Court Hears Case against Grand Gateway Hotel Owner for Breaching No-Contact Order
In recent news, the owner of a controversial South Dakota hotel made headlines once again. The owner, Connie Uhre, age 76, found herself facing legal issues after allegedly breaching a no-contact order.
Uhre has been making waves for her controversial decisions regarding her hotel, Grand Gateway and Cheers casino bar, both located in Rapid City. She gained notoriety for her "racist and discriminatory" admittance policy that banned Native Americans. This decision led to protests and a slew of lawsuits.
The incident that sparked the ban occurred in March 2022, when a shooting took place in one of the hotel rooms. The alleged shooter, Quincy Bear Robe, and the victim, Myron Pourier Jr, both Native Americans, were staying there. Just one day after Uhre's inflammatory Facebook post about the policy, two members of the Native American rights advocacy group NDN Collective attempted to book rooms at the hotel. They were met with denial. This incident led to further protests and lawsuits against Uhre.
In an effort to fight back, Uhre and her son Nicholas, who jointly run the hotel and bar, took legal action against NDN, accusing them of trespass, nuisance, defamation, and civil conspiracy. Additionally, the Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against both Connie and Nicholas, claiming they had violated the rights of Native Americans. Furthermore, Judson Uhre, one of Connie's other sons, sued his mother and brother for not acting in the best interests of the business.
To add more fuel to the fire, Myron Pourier Sr, the father of the shooting victim, filed a suit against the Uhres on March 24, 2023. He claimed that the Uhres failed to maintain a safe environment for guests at the hotel. All these lawsuits are still unresolved.
Uhre has already faced legal ramifications prior to this, having been charged with simple assault in May 2022 for spraying three Native American protestors with Pledge dust spray. The no-contact order that was established after this incident is now allegedly broken by Connie Uhre, leading to a Class 1 misdemeanor charge. This offense comes with a potential sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,000.
The next court date for Connie Uhre is set for July 6th, where she will be back in court to address the assault and no-contact violation charges.
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Source: www.casino.org
