Dakota Access activist accused of firing at officers agrees to plea deal

An activist accused of firing off three shots at deputies during the 2016 Dakota Access pipeline protests has agreed to a plea deal that would allow her to avoid a jury trial and serve a reduced prison sentence.

Red Fawn Fallis of Denver had faced the possibility of life in prison if convicted of shooting at the officers as they attempted to handcuff her during a melee along state Highway 1806 in Morton County, North Dakota.

Instead, her attorneys said she has agreed to plead guilty to two charges — civil disorder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon — in exchange for the government dropping the most serious count, discharging a firearm in relation to a felony crime of violence.

The prosecution has also agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than seven years in prison, although the judge could still sentence her to as many as 10 years.

She is scheduled to appear in court at a hearing Monday in Bismarck, according to a Tuesday statement by the Water Protectors Legal Collective.

“Red Fawn has been fighting an uphill battle at every stage of this case,” said the statement.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland had agreed to move her trial from Bismarck to Fargo in order to “ensure the selection of an unbiased jury,” but her attorneys said she still faced long odds as a result of extensive negative publicity and pre-trial rulings.

“Given these circumstances, Red Fawn has made the very difficult decision to enter into a plea agreement that still risks significant prison time, but removes the mandatory minimum and the possibility of life imprisonment,” said the attorneys. “The agreement relates only to Red Fawn and will not harm other Water Protectors.”

The case represented the most serious to emerge from the six-month protest over the Dakota Access pipeline, which saw thousands of activists descend on the area near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

A total of 761 people were arrested during the massive demonstration, which featured frequent clashes between protesters and officers, but the vast majority were charged in Morton County with relatively minor offenses such as trespassing and rioting.

“This plea would make Red Fawn the first Water Protector to be sentenced to a substantial prison term for activity at Standing Rock,” said the attorneys. “There are five other Water Protectors with pending federal charges preparing for trials in the coming months and over 300 with pending state charges.”

None of the officers was hurt in the incident. Fallis, who was 37 at the time of her arrest, was convicted in 2003 in Colorado for being an accessory to a felony crime.

Her attorneys had sought more evidence from prosecutors, including information on an FBI informant who had “established an intimate relationship with the defendant,” saying that the handgun that was allegedly discharged belonged to him.

The government argued that the defense’s “reference to the FBI informant as some sort of complex issue is misplaced,” and Judge Hovland sided with the prosecution in a Jan. 10 order, saying the relevant documents had already been shared.

Her supporters have defended Fallis as a “political prisoner,” saying she was serving as a “trained medic” and assisting “injured water protectors” when officers tackled her to the ground.

“Red Fawn is being accused of firing a weapon. Eyewitness accounts and video show otherwise,” said the post on Free Red Fawn.

The last segment of the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline was completed shortly after authorities cleared out the last of the protesters in February 2017 in order to finish an extensive $1 million clean-up operation.

This story was based in part on wire-service reports.