Over twenty Rhode Island State Troopers armed with guns and dogs pushed passed Narragansett tribal police and bystanders on Monday, July, 14, forcing their way to a new tribally owned tobacco shop on the Narragansett Reservation in Charlestown. According to stunned eye-witnesses and NBC video footage of the raid, state troopers acted violently, throwing men, women, and children to the ground without presenting a warrant or offering any explanation. The tribe’s tobacco shop, which opened on Saturday, was expected to raise legal controversy over the tribe’s right to sell tax-free cigarettes, but tribal leaders expected court action, not physical aggression.
