CHRONOLOGY OF THE PELTIER CASE (http://www.freepeltier.org)
June 26, 1975: FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams, along with 150 other law enforcement officers and vigilantes, engage in a firefight with approximately 30 Indian men, women, and children at a comp in Oglala, resulting in the deaths of Coler, Williams, and AIM member Joe Stuntz, whose death was never investigated.
November 25, 1975: Dino Butler, Bob Robideau, James Eagle, and Leonard Peltier are indicted.
February 6-May 11, 1976: Peltier is arrested in Canada. The FBI produces and presents fabricated affidavits to the Canadian Court to procure extradition.
June 18, 1976: Canadian Justice Shultz, unaware of fabrications, grants extradition to United States.
July 16, 1976: Butler and Robideau acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
March 16, 1976: Peltier trial begins before Judge Paul Benson in Fargo, ND having been arbitrarily moved from Judge McManus' court because of Benson's pro-FBI attitude. Peltier is unable to present key evidence, cross-examine government witnesses, or argue self-defense.
April 18, 1977: Leonard Peltier is convicted upon coerced testimony and fabricated evidence. He is sentenced to twice his natural life in federal prison.
September 14, 1978: US 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirms conviction despite finding disturbing evidence of coercion of witnesses and fabrication of evidence which causes Judge Ross to criticize the government harshly.
April 4, 1984: 8th Circuit Court orders an evidentiary hearing regarding newly discovered (FOIA) evidence, including FBI perjury and the manufacture of the "murder weapon".
October 1-3, 1984: Despite FBI's admitted perjury; Judge Benson denies a new trial.
October 15, 1985: During oral argument before the 8th Circuit, prosecutor Lynn Crooks states, "we don't know who killed those agents." The court again criticizes the government's tactics in trying and investigating the case.
October 11, 1986: 8th Circuit Court finds that the trial judge erred in his rulings, witnesses were coerced, evidence fabricated, perjury committed, and evidence favorable to Peltier withheld. Despite this, the appeal is denied based on mistaken testimony which had been recanted at trial and because the court "recognized improper conduct" by the FBI but was "reluctant to impute even further improprieties to them." Judge Heany would later call it "the most difficult decision" he'd ever made.
June, 1989: US government admits in the Supreme Court of Canada that the extradition documents were fraudulent.
December 3, 1990: Writ of Habeas Corpus filed calling for immediate release due to the government's concessions of violation of due process.
April 18, 1991: Judge Gerald Heaney, author of the 1986 appeal denial, sends a letter to the President asking for a commutation of Peltier's sentence due to improprieties evident throughout the case.
October 2, 1991: Evidentiary Hearing in Bismarck, ND before magistrate Karen Klein-- a Judge Benson appointee. Government again admits that there is no direct evidence against Peltier. Klein still denies justice.
November 1993: An application for executive clemency is submitted to the pardon attorney at the Department of Justice
December 1993: United States Parole Commission denies Peltier and states that he must serve and additional 15 years before reconsideration.
June 1994: Peltier weekend in Washington D.C. draws 3500 supporters from around the world. 750,000 signatures gathered in 12 months are presented.
January 1995: The European Parliament passes a resolution in support of executive clemency.
May 1995: It is discovered that the 1985 appeal may have been lost due to an error made by Peltier's own attorney who mistakenly provided the court with incorrect witness testimony. Attorney William Kunstler immediately files a deposition asking the court to rehear the appeal. This is still pending.
September 1995: Newly discovered radio communications show agents in the area of the shoot out 20 minutes before the time the government and FBI insisted upon, demonstrating further that the firefight was orchestrated by the FBI and that Coler and Williams had back-up nearby and were not "trapped alone." A second Freedom of Information Act request is generated.
December 11, 1995: A second parole hearing results in Peltier being commended for his good behavior in prison and his work with Native people.
March 18, 1996: The USPC denies Peltier's bid for parole stating that he has not given a specific factual account of his actions "that is consistent with the jury's verdict of guilt." How can a man professing his innocence do this?
June 26-27, 1996: The Leonard Peltier Freedom Forum takes place in Washington, D.C. Simultaneously, Senator Daniel Inouye addresses the full Senate in support of Peltier. Letters of support are issued from several congresspersons, human rights organizations, and celebrities.
January 20, 2001: President Clinton has denied Leonard Peltier's application for Executive Clemency
Ahh, the plot thickens. So despite all the protests and actions taken by supporters of Peltier, no real advancement has been made. Not only has he not been released, he hasn't even been given an appeal. At this point it is important to point out that this cause is not just made up of college students, activists, and Native Americans. There are dozens of well-known people in support of Peltier. Like celebrities (e. g. Kris Kristofferson), activists (e.g. Amnesty International), volunteers (e.g. the late Mother Teresa), and even political leaders (e.g. Nelson Mandela.)
The following is another such political leader in support of Peltier. It is a rebuttal statement given Friday, 14th December 2000, at the National Press Club in Washington DC, by former Rep. Don Edwards of California, to the FBI's statements against clemency for Peltier. Rep. Edwards served 16 terms in the House of Representatives, is a former FBI agent himself, and was the longtime chairman at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, which oversaw the Bureau.
12/14/00
Hon. Don Edwards
P.O. Box 7151
Carmel, CA
93921
As a former Congressman from California for over thirty years, a former FBI agent and a citizen committed to justice, I wish to speak
out strongly against the FBI's efforts in opposing the clemency appeal of Leonard Peltier. I served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights in the U.S. House of Representatives.
