NEW YORK - Three chiefs of the St. Regis Mohawks have filed a $60 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Post over editorials blasting the Indian tribe as a criminal enterprise.
The tribe in upstate New York came under fire from the feisty tabloid over its proposal to build a $600 million casino in Monticello, 90 miles northwest of New York City in the Catskills.
The editorials, published Feb. 21, 2007, and Jan. 8 of this year, accuse the chiefs of “serious crimes” and “expose them to public contempt, ridicule, aversion and disgrace.”
The first editorial says the tribe was involved in a $687 million liquor, cigarette and gun smuggling ring, imported illegal immigrants from China and engaged in shoot-outs with police.
The Jan. 8 editorial said the tribe “amounts to a criminal enterprise.”
Suzanne Halpin, a Post spokeswoman, said she had no comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
It asks for $20 million in damages for each of the three chiefs, none of whom was mentioned in the editorials by name.
The editorials, published Feb. 21, 2007, and Jan. 8 of this year, accuse the chiefs of “serious crimes” and “expose them to public contempt, ridicule, aversion and disgrace.”
The first editorial says the tribe was involved in a $687 million liquor, cigarette and gun smuggling ring, imported illegal immigrants from China and engaged in shoot-outs with police.
The Jan. 8 editorial said the tribe “amounts to a criminal enterprise.”
Suzanne Halpin, a Post spokeswoman, said she had no comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
It asks for $20 million in damages for each of the three chiefs, none of whom was mentioned in the editorials by name.
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