Bad River Tribal Members Seek Justice, Action After Jason Pero Shooting

Around 60 people turned out for a community meeting on the Bad River reservation Thursday evening to voice their views on the shooting of 14-year-old Jason Pero by an Ashland County sheriff’s deputy Nov. 8.

Ashland County Deputy Brock Mrdjenovich shot and killed Jason after the Bad River teen lunged twice at the officer, according to preliminary findings from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Jason’s mother Holly Gauthier said Thursday evening that law enforcement was unsympathetic and insensitive when releasing those findings, which coincided with memorial services for the teen. The DOJ planned to issue a full report within a month of the shooting, but Gauthier said they’re still waiting for word.

“Now are they just waiting for Christmas to come around before they release it? For that to be their timing when they bring us that report just to ruin our holidays? Because we already know what’s going to be in that report: a bunch of bull,” said Gauthier.

Recently elected Bad River Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins shared similar thoughts, noting the teen touched many in the community.

“Jason Pero was a beautiful, young kid. He was a jovial guy that brought a lot of joy to his friends that, in our community, in our council’s opinion, has been mischaracterized by the preliminary release of facts that don’t contain all of the story,” Wiggins said.

Jason’s mother and tribal members said they would like to see law enforcement use body or dashboard cameras, or have the tribe run its own police department. Several members proposed evaluating or eliminating the tribe’s joint agreement with local law enforcement that was put in place in 2015. At the time, Wiggins said the decision was made to pool resources with the county in order to address high turnover among tribal police officers.

Wiggins said the tribal council will review the agreement and the tribe’s options.

“Right now, it’s all spotlights on the agreements we’re currently in, appropriateness of service on everything related to what’s going on with our law enforcement responses,” he said. “It’s a time to review, to plan and to think about how to move into the future here. It’s really difficult with the trauma that our community has experienced.”

Tribal members also questioned why Ashland County law enforcement was not present at the meeting, specifically Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan. Wiggins said he asked the sheriff not to attend the meeting, saying he thought it would have been counterproductive or may have deterred people from sharing their views of what happened.

Community members said the shooting of Jason demonstrated a systemic problem between Ashland County law enforcement and the tribe, citing recent reports of sexual harassment and abuse at the Ashland County Jail.

Bad River Tribal Member Jack LeMieux demanded the tribal council take action.

“The tribal council has to say enough is enough,” LeMieux said, generating applause from the crowd. “I’m not afraid to look at Mick Brennan in the eye and say that you should resign.”

LeMieux also advised the council to explore ways the tribe may be able to opt out of Public Law 280 to have more control over criminal matters on the reservation. The federal law allows states and counties to assume jurisdiction on criminal matters involving Native Americans on reservation lands.

Tribal members also expressed a lack of trust in local and state authorities to provide a fair and transparent investigation of the deputy’s actions and Jason’s death.

Wiggins said the tribe’s request for a federal investigation is under review.

“We’re going to go back to the grind and light a fire under them again and step up our intergovernmental communications on that stuff to get them going,” said Wiggins.

The U.S. DOJ has declined to comment on the tribe’s request for an investigation into police misconduct.