Earlier in the winter of 1973, Sid Mills (Yakama and Cherokee) and four other fishermen were arrested for fishing, with their gear confiscated and not returned. In another incident with the game wardens, Maiselle Bridges (Puyallup) and Billy Frank Jr's wife Norma tried to hang on to their family's last fishing net and were dragged and injured by the wardens. Sid called for a rally on January 28th at the Game Department and many Puyallup, Nisqually, and allies came. According to Ramona Bennett, Chiquiti (Tesuque Pueblo, who lived at Suquamish), broke in the window and a six hour occupation of the building began. At the time the court cases for Department of Game of Washington v. Puyallup Tribe and the US v Washington (Boldt Decision) were both upcoming. Files taken from the building that day were used by Hank Adams and others in court to prove that the Game Department was illegally spying on Puyallup and Nisqually tribal members and had intent to buy rifles, flak jackets, riot helmets, and night vision to use against Native fishers. Also found were examples of explicit racism against Native peoples via internal memos and documents.