<\/img>\r\n<\/p>\r\nDespite an emotional plea from a young Lakota man, leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe<\/a> failed to impeach President Julian Bear Runner<\/a> during a more than five-hour hearing on Monday.\r\n <\/p>\r\nWhile a majority of the council members present wanted to remove Bear Runner from office, the recorded vote<\/a> wasn’t enough. The tally fell a couple of votes short of the two-thirds majority of the entire 21-member council \u2013 at least 13 votes \u2013 required for impeachment.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cYou guys failed to protect the youth,\u201d the young man told the council<\/a> as the outcome became clear. \u201cYou guys failed to protect me.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n Motion did not pass to impeach President Bear Runner. 11 for impeachment, 5 against and five not voting.\r\n\r\nThere needed to be a 2\/3 majority vote to impeach.<\/p>Posted by Oglala Sioux Tribe – OST<\/a> on Monday, September 14, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div> <\/p>\r\nThe decision came after a complaint was filed against Bear Runner<\/a> by Dana Richards Weston, the mother of Richard Weston, an 18-year-old Oglala Sioux man who claims he was coerced into having oral sex with Bear Runner when he was only 17 years old in one incident. In a second, he said he was coerced into having sexual intercourse with the tribal president when he was 18 years old.\r\n <\/p>\r\nRichard Weston told the tribal council on Monday that he was 17 on February 10 when Bear Runner picked him up at his home near Porcupine, South Dakota, to take him to Pine Ridge, location of tribal headquarters, where the two were going to meet the tribe\u2019s spokeswoman. He said Bear Runner drove him to a water tower near Wounded Knee and parked his pickup.\r\n <\/p>\r\nBear Runner then coerced him into allowing him to give the minor oral sex, Weston told tribal leaders.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cAfter that, I kept to myself because I was ashamed because of what happened,\u201d Weston said, fighting tears. \u201cI kept that from my mother and everyone else. The only other person that knew was Julian.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n Listen in on KILI radio 90.1 FM\r\nor online at www.kiliradio.org<\/p>Posted by Oglala Sioux Tribe – OST<\/a> on Monday, September 14, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n <\/P>\r\nHe said Bear Runner kept contacting him afterward, sending him messages using Snapchat, an application that allows users to send messages that are deleted shortly after they are opened by the recipient. Because of the app\u2019s self-deleting feature, Weston said he was unable to provide copies of the messages \u2013 including nude pictures that Bear Runner had Weston send him \u2013 to the tribal council.\r\n <\/p>\r\nHe told the tribal council that on June 17 he again had sex with Bear Runner after the tribal president gave him a ride to Rapid City, South Dakota, and paid for a hotel room for the two of them. Weston said he had argued with family members earlier that night, and Bear Runner had offered to let him stay at his home.\r\n <\/p>\r\nBut later, Weston asked Bear Runner to drive him to Rapid City so he could stay with his sister there.\r\n <\/p>\r\nWhen they got to the hotel room, Weston said Bear Runner took off most of his clothes of got into bed with Weston and began hugging him. The young man said Bear Runner convinced him to have sexual intercourse with him.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cHe convinced me to say yes,\u201d Weston said. \u201cHe said no one would find out.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nBut afterward, Weston felt ashamed and left the hotel room. He said Bear Runner sent him a text message asking if he was coming back to the room. Weston then asked him to give him a ride a mall where he could meet his sister.\r\n <\/p>\r\nBear Runner then drove him to the mall, gave him money for food and left, Weston said.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cI felt violated,\u201d Weston said. \u201cI felt disgusted with myself.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nDuring Weston\u2019s testimony Monday, councilman Beau Little Whiteman asked the presiding tribal judge Sarah Harris if Weston\u2019s testimony could be heard in executive session. He pointed to the sensitive nature of the proceedings, which were carried live on KILI Radio<\/a> and broadcast by KOLC-TV<\/a>. \r\n <\/p>\r\nBut Harris said tribal law doesn\u2019t allow testimony to be heard during executive session in an impeachment hearing.\r\n <\/p>\r\nWeston\u2019s mother, Dana Richards Weston said her son suffers from a learning disability and was groomed by Bear Runner over several months.