A Denver woman who faces attempted murder charges after allegedly firing a pistol at law enforcement officers last week during a protest at the Dakota Access pipeline is a lifelong member of the American Indian Movement.
Red Fawn Fallis, 37, is being held at the Morton County jail after she allegedly fired three shots at North Dakota law officers Oct. 27 when law enforcement officers were attempting to force pipeline protesters off private land in North Dakota.
Glenn Morris, a Colorado leader in AIM, a Native American civil rights organization, released a statement on behalf of Fallis’ family that said she is “an intelligent, informed and determined Oglala Lakota woman, who has defended the rights of native peoples and nations, in multiple circumstances.”
Morris did not say how long Fallis had been with the protesters, but an Associated Press report said court records show Fallis was arrested twice in September during pipeline protests and pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct and criminal trespass charges.
After last week’s incident, in which law enforcement did not return fire, Fallis is charged with attempted murder, preventing arrest, possession of a concealed handgun and possession of marijuana. She faces up to 20 years in prison if she’s convicted on the attempted murder charge.
“The family of Red Fawn Fallis pledges our support to her, and to her right to a fair trial,” the family said in their statement. “We actively deny the charges against her of attempted murder of a police officer.”
Opponents of the $3.8 billion pipeline are concerned it will disturb cultural artifacts and threaten drinking water sources on the Standing Rock Sioux’s nearby reservation, and downstream.
Protesters have been blocking pipeline construction near the reservation, which straddles North and South Dakota, for months.
Hundreds of police in riot gear and with heavy military equipment moved Dakota Access Pipeline protesters from an encampment on private land Oct. 27, reportedly arresting at least 117 demonstrators, according to The Bismark Tribune.
Officers were removing the protesters and an illegal roadblock when Fallis allegedly fired the gun, according to a Morton County Sheriff’s Department news release. “Fallis was being an instigator and acting disorderly,” the release said. She resisted arrest and then pulled a .38 revolver and fired, the release said.
“It is unbelievable that a law enforcement officer was not shot,” Captain Bryan Niewind, of the sheriff’s department said, in a video posted on the department’s Facebook page. “The only angle that gun could have been fired where there was no law enforcement is the angle it was fired. It wasn’t because she was trying to aim away from law enforcement, it was because it was our lucky day.”
Niewind said he was two feet away from Fallis when the shots were fired. While she was being transported to the jail, Fallis allegedly told officers they were lucky she didn’t shoot all of them.
Once in custody, officers found a small amount of marijuana in her pants pocket and metal knuckles in her backpack.
The Associated Press contributed information to this report.