{"id":265173,"date":"2023-03-20T13:22:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T18:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=265173"},"modified":"2023-03-20T15:49:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T20:49:55","slug":"las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Criticized Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government of the tribal nation<\/a> that recently purchased the Las Vegas Village festival grounds, the site of the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, has been described as an \u201cauthoritarian\u201d and \u201crepressive\u201d administration by America\u2019s oldest journalists\u2019 group.<\/p>\n

\"Three
Mark Fox, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, recently bought the Las Vegas Village festival grounds. His administration has been handed a \u2018Black Hole Award\u2019 for its alleged \u201cstunning wall of secrecy.\u201d (Image: Grand Forks Herald<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has given North Dakota\u2019s Three Affiliated Tribes its unenviable \u201cBlack Hole Award.\u201d It’s a dubious honor awarded annually to \u201chighlight the most heinous violations of the public\u2019s right to know,\u201d according to an SPJ press release.<\/p>\n

The SPJ cites a lack of transparency surrounding the tribe\u2019s finances, which violates its own constitution and bylaws.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tribal leaders have erected a \u201cstunning wall of secrecy around how they spend the hundreds of millions of dollars a year they receive in tax revenue, oil and gas royalties, and income from their large casino and hotel in Fort Berthold,\u201d according to the SPJ\u2019s Howard Goldberg, a former AP New York bureau chief.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ongoing Secrecy\u2019 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The tribe, also known as the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation,\u00a0currently owns and operates the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge on their Fort Berthold Reservation.<\/p>\n

\n

The tribal administration has refused to hand over copies of audits when tribal citizens have requested it to do so. Meanwhile, a former contractor for the tribe, Francisco Javier Solis Chacon, pleaded guilty in 2019 to bribing officials with hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks in return for construction contracts, according to federal court documents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation leaders undermine democracy on a daily basis while operating as an authoritarian government that represses opposition, silences citizen voices, and allows for ongoing secrecy of government spending,” claimed SPJ Freedom of Information Committee Chair Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, who is an enrolled citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes.<\/p>\n

Festival Grounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The SPJ also points to the purchase of the Las Vegas Village festival grounds, where 60 people died, and hundreds more were injured five and a half years ago at the hands of gunman Stephen Paddock.<\/p>\n

The tribal administration did not inform its citizens when the Las Vegas deal was finalized, according to the SPJ. Tribal members say it should have been put to a tribal vote before the deal was completed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tribal chairman Mark Fox told North Dakota\u2019s KMOT <\/em>in January that the acquisition couldn\u2019t be discussed before completion because of a non-disclosure agreement the tribal council signed with the land\u2019s previous owner, MGM Resorts.<\/p>\n

The tribe\u2019s leadership has said it is uncertain what it will do with the land, but it could become a future casino or paid parking facility. Whatever it chooses to build, the council said it would respect the 1 October Memorial<\/a>, which MGM Resorts plans to build nearby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government of the tribal nation that recently purchased the Las Vegas Village festival grounds, the site of the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, has been described as an \u201cauthoritarian\u201d and \u201crepressive\u201d administration by America\u2019s oldest journalists\u2019 group. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has given North Dakota\u2019s Three Affiliated Tribes its unenviable \u201cBlack Hole Award.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":265176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886,61,18456],"tags":[82523,84359,84332],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Slammed Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Govt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Three Affiliated Tribes given \u201cBlack Hole Award\u201d for lack of financial transparency and purchase of Las Vegas massacre land.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Slammed Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Govt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Three Affiliated Tribes given \u201cBlack Hole Award\u201d for lack of financial transparency and purchase of Las Vegas massacre land.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-20T18:22:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-20T20:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Slammed Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Govt\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-20T18:22:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-20T20:49:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Three Affiliated Tribes given \u201cBlack Hole Award\u201d for lack of financial transparency and purchase of Las Vegas massacre land.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg\",\"width\":840,\"height\":560,\"caption\":\"Mark Fox, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, which recently bought the Las Vegas Village festival grounds. His administration has been handed a \u2018Black Hole Award\u2019 for its alleged \u201cstunning wall of secrecy.\u201d (Image: Grand Forks Herald)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tribal Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Criticized Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Government\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Slammed Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Govt","description":"Three Affiliated Tribes given \u201cBlack Hole Award\u201d for lack of financial transparency and purchase of Las Vegas massacre land.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Slammed Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Govt","og_description":"Three Affiliated Tribes given \u201cBlack Hole Award\u201d for lack of financial transparency and purchase of Las Vegas massacre land.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-03-20T18:22:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-20T20:49:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":840,"height":560,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/","name":"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Slammed Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Govt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg","datePublished":"2023-03-20T18:22:41+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-20T20:49:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Three Affiliated Tribes given \u201cBlack Hole Award\u201d for lack of financial transparency and purchase of Las Vegas massacre land.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mark-Fox.jpg","width":840,"height":560,"caption":"Mark Fox, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, which recently bought the Las Vegas Village festival grounds. His administration has been handed a \u2018Black Hole Award\u2019 for its alleged \u201cstunning wall of secrecy.\u201d (Image: Grand Forks Herald)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-shooting-site-buyer-criticized-over-repressive-tribal-government\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tribal Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Las Vegas Shooting Site Buyer Criticized Over \u2018Repressive\u2019 Tribal Government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}