I’ve been serving our country and our nation for 38 years, both in the military and law enforcement. While leading the Cherokee Marshal service, I work with county Sheriffs, prosecutors, and municipalities to keep the 7,000-square-mile Cherokee Nation Reservation safe; that includes citizens and non-citizens alike. We all have a shared goal of keeping our communities safe.
To achieve that goal requires trust between law enforcement, the judicial system, and citizens. That trust is currently being threatened by the United Keetoowah Band (UKB) who are actively undermining our ability to hold criminals accountable, maintain law and order, and keep our communities safe.
The UKB is currently operating an unauthorized, unaccountable, illegal, and unsafe group that is claiming to be a police force with jurisdiction over the entire Cherokee Nation. This is untrue and is a threat to our public safety.
This is why I am raising the alarm.
The UKB Lighthorse are a threat to public safety on the Cherokee Nation Reservation and a threat to the rule of law in Oklahoma at-large. The UKB has no authority or jurisdiction throughout the 7000 square miles of the Cherokee Nation Reservation.
A recent DUI arrest in Tahlequah, which will likely be dismissed due to the clear lack of legal jurisdiction of the UKB Lighthorse who made the initial stop of the vehicle, underscores how potential criminals could be put back on the streets due to the UKB’s activities.
This situation raises some very serious questions the UKB is conveniently ignoring in favor of political grandstanding. Serious questions that we all must consider. What happens when a member of the UKB Lighthorse team stops, detains or arrests someone who has not committed a crime? What happens when someone who has committed a crime is stopped, detained, or arrested by an illegitimate pretend officer who has no jurisdiction? What happens to victims who are in need of the full weight of the legal system?
When someone is simply posing as law enforcement without authority, the water becomes very murky, and no one gets justice especially those that have been victims of crimes. But it’s not just those acute instances. Having a fake police force patrolling communities throughout the Cherokee Nation puts everyone on edge and in danger.
This uncertainty not only erodes public trust in law enforcement, but it also creates situations where the safety of both citizens and officers are at risk. The UKB Lighthorse is a rogue and unaccountable group claiming to be a police force with jurisdiction who are actively pulling over tribal and non-tribal citizens. I don’t have to tell you all what could go wrong here–but I can guarantee that these officers are impeding justice and putting innocent people’s wellbeing and lives at risk.
Attorneys and politicians might try and complicate this for their own purposes. In fact, in a recent interview on KOTV in Tulsa, a UKB spokesperson said that Cherokee Nation could not point to anything that states UKB does not have criminal jurisdiction. That’s just not how any of this works.
Cherokee Nation does not need to prove the UKB, a tribe created in 1950, does not have jurisdiction over Cherokee Nation’s reservation. We’ve had this land established through treaties, and reinforced by court cases and acts of Congress, more than a century before UKB existed. And our Marshal service has worked with local partners for more than 26 years to maintain public safety.
As a law enforcement officer, this is crystal clear. This is not a “he said, she said” situation. This is not two versions of a shared story. This is the law. And as someone sworn to protect public safety and enforce the law, I cannot stand by and let UKB’s threats continue and risk public safety.
For decades, Cherokee Nation Marshals have worked diligently and in partnership with local communities—creating cross-deputization and sharing critical evidence and information with our partners in surrounding communities. We have more than 90 agreements with federal, state, county and local agencies. The UKB has zero agreements with local law enforcement. These agreements are the lifeblood of the trust and cooperation in service of the public safety for these communities.
Just putting on a uniform and driving a car that says “police” does not make you a law enforcement officer with the jurisdictional authority to conduct business as such. Being an officer requires doing the work, believing in accountability, and working in partnership with the justice system and the community to stop criminals and protect citizens. And, most importantly, having legal jurisdiction to enforce laws. The UKB’s Lighthorse is a threat to all citizens within the Reservation and is making our communities less safe and putting lives in danger.
Cherokee Nation Marshal Shannon Buhl