The members of the Tuscarora Nation are defending themselves after law enforcement authorities of North Carolina raided three casinos and arrested more than 25 members of the citizen group at the beginning of the week.
The individuals arrested are facing charges on illegal gambling, running an unlawfully armed personnel, money laundering at three illegal casino venues situated in Pembroke, Maxton, and Red Springs. As Casino Reports revealed earlier this week, the arrests were carried out after a year-long investigation following local citizensā complaints of the unlawful activity taking place there. The tribe revealed that it plans to fight back against all charges. The first court date for the arrested tribe members is set for August 14th, 2018.
As shared by a tribe leader, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Rainbow Coalition and the United Churches of Christ supported them.
The Tribal Nationās Councilman Timothy Jacobs commented on the situation, maintaining that the group was working to create a more favorable economic environment and improve the living conditions for their people.
The Indian tribe also claims that no US laws were breached by its members, because first, they did not consider themselves US citizens, and second, they did not consider the land where the facilities were operated part of the US. According to the members of the tribe, the casino operation and the gaming machines were situated on sovereign territory, so they did not violate any federal or state gambling laws.
Tuscarora Tribe Members Do Not Consider Themselves US Citizens
For the time being, the Tuscarora Tribe is recognized by an Indian nation in New York under federal law. Federal law, however, does not recognize the group as Native American Tribe on the territory of North Carolina.
In other words, without official recognition by the government, the territory which the tribe claims as the land of its own is subjected to the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement authorities. This basically means that the Tuscarora Tribe members are being addressed to as people falling under the jurisdiction of both state and federal law enforcement, which means all gambling services run by them were illegal.
The members of the Tuscarora Tribe, however, say otherwise. According to their claims, the first President of the US, George Washington, had once signed a treaty under which the tribeās lands on the territory of North Carolina were secured forever.
As mentioned above, the tribe shared its members would stand up for themselves. The Tuscarora Tribe plans to take the matter to social media and release a special campaign around the case to clear their names and show they had not been doing any kind of criminal activity but only wanted to provide a better life for their people.
