Williston oilfield worker charged with terrorizing after threats made about ‘shooting Indians’ on the Fort Berthold Reservation

A number of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation citizens attended the Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative annual meeting last week in New Town when threats against Native people disrupted the entire event.

“We got a call that there was a bunch of bikers at the Mountrail-Williams annual meeting at Northern Lights,” Mountrail Country Sherriff Corey Bristol told Buffalo’s Fire. One of those bikers was telling people they shouldn’t enter the building and was heard making threats towards American Indians, said Bristol.

Paul Lester Whitcomb, a Williston resident, was arrested and charged on June 1 with terrorizing, a felony charge in North Dakota when a person places “another human being in fear” or causes the evacuation of a building or place of assembly, including threats to “commit any crime of violence.” Whitcomb’s hearing is scheduled for July 6 at Mountrail County Courthouse in Stanley.

“It was super scary. I just wanted to leave.”

LeeAnn Brady, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation Citizen

Whitcomb was also charged with disorderly conduct after police were called to the electric co-ops meeting location on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Bristol said Whitcomb “threatened to shoot a security guard at the building.”

Bristol said Whitcomb’s juvenile son was also charged with disorderly conduct and released to his mother.

“Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative, MWEC, staff responded to an incident that took place prior to the 2023 annual business meeting in New Town, N.D.,” said Dubi Cummings, MWEC public relations manager. “Law enforcement was notified and responded. Members and guests attending the event were not in immediate danger.

“MWEC continues our commitment to safety by training all staff to respond quickly to safety concerns each and every day. As a member-owned electric cooperative, we would like to thank all members and staff who made this year’s annual meeting a success,” said Cummings in an email statement to Buffalo’s Fire.

Bristol said several statements were gathered from people at the scene. “He made threats about shooting Indians,” said the sheriff. He also said Whitcomb displayed an “entitled, no-rules-apply-to-me attitude.” Whitcomb’s LinkedIn page describes his line of work as oil and gas production. He’s listed as the owner of Whitcomb Builders in Williston.

Whitcomb appears in a number of media stories as a transplant to North Dakota from Arkansas. He arrived with his family looking for work in the Bakken oilfield. In November 2011, he took an entry-level job working on a fracking crew and lived in an RV for about two years, according to the Dickinson Press.

Mountrail-Williams is a member-owned electric utility cooperative that provides services to northwestern North Dakota, including areas on Fort Berthold. Its primary office is located in Williston. The co-op is served by a nine-member board, and three directors are elected at each MWEC annual meeting, one each from the East, Central, and West Districts.

Those who attend the annual meeting are typically treated to a dinner and entertainment in addition to voting for the board of directors. LeeAnn Brady, an MHA citizen, was inside the Northern Lights building and had been scheduled to sing the national anthem in both English and the Arikara language.

Brady said she was sitting near North Segment Councilwoman Monica Mayer when one of the councilwoman’s staff members escorted the elected representative out of the main meeting area. Brady followed and said when they left the meeting area when she saw a number of police cars outside the building, including Three Affiliated Tribes, or MHA Nation officers.

Bristol said an officer from the Mountrail County Sheriff’s office responded to the call for police intervention because tribal police did not have jurisdiction to arrest Whitcomb, who is non-Native. Bristol said an FBI agent also arrived on the scene.

“It was super scary,” said Brady. “I just wanted to leave.” But after the arrests were made, the annual meeting resumed, and she eventually stepped on stage to sing.

Dateline:

BISMARCK, N.D.