Wounded Knee situation update. A cease fire still on, but it could go off if there will be no disarmament tomorrow. Marshal Coburn plans to come in tomorrow and sweep for weapons, do daylong search for weapons, photograph and arrest those with warrants, and interview residents of Wounded Knee. Russell Means is to call tomorrow midmorning with information about whether the meetings have started, which will determine whether to continue the cease fire. People are not willing to disarm at this time. There has been federal government misinterpretation about agreement. Kevin McKiernan reports.
Transcripts
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SPEAKER: The ceasefire is still on here. But for a while today, and still now, it looks as if it may soon go off. There will be no disarmament tomorrow. And despite what the government says, it's in fact, isn't true. This morning, Marshal Colburn who's the head law enforcement official here, said that he planned to come in at 7:00 AM, disarm the village, make a sweep, a daylong search for weapons, mines, dynamite and so forth, photograph, arrest those people for whom there was a warrant, and interview and identify other people residents and non-residents of Wounded Knee.
This won't happen I can guarantee you from this vantage point. We're expecting a mid-morning call tomorrow from Russell Means. Now, the substance of that call will be really whether or not the meetings have in fact progressed, whether they have started, and this will determine on this end, whether or not to continue the ceasefire.
If in fact, the Colburn and the Federal officials do come in tomorrow, it's going to be quite a hot scene. Because everyone is prepared, the bunkers are stocked, and people simply are not willing to disarm at this time. There will be no disarmament simply because that was not called for in the agreement at this time.
Only talks about the disarmament, about the diffusion of weapons, not the disarmament itself. So in other words, it's been misinterpreted by the federal government, and in fact, is only one of a series of misinterpretations and ceasefire violations, which are going on now.