I took a personal interest in Mr. Peltier's case and became convinced that he never received a fair trial. Even the government now admits that the theory it presented against Mr. Peltier at trial was not true. After 24 years in prison, Leonard Peltier has served an inordinate amount of time and deserves the right to consideration of his clemency request on the facts and the merits.
The FBI continues to deny its improper conduct on Pine Ridge during the 1970's and in the trial of Leonard Peltier. The FBI used Mr. Peltier as a scapegoat and they continue to do so today. At every step of the way, FBI agents and leadership have opposed any admission of wrongdoing by the government, and they have sought to misrepresent and politicize the meaning of clemency for Leonard Peltier. The killing of FBI agents at Pine Ridge was reprehensible, but the government now admits that it cannot prove that Mr. Peltier killed the agents.
Granting clemency to Mr. Peltier should not be viewed as expressing any disrespect for the current agents or leadership of the FBI, nor would it represent any condoning of the killings that took place on Pine Ridge. Instead, clemency for Mr. Peltier would recognize past wrongdoing and the undermining of the government's case since trial. Finally, it would serve as a crucial step in the reconciliation and healing between the U.S. Government and Native Americans, on the Pine Ridge Reservation and throughout the country.
[signature]
Don Edwards (D-CA), ret.
Member of Congress, 1963-1995 (http://www.freepeltier.org)
Other documents exist online at www.freepeltier.org clearly showing Leonard Peltier's innocence, or at least evidence for a mistrial. Such documents are prosecution's witness Michael Anderson testimony admitting FBI coercion to testify against Peltier, letters from the FBI admitting fraudulent extradition affidavits, Judge Ross chastising of the governments role in the illegal extradition in a 1979 appeal hearing, and court records of the prosecuting attorney admitting: "we can't prove who shot those agents…" in the 1979 appeal hearing.
Also, perhaps more intriguing is the affidavit of Robert Hugh Wilson, who was an inmate with Leonard Peltier and was approached by prison officials as well as an unknown person who is believed to be an FBI agent. Wilson was coerced into agreeing to "neutralize" or kill Peltier.
Due to the fear for his safety, Leonard Peltier escaped from Lompoc prison on July 20, 1978. Another inmate who also escaped, and resembled Peltier from behind, was shot in the back and killed while attempting to surrender.
Five days later Peltier was recaptured. Then on February 4, 1980, Leonard Peltier was acquitted of the charges of conspiracy and assault due to his escape.
Consequently, on the very same day of Peltier's escape, Robert Hugh Wilson was fired from his lax job that he was supplied with for agreeing to end Peltier's life.
Why?
So, I have presented a lot of data and evidence for both sides of the case. Anyone can read this and come out with either opinion. But, one question remains; Why? Why, if he is, is Leonard Peltier and AIM a target of the FBI?
I can come up with a couple explanations for this.
First is pretty straightforward: control. No one can deny that governments, especially ours likes to be in control. Bodies that put this control in jeopardy are seen as enemies. This happened with the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and it happened with the American Indian Movement. These organizations show people that the government, while powerful, is neither omnipotent nor omniscient. They tell people that the government can govern, but that cannot tell you how to live or what kind of person to be. Many of these organizations are seen as a threat to the government and are to be taken care of. That is how it seems to me.
The other is far more tangible. The region of South Dakota where the Pine Ridge Reservation sits is not mineral deficient. In 1952 there was Uranium discovered in its hills (Matthiessen, 1991). This element was in high demand due to the ongoing Cold War with the Soviet Union. Also discovered were vast surface deposits of coal (Mathiessen, 1991). President Eisenhower laid plans for the great western energy empire called the "military-industrial complex" (Mathiessen, 1991). The Native Americans of the area claimed for monetary compensation for the desecration of their lands and these claims were ignored for almost two decades. When the AIM put in a claim for land compensation, which was granted. The basis for the claim was the revalidation of old treaties. For example, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
So it appears that the land and the people of Southwestern South Dakota do hold interest for the FBI and the rest of the Government.
Conclusion
While it is evident that Peltier was there that fateful day, and even likely that someone he knew and/or was with was the murderer, it seems to me that there is no concrete evidence to convict Peltier on murder. It seems that the trial was a joke and it seems that the FBI may have been "out for" Peltier as head of the AIM, or after the land the AIM and other Native groups held from the start.
Whatever the reason or motives behind the FBI's involvement and the shootings, I feel that Peltier deserves a retrial. The amounts of new evidence and testimony available and admitted fallacies on part of the FBI are reason enough. Not to mention the depreciation of the evidence originally cited by the prosecution. Most of it has been deemed circumstantial. Maybe some actually impartial judges will be sought who will allow supporting evidence on both side of the issue.
Leonard Peltier has been in prison for 24 years, most of his sentence has been served at Leavenworth in Kansas.
For what you can do:
http://www.freepeltier.org
http://www.freeleonardpeltier.com
http://www.noparolepeltier.com
Or write to the:
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
Sources:
Internet:
http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/minn/peltier.htm
http://www.freeleonardpeltier.com
http://www.freepeltier.org
http://www.noparolepeltier.com
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jamarcus/ammmy.html
Books:
Matthiessen, Peter; In the Spirit of Crazy Horse Viking Press, 1991
Film:
Incident at Oglala, directed by Michael Aptec, produced and directed by Robert Redford
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