This Week’s Episode of Reveal: What Happens When Tribal Cops Vanish?

When Braven Glenn was killed in a car wreck, his mother wanted answers. It took more than two years to find them.

Old Bull visits the memorial placed where Braven died.Tailyr Irvine

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When Braven Glenn, a 17-year-old boy, was killed in a car wreck, the early details made little sense to his mother, Blossom Old Bull. Officials told her police chased Glenn for speeding, and he ended up in a head-on collision with a train.

 

It took days for Old Bull to learn that the officer who chased her son worked for a new tribal police force patrolling the southeast Montana reservation: the Crow Nation Tribal Police Department. She went to its headquarters in a former Subway sandwich shop looking for answers. It was abandoned. The windows had been covered up.

The police department had just vanished, without any explanation. This week’s episode of Reveal, in partnership with Mother Jones reporter Samantha Michaels, focuses on the years-long search to find answers. 

After you listen to the episode, also check out filmmaker Mark Helenowski’s stunning film on the search for accountability, and how the US federal government has routinely failed tribes.

You can listen to more episodes of Reveal at PRX

 

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No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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