Family Members of Khadijah Britton Attend a Protest for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People on the Same Day the Suspect in Her Disappearance Faces Federal Charges

Yesterday, the same day families and friends of missing and murdered indigenous peoples gathered in front of a Federal Bureau of Investigation’s field office in Fortuna, Negie Fallis, the primary suspect in the disappearance of Covelo woman Khadijah Britton, was transported by federal agents to San Francisco to await arraignment on federal charges.

According to information on the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office website, MCSO was contacted in “early February of 2018, about a missing person, Khadijah Britton.” The website explains investigators were told Britton was seen several days before the report was filed at a friend’s home when “Negie Fallis arrived at the location, armed with what appeared to be a small derringer pistol, and demanded his girlfriend, Khadijah Britton, exit the residence and speak with him.” Witnesses told investigators they watched Britton leave the residence with Fallis when “a physical altercation occurred between them before they both entered a black Mercedes sedan and left the location.” This would be the last time Britton would be seen alive, according to the MCSO website.

Fallis’s future arraignment in San Francisco stems from a June 4, 2020 arrest where he attempted to flee law enforcement while driving a vehicle. A search was conducted, and officers located a methamphetamine pipe, a loaded Glock Model #23 Semi-Automatic .40 caliber handgun, and a Ruger Mini-14 rifle.

According to a press release from the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office, Fallis was “was transported by federal agents to the Bay Area for his arrangement on federal charges in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.” Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster said in the press release that “most if not all of the local charges will be dismissed next week to support the federal prosecution if it is decided by the federal judge that defendant Fallis is to remain in federal custody.”

Wednesday’s rally in Fortuna was attended by family members of missing and murdered indigenous peoples, including Britton’s grandparents. Several demonstrators held signs with Britton’s pictures accompanied by the red handprint, a potent symbol of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person movement. Activist Jesse Armstrong told us the handprint symbolizes “the silence of the missing and murdered and the voice the protestors hoped to give them.”