Hotel Owner Banned from Management and Must Apologize Following Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

Justice Department Sues South Dakota Hotel Co-owner for Banning Native Americans

Connie Uhre, co-owner of Rapid City’s Grand Gateway Hotel, is banned from managing the establishment for four years and must publicly apologize for her discriminatory posts on social media.
The U.S. Justice Department sued Uhre for racial discrimination against American Indians, following her declaration that she would no longer allow them on her property due to an incident involving a fatal shooting.
Members of the Indigenous-led activist group NDN Collective were denied hotel rooms shortly after Uhre’s posts, leading to months of boycotts and protests against the hotel and its owners.
Uhre was arrested in May 2022, accused of spraying a cleaning product at NDN Collective demonstrators outside the hotel.
As part of the consent decree, which still needs approval from a U.S. District Court judge, the company must apologize for Uhre’s posts in letters to tribal leaders and in newspapers throughout South Dakota.