r\nImmediately following his suspension, Bear Runner shared some personal information. In a post on social media, he said he had &#8220;recently come to terms&#8221; with his bisexuality.\r\n<P><\/p>\r\nIn early May, Bear Runner acknowledged he had been <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/05\/04\/president-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-admits-a.asp title=\"President of Oglala Sioux Tribe admits arrest during coronavirus crisis\">arrested by tribal police<\/a>. He was charged in tribal court with <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/05\/06\/president-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-faces-le.asp>driving while intoxicated and verbal assault<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=h4-responsive>Related Stories<\/div>\r\n<a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/09\/01\/president-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-suspende.asp title=\"President of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing\">\r\nPresident of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing\r\n<\/a> (September 1, 2020)<BR>\r\n<a    href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/07\/15\/ost-president-bear-runner-suspended-for.asp\" title=\"OST President Bear Runner suspended for 30 days\">OST President Bear Runner suspended for 30 days<\/a> (July 15, 2020)  <BR>\r\n<a  href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/05\/06\/president-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-faces-le.asp\" title=\"President of Oglala Sioux Tribe faces legal crisis amid coronavirus pandemic\">President of Oglala Sioux Tribe faces legal crisis amid coronavirus pandemic<\/a> (May  6, 2020) <BR> <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/05\/04\/president-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-admits-a.asp title=\"President of Oglala Sioux Tribe admits arrest during coronavirus crisis\">\r\nPresident of Oglala Sioux Tribe admits arrest during #Coronavirus crisis\r\n<\/a> (May 4, 2020)","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julian Bear Runner has been accused of inappropriate contacts with a young citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1,14],"tags":[5,101,100,99,104,103,97,98,106,105,102],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-coronavirus","tag-crime","tag-fbi","tag-julian-bear-runner","tag-lgbtq","tag-metoo","tag-oglala-sioux","tag-south-dakota","tag-tribal-courts","tag-two-spirit","tag-youth","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/julianbearrunner.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-4b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}