Sec. of Interior makes land grab, taking away reservation.

[sinkingfeeling]

Link to tweet

[Wounded Bear]

1. K & R...for visibility...

Just what we need now.

[jberryhill]

19. We hardly need a new $1B resort and casino complex now

[getagrip_already]

2. don't they have a casino trump hates? n/t

[jberryhill]

8. They want to build another one, and lost a lawsuit

They lost an appeal of a court decision in February to build the proposed new casino which this tweet is about.



https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/27/business/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-loses-crucial-appeal-casino-case/

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Thursday was dealt another major setback in its effort to build a casino in Taunton, losing a federal appeals court case it hoped would remove a crucial barrier to the long-stalled project.

[Cobalt Violet]

21. Pay wall, can't read it.

[jberryhill]

22. Try this one

Put the words - Mashpee casino lawsuit - into any news search engine.


https://www.courthousenews.com/first-circuit-shuts-down-tribes-plan-for-massachusetts-casino/

First Circuit Shuts Down Tribe’s Plan for Massachusetts Casino

[The Blue Flower]

3. There is no bottom

Absolutely strains belief.

[Hortensis]

12. Not at all. Read about it if you want to wade into complex

legal issues, various court decisions, casino politics, opportunistic greed, etc. It's been going on for years, though, and it might be a lot more satisfying to go find a man-kicks-puppy tweet to get excited about instead.

[jberryhill]

32. And all the way down to Jack Abramoff

https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20181019/lobbyists-battle-it-out-over-mashpee-tribes-casino-plan

[Hortensis]

35. Forgot about him. Yes. A Republican of course. Yuck. nt

[Jamastiene]

4. WTF?

Can they just do that out of the blue like that? That is disgusting.

[jberryhill]

7. No. You are being lied to by a dishonest OP

From February:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/27/business/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-loses-crucial-appeal-casino-case/

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Thursday was dealt another major setback in its effort to build a casino in Taunton, losing a federal appeals court case it hoped would remove a crucial barrier to the long-stalled project.

——-

This litigation has been going on since 2016.

[Zoonart]

5. So we have entered the smash and grab portion of the program.

[Hortensis]

13. Here's simple summery to read. There are no excitingly innocent

good-guy victims and no unconscionable government villains in this complex story that's been playing out in the courts, though.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/27/business/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-loses-crucial-appeal-casino-case/

[Zoonart]

16. Thanks.

[jberryhill]

6. This is a little out of context

The dispute over the casino has been in court for a while.... they lost the appeal last month

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/27/business/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-loses-crucial-appeal-casino-case/

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Thursday was dealt another major setback in its effort to build a casino in Taunton, losing a federal appeals court case it hoped would remove a crucial barrier to the long-stalled project.

The tribe had asked the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to overturn a lower court decision that said the federal government had improperly allowed the Mashpee to hold land in trust. That designation is required in order to build a tribal casino.

But less than a month after a three-judge panel heard oral arguments in the case, the court ruled in favor of a group of nearby residents that has been opposing the casino with the help of a company trying to build a state-licensed casino in nearby Brockton.

[malaise]

10. WTF!

This is a Kakistocracy on steroids

[jberryhill]

11. No it's not

They have been in court since 2016 over a land claim where their financial backers want to build a casino.

They lost their appeal of the case last month, and the court directed the BIA not to recognize this particular claim.

This isn’t about land that anyone lives on. It’s about a casino building permit.

[malaise]

14. So the OP is inaccurate then

Thank you

[jberryhill]

17. It is out of context

The BIA had recognized the land claim in question some years ago, at a location where the tribe wants to build a casino.

The way that these things work is that it is really an outside investor group that wants to build a casino. The tribe is used as a vehicle for that investment, because if they can get the land claim recognized, then they can build a casino in a state where you can't otherwise build them.

In 2016 local residents (and yes, backed by a casino competitor) brought a lawsuit to stop the construction of the casino.

The litigation has been going on since that time.

In February of this year a federal appeals court said that the BIA recognition of this particular land claim was improper.

In a last ditch effort, the tribe attempted an administrative appeal route. Here's another article:

https://www.casino.org/news/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-appeals-to-president-donald-trump/

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe wants to build a $1 billion casino resort called First Light in Taunton.

This is not about people being kicked off of land they live on. This is about building a casino.

[malaise]

20. One can count on you to clarify matters

It's what makes DU DU -thanks

[Hortensis]

15. "It's about a casino building permit." And if I recall

about getting tribal rights extended to the new land they want to put a casino on. The nicest thing about this is the enterprise and big thinking of the wannabe developers. LOT of money at stake.

[jberryhill]

18. Yep

And the tweet is intended to play on "noble savage" heartstrings to garner sympathy for a $1B casino resort project.

This thread demonstrates how effective that cynical strategy that is.

[grantcart]

24. Out of curiosity do you know what percentage of " native blood" the

Leaders have established to make the initial census?

Hard to have sympathy for a group that has a moratorium on adding to census.

My reading is that the current leaders could have 1/32 native blood and deny membership to someone with 50%

[jberryhill]

25. No idea

Whatever the rules might be, it is sad that they cynically exploit sympathy for real injustices to generate support for an exploitive and socially undesirable commercial enterprise.

[dmr]

34. Thank you for clarifying this misleading OP,

because it did pull on my heartstrings, and sense of injustice.

All of us must be careful how we present the issues. Misinformation is what the right has crafted so well. We are better than that. At least I hope so.

[BlueIdaho]

23. Shock Doctrine.

This is total bullshit!

[rickyhall]

26. Still breaking treaties, I see.

I ask again haven't we fucked the Original Owners enough? Guess, not.

[jberryhill]

29. No, but we are still uncritically believing deceptive social media posts

[Mersky]

27. No! That is theft.

There shouldn’t be any more tRumpian grabs of public wealth. Didn’t he get enough to dole out to his cronies?!!! Is unacceptable at anytime, but especially when travel and court actions against the cartoonishly corrupt/unlawful order is a danger to public health.

tRump is looting the country during this emergency.

[jberryhill]

31. It's been a story of corruption all along

The tribe lost the court case on this last month. The BIA was required to withdraw the status it granted back in 2015 for construction of a $1B casino funded by a Malaysian billionaire.

https://www.casino.org/news/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-power-struggle-after-failed-casino-bid/

You are being manipulated.

[Mersky]

33. Fine and okay. I'll delete my second comment on the matter.

I don’t have the patience to go back through the winding mess of how this decision landed today (yes, I have a recollection of the old, preceding scandals). I just despise land rights being revoked - especially, right now.

No, I didn’t rely solely on that tweet - is the chairman’s statement on the tribe’s website that did it for me.

Thanks for clearing up the thread.

[jberryhill]

30. More info on the corrupt tribal leadership here

https://www.casino.org/news/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-power-struggle-after-failed-casino-bid/

The two leaders are also accused attempting to expel council members who have criticized Cromwell’s handing of finances and his alleged secrecy around casino-related expenditure. In January, Cromwell was temporarily stripped of his financial responsibilities towards the tribe’s affairs after it emerged during his divorce proceedings that he owed $36,901 in unpaid federal taxes.

———

This is the outfit that was bankrolling the project and buying off the tribe’s leaders:


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genting_Group

[Grasswire2]

36. In chaos lies opportunity for crime.

OUTRAGEOUS!!

[Mersky]

37. Jberryhill pointed out nuance in this story

I deleted my more strident hot take after reviewing the court action timeline, and swirl of controversy .

Now, that said, I do not trust tRump’s interior department, and deserves awareness, imo.

___
Hi, hope you’re doing well during these difficult days