"Miccosukee tribal police seize newborn at hospital"

Erik Holder, Miami Herald

February 13th, 2018

A tribal court for a sovereign Indian nation in Florida met to discuss the return of an infant Thursday that was taken from her parents, a Miccosukee mother and a white father, at a Miami-area hospital.

The girl's father, Justin Johnson, told the Miami Herald that no decision was made after an hours long hearing at the tribal court on the Miccosukee reservation, and fears that none will be reached soon.

"I'm beyond terrified, at this point." Johnson said.

Two days after the girl's January 16 birth, tribal detectives entered Baptist Hospital, which is outside the tribe's reservation in the Everglades, and took Ingrid Ronan Johnson from her parents, Rebecca Sanders and Johnson. The Herald reported that the Miccosukee police were accompanied by Miami-Dade officers and carried a court order. Miami-Dade now says it is reviewing the information related to the case.

The parents spent four days telling police, prosecutors and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs that the tribal order was concocted by the baby's grandmother, Betty Osceola, to keep Johnson out of the girl's life. The tribal order granted custody to Osceola.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around how this has happened," Johnson said earlier. "I can't even begin to explain how hard this has been. I don't see how people of the Miccosukee tribe can look me in the face and tell me this is OK."

Sanders, 28, said she too feels like she has no rights. "I thought the tribe was to protect its people, not use its own rulings to control its people," she told the Herald. No phone listing could be found for Osceola in a public records search.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Bradford Cohen represents Sanders. "We don't know the health of the baby. We don't know if she is receiving proper care," Cohen said.

Authorities are reviewing what happened at the hospital, which said in a statement that its officials followed a court order. Miami-Dade police said its officers were asked to provide backup while tribal officers executed a court order, but were unaware the order came from the tribe, not the federal government. The tribe's police chief hasn't returned a phone call from The Associated Press.

"I remember kissing her forehead and telling her, ‘welcome to the world,'" Johnson said. "I haven't seen my daughter since."