Overkill on the rez

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Bear Lincoln, who lives on the Round Valley Indian reservation, has reason to fear the cops. Lincoln was the subject of a massive manhunt in 1995 after a gunfight he was involved in ended with a cop and Lincoln’s best friend dead. He spent two years in jail awaiting trial, only to be freed in 1997 after his acquittal. Now he’s back in jail, and his allies say he might be the victim of a law-enforcement vendetta, because local cops in Covelo, Calif. believe Lincoln, despite the acquittal, is a cop killer who got away with it.

Lincoln was arrested March 21 on suspicion of shooting into another house on the reservation and recklessly endangering a child inside. Shootings like this have happened with regularity on the reservation — where inter-clan feuds are common and long-standing — without any police investigations. No one was hurt in the incident, but still about 20 officers, some decked out in SWAT-team regalia, converged on Round Valley when they heard Lincoln was the suspect.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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