{"id":6765,"date":"2021-01-19T23:35:38","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T04:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=6765"},"modified":"2021-01-19T23:38:09","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T04:38:09","slug":"federal-prosecutors-label-cowboys-for-trump-figure-racist-for-attacks-on-native-and-black-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/01\/19\/federal-prosecutors-label-cowboys-for-trump-figure-racist-for-attacks-on-native-and-black-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal prosecutors label Cowboys for Trump figure ‘racist’ for attacks on Native and Black people"},"content":{"rendered":"\"donaldtrumpcouygriffin\"\r\n
Couy Griffin poses with Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on September 12, 2019. Photo: White House\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Federal prosecutors label Cowboys for Trump figure ‘racist’ for attacks on Native and Black people<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, January 19, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — A Republican county official who participated in the violence on the U.S. Capitol<\/a> is being labeled a \u201cracist\u201d by federal prosecutors for his attacks on Native and Black people.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nCouy Griffin<\/a> disrespected a traditional Native blessing and suggested Black athletes should \u201cgo back to Africa,” a memorandum filed in federal court<\/a> on Tuesday reads. His \u201cthreatening\u201d activity on social media even got him banned by the Mescalero Apache Tribe<\/a>, government attorneys noted.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThe defendant is the founder and leader of a political committee called, ‘Cowboys for Trump,’ on whose behalf he has engaged in inflammatory, racist, and at least borderline threatening advocacy,\u201d the 11-page document<\/a> reads.\r\n

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04518274377<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nLast September, Griffin posted two videos that landed him in trouble with the Mescalero Apache Tribe, whose homelands are located in southern New Mexico. The second was titled \u201cCowboys and Indians\u201d and it showed him laughing at an Apache blessing as a second person makes a joke about Democrats.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cAs a result of this incident, the nearby Mescalero Apache Tribe banned the defendant from entering its tribal lands,\u201d federal prosecutors in the nation’s capital noted.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe ban occurred the videos were posted to on the \u201cCowboys for Trump\u201d social media page. At the time, Mescalero Apache President Gabe Aguilar said Griffin, who serves as an elected official in Otero County<\/a>, was spreading misinformation about his people, including an elder.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s bad enough that he posted that first video. This second video is offensive,\u201d\r\nAguilar said in explaining<\/a> the tribe’s stance. \u201cTribal blessings are not comical and are not to be used to make political statements.\u201d \r\n

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After being banned by Mescalero Apache Tribe, Republican county official Couy Griffin admitted he didn't know anything about the tribe's sovereignty. Yet he had invited Karen Bedonie (who is Navajo not Apache) to meeting on reservation. Here they are saying Pledge of Allegiance. pic.twitter.com\/fXmBolQCYu<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) January 13, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>