Casino Gambling Protesters Interrupt Religious Ceremony
About 40 protestors blocked a piece of construction equipment moving onto the site of a proposed gambling casino north of Lynden for a tribal religious ceremony this morning. The Nooksack Indian Tribe was holding a "cultural religious ceremony" at the site of their proposed Northwood Crossing Casino when protestors arrived, said tribal administrator Pat Check.
The ceremony included moving dirt with construction equipment. Protestors stopped a piece of equipment from entering the site, "briefly engaging in civil disobedience," said Jeff Parks, chief criminal deputy at the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office. Five deputies ultimately came to the site of the planned 35,800-square-foot casino, at the corner of Northwood and Halverstick roads, before the protestors moved out of the way, Parks said. The North County Community Alliance, a group opposed to the casino, organized the protest.
Jeff Littlejohn, a member of the group, said protestors were under the impression the event was a groundbreaking since tribal members had gold shovels. "We did not intend to disrupt any religious ceremony," Littlejohn said. "If we knew that, we would have given that some pause."
June 20, 2006
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!