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cI thought he was trying to help, but it turned into something else,\u201d she said.\r\n <\/p>\r\nShe said she didn\u2019t know about her son\u2019s sexual contact with Bear Runner until Weston posted the allegations on his Facebook page.\r\n <\/p>\r\nHer son told her: \u201cI couldn\u2019t hide it anymore mom. It\u2019s bothering me too much.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nShe said her son is currently living in Virginia and is taking online counseling classes, in addition to being a first-year college student.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard for him to speak but this needs to be heard,\u201d Dana Richards Weston said. \u201cThere\u2019s other kids out there that need to speak up. This could be anybody else\u2019s kid in the future.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nIn his defense, Bear Runner asked the tribal council to dismiss Richards Weston\u2019s complaint so a tribal court could adjudicate a cease and desist order that Bear Runner filed, alleging defamation of character against him by Richards Weston and her son.\r\n <\/p>\r\nHe said he deserves due process as any regular citizen would receive in such a situation.\r\n <\/p>\r\nAnd he defended himself against the allegations made by Weston, denying he had sex with Weston during the two incidents that he told the tribal council about.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nBut Bear Runner admitted that he picked up Weston the morning of February 10 to give him a ride to Pine Ridge to meet the tribe\u2019s spokeswoman, Karin Eagle, who planned to take Weston with her to Pierre, the state capital, to take part in a rally and a legislative hearing on a bill that would have penalized doctors<\/a> for providing puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgery to transgender children under age 16.\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe South Dakota Legislature failed<\/a> to pass the bill.\r\n <\/p>\r\nBear Runner said he had picked up Weston around 5:30 a.m. that morning and got him to Pine Ridge shortly after 6 a.m., meaning he wouldn\u2019t have had time to engage in sexual activities with Weston. Weston had claimed he and Bear Runner didn\u2019t make it to Pine Ridge until almost 8 a.m., and he offered a screenshot with the tribal council showing he sent Eagle a text message shortly before 8 a.m. saying they were almost to Pine Ridge.\r\n <\/p>\r\nIf the allegations could be considered by a court, Bear Runner said he could subpoena video surveillance footage from Big Bat\u2019s Convenience Store<\/a> in Pine Ridge, where he and Weston met Eagle shortly after 6 a.m. on February 10.\r\n <\/p>\r\nAnd he said if he and Weston hadn\u2019t arrived at Big Bat\u2019s until almost 8 a.m., Eagle and Weston wouldn\u2019t have been able to make the three-hour drive to Pierre, South Dakota, in time for the legislative hearing<\/a>. In a Facebook post later that morning, Eagle shared video footage of her speaking before the state Legislature.\r\n <\/p>\r\nThe hearing began at 10 a.m. Central time in Pierre, or 9 a.m. Mountain time in Pine Ridge. An archived recording<\/a> indicates Eagle delivered a statement on behalf of Bear Runner at around 11 a.m. Central time.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\nIn regard to the second incident, Bear Runner also admitted to picking up Weston on June 17 and driving him to Rapid City to a motel, but he said the two men never had sex.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cI was tired and having a hard time staying awake as I had not slept in almost 24 hours,\u201d Bear Runner said. He told the council he had spent most of the prior day focusing on a wildfire on the reservation<\/a>.\r\n <\/p>\r\nHe said he awoke at about 10 a.m. the next morning to find Weston gone. Later, Weston knocked on the hotel room door and asked Bear Runner to drive him to the mall. Bear Runner took him to the mall and gave him $20 for food before driving back to Pine Ridge.\r\n <\/p>\r\nBear Runner criticized the tribal council for allowing Richards Weston to file a complaint on behalf of her son and based on her son\u2019s “false” accusations on Facebook.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cThis means that from this point forward anybody can falsely submit a complaint from Facebook accusations on any elected official and the same action will be taken,\u201d Bear Runner said.\r\n <\/p>\r\nHe said the tribal court has schedule a September 22 hearing to consider his request for a cease and desist order based on his claim of defamation of character.