Accused

All rise.

Court is now in session, Judge Vogel presiding.

Appearances, please.

Erin Basile for the people.

Okay, wait.

Ms. Lowe?

Your Honor, I'm introducing myself.

In this court, you'll speak English.

Hello, my family and my people.

I am called Dezbaa Lowe.

I am my mother's clan, Big Water,

and my father's clan, Towering House.

And in this way, I am a Navajo woman.

I am appearing on behalf of the Defendants,

Chase Etsitty,

Shandiin Desmond and Naataanii Desmond.

Shut it down! Shut it down!

Shut it down! Shut it down!

Shut it down!

Shut it down! Shut it down!

Shut it down! Shut it down!

Shut it down! Shut it down!

Shut it down!

Shut it down!

Cops, go home!

Naataanii. Over there.

That way.

- Back up! - Am I touching you?!

I said back up!

I said, am I touching you?!

Chase!

Shandiin.

Shandiin!

- Shandiin... - Hey.

It's all right. It's all right.

Let me look at you. Are you all right?

- Yeah, yeah, you? - I'm all right.

- Chase! - No, no, no.

Chase.

Get up. You all right?

Is that all you got, huh?

Hey, hey, stop.

You're bleeding.

Yeah, me and half the people here.

Get off of me, bro.

They're the ones who attacked us.

Maybe if you stepped back like they asked, it wouldn't have happened.

We're trying to stop a uranium mine from poisoning our people.

Antagonizing the cops won't help.

Did you see Derrick out there?

Nah, got separated.

Derrick?

Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

When I didn't see you in here, I was really hoping you got away.

Yeah, well, it's hard to run when they have you in a chokehold.

You've only been back a week and I already got you arrested.

Hey.

So much for that peaceful protest.

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Hands off our land! Hands off our land!

Hands off our land!

Trespassing.

Disorderly conduct.

- I'm grateful it's just a misdemeanor. - Grateful?

They teargassed us, beat us, and threw us in a dog kennel for 12 hours.

- For nothing. - It's light work.

Quick catch and release. C'mon, let's find a ride back to the mine,

- get back at it. - Chill, Chase. We just got out of jail.

So?

So, your way of doing things is the reason why we all got arrested.

Oh, my way? What?

You think our ancestors walked around in circles with poster boards?

No. They were warriors, all right?

They fought back to protect our people.

So you're gonna fight?

How exactly are you planning on doing that?

I'm gonna do whatever it takes

to make sure that nobody has to watch

their little sister get sick like I had to.

My father still won't admit that it's the uranium that made her sick.

All right. The uranium that he's been blasting

out of the ground for 20 years.

He still believes the government's lies, man.

We're gonna expose those lies.

- Yeah, you're gonna expose the lies. - You...

Chase, you just need to be patient.

I'm tired of being patient.

While you're printing out t-shirts, ad writing your Facebooks

and moonlighting for tribal council,

I'm gonna be riding into battle.

Wait.

There's another way.

If the government won't do the right thing,

I may have a way to shut down the mine.

How?

I'll show you.

That's where all the uranium ore gets processed.

If we shut this down, the mine goes down with it.

They built it right after World War II.

All the electrical systems,

the cabling, controls, they're junk.

And they all converge in one place,

that building there.

It's a single room,

filled with all this old tech that they don't even make anymore.

We bust that up, the whole mill shuts down.

You know, all that old equipment it's irreplaceable.

And how do you know all this?

Yeah, a few years off the rez and suddenly you're a genius?

My dad and my uncle worked here.

They hated it.

Knew it was poisoning the people.

When I would play cards with them as a kid,

all they ever talked about was how easy it was

to take down the whole thing.

They planned it out, every detail.

Wrote it all down.

Just never did anything about it.

There's still security.

Not much.

Especially not on the weekends, when the mill doesn't operate.

All we would need is a security guard's key card to get us in.

You know, I see those security guys

at the bar like, every Friday night.

I work the door and they get loaded on beers an whiskey,

play pool. Like clockwork.

- We could do like prom night. - Prom night?

Your little sister never told you?

She lifted some keys off a group of guys.

Took us for a cruise.

Shandiin, you stole a car?

Well, I borrowed it.

But those security guards, all buzzed up, gambling,

they're easy targets.

If I can take a car, I can take a badge, no problem.

We're not busting up a chemical mill.

Let me talk to the tribal council first.

- For what? - Maybe they can file a lawsuit.

- They've sued the mine once before. - 20 years ago.

It did nothing.

Well, maybe with the arrests, it's worth another shot.

Yeah, well, while you do that...

- We'll check out the bar. - I'm with them, bro.

Ms. Lowe, I got your motion for change of venue.

I'm prepared to argue that now.

No need. I'm denying it.

- Your Honor. - Stop calling him "Your Honor."

All of the accused are members of the Navajo Nation

and the alleged crime took place within its jurisdiction.

In cross jurisdiction boundaries, Ms. Lowe.

In addition to that,

Major Crimes committed on tribal lands

- are tried in federal court. - Yes, I'm aware.

I still consider murder a Major Crime.

Your Honor, we move for the dismissal of the murder charges.

And that is definitely denied.

- Ms. Lowe. - Yes?

Sit down.

This is all my fault.

Don't say that.

It's the truth.

And I'm sorry. I should have listened to you.

Excuse me.

- Sorry, I'm late. - It's all good.

Yeah, I just wanted a chance to check things out over here.

- You see anyone you like? - Yeah.

See Shrek over there at the table?

His access badge is clipped on his jacket

and his jacket's hanging on the chair behind him.

And he's about... four gin and tonics in,

plus he's trying to run the table,

so he's focused elsewhere.

So same ol' same ol'? You pass I shoot?

Like old times.

Yeah, old times.

Like when you took off to college to be a basketball star

and you didn't get a hold of me for months?

Or the times where you came back to town for holidays

and you didn't even bother to stop by?

What about that little girlfriend you lied to me about?

Okay, I get it, all right.

Um, you're not happy I'm back.

I haven't decided yet.

Why did you come back?

I told you.

Yeah, I know what you told me.

You read about my brother and the mine and you said you wanted to help.

My people needed me.

Yeah, that's why you jumped on a plane

and left behind your fabulous life in the city.

After barely even talking to anyone for five years.

And who said it's so fabulous?

Oh yeah!