Monument Valley Tribal Park closes for day due to unauthorized filming

UPDATED 12/4/2018
Members of “Global Witness” attempted to gain entrance into the Monument Valley Tribal Park on Nov. 29 without prior permission or permitting and were eventually denied access.
Park officials closed the park to the general public and the estimated 50 members of the YouTube group were peacefully escorted off the park property by the Navajo Nation Police Department and park rangers.
None of the members were arrested by law enforcement, according to the Navajo Nation Police Department.
According to Navajo Nation Chapter President James Adakai, 50 members of the group were escorted off of the park property. Later, the group tried to gain access again and became aggressive.
As the group numbers began to exponentially increase, around noon on Nov. 29 Adakai and the Navajo Nation released a memorandum to local law enforcement agencies including the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, the Navajo County Arizona Sheriff’s Office, and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.
The subject of the memorandum was titled, “Law Enforcement Assistance–Eviction Notice.”
The memorandum read, “Due to high level of potential threat to the health and safety to the public in the community of Oljato Chapter which encompasses Navajo Tribal Park in Utah and Arizona, Oljato chapter seeks the assistance of the local law enforcement agencies to evict by peacefully escorting the growing members of unknown cult group, called Global Witnesses (from the vicinity of Monument Tribal Park area outside the boundaries of Oljato and Navajo Nation lands).
“Further, we are very concerned that this type of escalating movement or riot may potentially cause unrest and disorder or disharmony or may even cause violence or harm to the community.”
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office responded to the request for help by the Navajo Nation but said that most of the response needed was on the Arizona side of the park.
San Juan deputies responded to one incident on the Utah side of the park.
Department of Parks and Recreation Media Consultant Louise Tsinijinnie said the park was closed due to “occult activity down the valley.”
“They were wanting to bring over the allotted people allowed down the valley and Navajo Parks and Rec didn’t want that many people in the valley due to all the damage it may cause,” Tsinijinnie said. “At the Navajo Tribal Park we are here to preserve and protect our Navajo tribal parks, so in a sense that is what we did.”
The park reopened for visitors on Nov. 30 with all of the Global Witness group gone, according to the Navajo Nation Police Department.
On their YouTube channel, the group described the event as, “The Witness in the Desert is a YouTube event unlike any other in history.
“Multiple channel hosts, including Leak Project, Jeffrey Daugherty, and Oppenheimer Ranch Project are just some that represent almost two million subscribers who will participate in a live event that will be broadcast live from multiple locations in the ancient locations of tribal lands in and around Monument Valley, AZ.
“From Alien evidence to prophecy investigation and spiritual guidance by clan elders and shamans, this event will prove to be the most informative event during these critical times at the end of this age.”
Members of the YouTube group first arrived on Nov. 28 to prepare for the broadcast. More and more members of the group began to arrive from around the country, according to Adakai.
“It happened pretty quickly, and we had to make a decision, especially from Oljato leadership,” Adakai said. “The situation started escalating.
“The unknown group, Global Witness organization, they came in without any proper authorization in conducting unpermitted activities without the knowledge and authorization of the tribal park and Oljato chapter.”
Adakai said he and Oljato leadership issued the memorandum once the group started to pose a serious threat to the well-being of the community.
“The group started to protest and started to riot against the tribal park and against tribal government,” Adakai said. “After 50 of the members of the group were escorted from the tribal park, they had electronic equipment filming whatever they were doing and the numbers started growing. New members started coming from out of state.”
Navajo Parks and Recreation had no official number of how many members of the group arrived, but Tsinijinnie said the group wanted to take their RVs and visit sacred sites.
“We were like, ‘You can’t trample the parks,’” Tsinijinnie said. “They wanted to visit sacred sites – sacred to us anyway – and we didn’t want them to go into these places.
“So as a travel entity, and of course traditional people, we don’t allow that, so we had them escorted out. And then once we escorted them out of the tribal park property, it then became a Navajo Nation incident.
“So then the Navajo Nation responsibilities then kicked in, so from there they were escorted off the Navajo Nation.”
Derek Broes is the leader of the group “Global Witness,” a YouTube channel that has 45,000 followers. Broes did a broadcast of his version of events on Dec. 1, claiming “bold-faced lies,” by the Navajo authorities with his group members watching intently on in the background.
Broes denies Adakai’s claims that the group became aggressive and riotous, claiming the group would come after Adakai legally for defamation if the comment wasn’t retracted. He also claimed that Adakai and the tribe had sold their birthright for a meal and that they work for the “Luciferian regime.”
Broes also claimed there was no cult or occult activity taking place at the gathering during the 85-minute broadcast.
“As far as the type of activities as cult related, I don’t know much detail about that part,” Adakai said.
“But where we had to come in from the Oljato leadership is that they started posing some threats – potential high-level threats to the public safety and the well-being of the community members.”
Attempts to contact Broes by the San Juan Record were unsuccessful despite multiple attempts.
Members of the group responded in lieu of Broes, referring to the group’s latest YouTube broadcast as their official version of events at Monument Valley.

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