Native Americans rally behind case alleging FBI bias

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana family's decade-old lawsuit alleging that racial discrimination tainted an FBI investigation into their relative's shooting death is getting renewed attention amid a swell of activism around unsolved cases involving missing and slain Native Americans across the nation.

Dozens of people from the Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Blackfeet reservations filled a Helena courtroom Tuesday to listen as the attorney for Steven Bearcrane's family said his 2004 death illustrates how the FBI provides fewer law-enforcement services for Native Americans compared to the rest of the population.

It was the first time in the case's long history that so many people have rallied in person behind Bearcrane's family, lawyers for the family said. Attorney Patricia Bangert attributed that in part to the effects of a national advocacy movement and recently passed state laws that aim to improve how authorities respond to crimes against American Indians.

"What this told the judge is that people are watching," Bangert said of those in attendance. "I've found that most people off the reservation have no idea this is going on."

The FBI says there is no proof or evidence of discrimination by the agent or the agency, and is asking U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon to dismiss the case without a trial. Bangert said the FBI is fighting the case because it would cost millions of dollars more for the agency to provide the same level of service and protection on reservations as it does to the non-Native population.

Among those in the courtroom was Melinda Harris Limberhand, whose daughter Hanna Harris was killed on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in 2013. She was the inspiration for "Hanna's Act," a bill passed by the Montana Legislature this year that addresses what supporters call an epidemic of missing and murdered...