Monique Mackey, seen here holding her late son, Lucas, is seeking justice for what she alleges are unethical and potentially racist practices involving the Rapid City Journal’s reporting of the car accident that claimed Lucas’ life on May 4. PHOTO COURTESY/MONIQUE MACKEY
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA –– In yet another complaint from the Native American community against the Rapid City Journal, a local mother calls for action against the daily newspaper following the unfair reporting of the car accident that took her youngest son’s life. Monique Mackey, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has contacted not only several other media outlets about her complaints but also the local American Indian Movement chapter to protest and call for a reduction in the seemingly biased reporting on stories that involve Native Americans in South Dakota. Mackey, a former associate editor at Native Sun News, lost her son in a May 4 car wreck that also involved several other of her family members, including her daughter and mother. Mackey was in Rapid City when she heard about the accident, which occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation near the Red Shirt community at approximately 2:30 p.m. MST. By that evening, the Rapid City Journal reported on its website that Mackey was one of the victims in the accident and made sure that the fact that alcohol could be a factor in the accident was mentioned as a quote attributed to OST Department of Public Safety Chief of Police Richard Greenwald. The story, written by the Journal’s Ruth Moon, announced the death of Mackey’s 3-year-old son, Lucas. Mackey’s complaint about this reporting is that she had not been able to contact all family members to let them know of her son’s passing. Some of her family members learned the news via the Journal’s website article, which was initially posted just before midnight MST on the day of the accident. She is also upset that, although she was not involved in the accident as reported, and because of the allegation of alcohol being considered a possible cause of her son’s death, many people were led to believe that she was at fault. Following the outcry by Mackey and her family, calls to Moon concerning her story about the accident were initially unanswered. On May 8, Native Sun News was able to speak with Moon. Moon said, “I assume that you are going to do a story on this, so I need to speak with my editor before I say anything about this.” Following calls on May 5 and 6 to the Rapid City Journal by Mackey’s friends and several family members, the Journal changed the original story on its website, with no editorial notation about the changes. Social media website Facebook was then inundated with the story of Mackey’s protest. After several pages of protest, the Journal added an editorial note to the original online article on May 7, citing the wrong information as being given by the FBI. No apology was issued concerning the early release of the deceased’s name or the wrong information concerning Mackey’s involvement in the accident. In a subsequent story published on May 8 about the accident, Andrea J. Cook, who is on staff at the Rapid City Journal, reported updated information about the accident under the headline “No charges yet in Red Shirt fatality,” which Mackey believes insinuates that charges are pending. Within the story itself, however, Bob Perry of the FBI is quoted as saying, “I’m not aware of any charges being filed at this point.” The story did say that Mackey was not involved in the accident. Mackey also contends that the staff at Rapid City Regional Hospital treated her and her family inappropriately by not notifying her of her son’s whereabouts or condition for three hours. She stated that she was told by an FBI agent – not by any hospital staff she had questioned repeatedly – that her son was deceased. “I saw (Lucas’) chart and his hospital bracelet and everything, so I though he was there (at Rapid City Regional Hospital) with us. I kept asking where he was, but none of the nurses would even say where he was,” Mackey explained. “I asked (hospital staff), ‘How do you lose a patient in here?’” Calls to RCRH were met with statements that the hospital’s policy is that no information could be released to the media. The distraught mother eventually discovered her son was never a patient at RCRH following the accident. Mackey said her requests for help in protesting her and her family’s plight are ongoing and will continue as she seeks legal remedy for the actions of the Rapid City Journal, RCRH and Greenwald. (Contact Karin Eagle at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com)
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