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nEagle also testified before the council Monday, saying she received a text message from Weston at 5:53 a.m. saying he and Bear Runner were near to the water tower by Wounded Knee and would be to Pine Ridge soon. She said they arrived at Big Bats at 6:05 a.m. that morning, confirming Bear Runner\u2019s account of the morning.\r\n <\/p>\r\nCameron Cedric Young Bear, a tribal citizen, also spoke in Bear Runner\u2019s defense, calling the accusations against his nephew unfounded. He said Bear Runner gave Weston a ride because it was the right thing to do.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cA man\u2019s credibility, a man\u2019s heart, a man\u2019s livelihood, a man\u2019s way of life is in front of you,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re Lakota people. We don\u2019t do this.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\nSeveral tribal council members questioned Weston and Bear Runner.\r\n <\/p>\r\nCouncilwoman Lydia Bear Killer asked Weston why he didn\u2019t report the incidents to law enforcement.\r\n <\/p>\r\nWeston said it was difficult for him to talk about the incidents for a long time and that he was a minor during the first incident.\r\n <\/p>\r\nCouncilwoman Nakina Mills<\/a> asked him if he believed Bear Runner had committed a crime of corrupt conduct, a crime of gross incompetence, malfeasance or a misdemeanor, referring to tribal ordinance related to possible reasons for impeachment of an elected official. Weston said he believed Bear Runner had committed each of those offenses.\r\n <\/p>\r\nCouncilwoman Cora White Horse asked Bear Runner if he had committed any of the crimes that Mills asked Weston about, to which Bear Runner said he hadn\u2019t.\r\n <\/p>\r\nShe said it shouldn\u2019t be up to the tribal council to determine Bear Runner\u2019s guilt or innocence.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cThere has been no convictions,\u201d she said. \u201cNo one has been charged in criminal court.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nAt a meeting on August 24<\/a>, the tribal council voted to accept the complaint against Bear Runner and suspended him without pay. It was his second reprimand this year.\r\n <\/p>\r\nIn July, Bear Runner was suspended for 30 days<\/a> in connection with COVID-19<\/a> directives he issued on the reservation. He returned to work<\/a> in early August.\r\n <\/p>\r\nImmediately following his earlier suspension, Bear Runner shared some personal information. In a post on social media, he said he had “recently come to terms” with his bisexuality.\r\n <\/p>\r\nIn early May, Bear Runner acknowledged he had been arrested by tribal police<\/a>. He was charged in tribal court with driving while intoxicated and verbal assault<\/a>.\r\n <\/p>\r\n![](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/karineagle1.jpg\")
<\/div>\r\n![](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/karineagle2.jpg\")
<\/div><\/div>\r\nPosted by Muffie Felipa<\/a> on Monday, February 10, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n
![\"woundedknee\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/woundedknee.jpg\")
\r\nPosted by Daily Updates from Oglala Sioux Tribal Councilwoman Nakina Mills<\/a> on Monday, September 14, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n
\r\nLeader of Oglala Sioux Tribe under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations<\/a> (September 11, 2020)
\r\n\r\nPresident of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing\r\n<\/a> (September 1, 2020)
\r\nOST President Bear Runner suspended for 30 days<\/a> (July 15, 2020)
\r\nPresident of Oglala Sioux Tribe faces legal crisis amid coronavirus pandemic<\/a> (May 6, 2020)
\r\nPresident of Oglala Sioux Tribe admits arrest during #Coronavirus crisis\r\n<\/a> (May 4, 2020)","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite an emotional plea from a young Lakota man, leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe failed to impeach President Julian Bear Runner on allegations of sexual misconduct.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,1,14],"tags":[146,149,145,5,101,99,143,148,144,97,147,98,106,105,102],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-beau-little-whiteman","tag-cedric-young-bear","tag-cora-white-horse","tag-coronavirus","tag-crime","tag-julian-bear-runner","tag-karin-eagle","tag-lydia-bear-killer","tag-nakina-mills","tag-oglala-sioux","tag-rapid-city","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-62","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","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=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/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=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}