PHOENIX – As dawn broke on May 12, 1992, teams of FBI agents and U.S. marshals in fleets of trucks rolled out into the desert toward Native American reservations across the state, under orders from U.S. Attorney Linda Akers to confiscate illegal electronic gambling machines from five tribal casinos.

Although the casinos were within the bounds of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, they implemented slot machines without proper authorization. One by one, federal agents seized hundreds of video gambling machines from the casinos with little resistance.

Until they reached the casino on Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

Federal agents, with 349 confiscated slot machines in tow, were ready to file out through the casino parking lot when they found themselves barricaded. Members of the reserv

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