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Federal Court Charges Dakota Access Pipeline Protester With Felony

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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A federal court charged a Dakota Access Pipeline protester Monday with a felony but a state court dropped attempted murder charges against her.

According to The Bismarck Tribune, Red Fawn Fallis, a 37-year old woman from Denver, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

As Fallis faced the judge, Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters marched around the block of the Morton County Courthouse in Mandan chanting “Free Red Dawn.”

The U.S. Attorney will either seek a grand jury indictment of Fallis or preliminary hearing will be held on December 12.

According to Court records, the attempted murder charges filed against Fallis in Morton County were dismissed Monday morning as a result of the federal case.

The federal complaint claims that Fallis fired two shots at the officers in the midst of being arrested on Oct. 27 when law enforcement cleared the northern “front line” camp on N.D. Highway 1806. One deputy said he saw one round hit the ground near his left knee.

The complaint also says that Fallis later told officers she was attempting to pull the gun out of her pocket and it went off when deputies tackled her. She also reportedly claimed they were lucky she didn’t shoot them all.

According to the complaint, the alleged gun — a Ruger LCR, .38 special revolver — was taken from Fallis’ then-boyfriend, who said he dated Fallis for a couple of months before the Oct. 27 incident. He reported to police on October 28 that his gun had been stolen within a two to three week time frame, the complaint says.

Additionally, the complaint alleges that Fallis has a felony history as an accessory to a crime in Arapahoe County, Colorado, which would prohibit her from legally being in possession of a firearm.

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