Dine (Navajo) community organizers Larry Casuse and Robert Nakaidinae make citizens arrest of Gallup NM Mayor and liquor store owner Emmett Garcia

Following years of organizing at every level and at every opportunity against "Navajo Inn," a bar and liquor store owned by Gallup Mayor Emmett Garcia, on this day in 1973, 19 year old Larry Casuse and Robert Nakaidinae seize the mayor demand the closure of the racist business. Located on the edge of the dry Navajo Nation, Casuse and Nakaidinae had been involved via Native organizations such as the student run KIVA Club and Indians Against Exploiteation (IAE) attempting to close the liquor store or move it farther from the edge of the reservation border. During one three-year period in the 1970s nearly 40 people died of alcohol-related incidents within a mile of the inn. Unable to be heard or obtain justice on this issue, Casuse and Nakaidinae seized the Mayor hoping to hold him hostage to raise awareness and demand the closure of Navajo Inn. Unfortunately Gallup police open fired on Casuse after Garcia escaped and Casuse paid with his life. Although a very tragic death of a young promising Native leader, we honor Casuse today and remember the successes of his struggle and everyone else involved in organizing against Navajo Inn, the broader racism of border towns like Gallup NM, and the exploitative 'Ceremonial' festival in Gallup. In April of the same year, Emmett Garcia lost his re-election bid for Mayor, resigned as chairman of the Gallup Interagency Alcoholism Coordinating Committee, and from the University of New Mexico Board of Regents. He moved out of Gallup and Navajo Inn was closed and demolished. In July and August of 1973 the Flagstaff Pow-Wow and Gallup Ceremonial (both non-Native controlled) were finally cancelled after years of protests, ceremony, and organizing by Indigenous community members.