(Fargo, ND) -- The top of the U.S Attorney General's Office visited Fargo today to share details on investments being made to public safety across North Dakota.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke prior to a closed door meeting today about investments being made to public safety. Garland emphasized recent investments made by the U.S Department of Justice into tribal communities and North Dakota prosecutors.
"The Justice Department recognizes that our state, local, and Tribal law enforcement partners are on the front lines of keeping our communities safe. We also recognize just how much is being asked every single day of the officers. Their jobs are difficult. We now see how dangerous they are, and they demand enormous sacrifices from both the officers and their families.," said Merrick Garland.
The Attorney General also briefly touched on investigating fentanyl trafficking rings, bringing forward programs for officer safety and wellness, and various other programs with the intent to help law enforcement entities.
Garland did not take questions from the local media.
Outside the Federal Building in Downtown Fargo, nearly a dozen protesters gathered to voice their support of additional funding for projects dedicated to solving cases of murdered and missing indigenous peoples. Tracey L. Wilkie, one of the individuals in attendance, held a photo of Stella Marie Trottier-Graves in one hand, and a sign that had written "Free Leonard Peltier" in the other. Trottier-Graves' body was found in a tribal member's pickup, and community members say many people key to the investigation were not questioned immediately as part of the investigation.
"It will be 13 years next month that she was murdered on our reservation, on the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Somebody knows something [and] unfortunately the federal people have to investigate. I don't believe they are doing enough, " said Wilkie.
You can learn more about resources being dedicated to North Dakota by clicking here.
