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... able to keep the residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation under a blanket of fear and helplessness (Matthiessen, 296). This was the situation at Pine Ridge when elders asked the AIM to come, to support those on the reservation who were under attack from the FBI and from Dick Wilson. What followed is still controversial today. On June 26, 1975, two unmarked cars drove onto Jumping Bull property in the Pine Ridge Reservation supposedly searching for a young Indian who stole some cowboy boots. They followed a group of men in a pickup truck, and the men pulled to the side.
A gunfight erupted between the Indians and two FBI agents, and exploded into a firefight between 30 Indian men, women and children and 150 FBI agents, US Marshals and Wilson's goons. Coincidently, the largest buildup of federal agents on the reservation occurred six days before the attack. It left two agents: Jack Color and Ron Williams, and one Indian male: Joe Study, dead. This is where the controversy begins. To this day, it is unclear which side fired first, though most witnesses state that the Indians did.
The agents were only able to get off a total of five shots before becoming wounded and disabled. Then, an individual shot the agents at close range. One of the largest manhunts in FBI history followed within hours, which the US Commission on Civil Rights deemed "a full scale vendetta. " Paramilitary units scoured the reservation, ransacking homes and terrifying women and children. There was no investigation into the death of the Native American. "In the narrow vision of the FBI there was no place in the American Dream for these ungrateful aborigines who dare to state that all national boundaries in the Western Hemisphere...
were entirely meaningless since 'Americans' are really Europeans and The Americas were Indian country from end to end. " The FBI later arrested four AIM members, Dino Butler, Bob Robideau, James Eagle and Leonard Peltier. According to James Messerschmidt's The Trial Of Leonard Peltier, after posting bail Peltier fled to Canada, believing he would not receive a fair trial. Soon after, Butler and Robideau were both acquitted on grounds of self-defense. The FBI then stepped up its pursuit of Leonard, needing someone to convict. Peltier was arrested within three months in Canada by US authorities.
In order to extradite Peltier back to the US, some evidence and an affidavit was needed. The FBI then proceeded to manufacture affidavits using the testimony of Myrtle Poor Bear, and American Indian. Poor Bear signed a statement saying she witnessed Peltier murder the two agents execution-style. Poor Bear, notably unreliable, later retracted her statement and went as far to say that she had never even met Peltier (Messerschmidt, 78). With the help of Poor Bear's testimony in the affidavit that the US Government now admits was completely "false and fabricated, " Leonard was brought back to the US to stand trial.
Meanwhile, the FBI dropped all charges against the third man, James Eagle, in order to focus its entire force on Peltier's case. The trial of Peltier was set to take place in the neutral Cedar Rapids, Iowa in front of the same judge that had ruled over Butler and Robideau's cases. However, the case was inexplicably moved back to hostile Grand Forks, ND and put under the authority of Judge Paul Benson, notorious for his anti-Native American stance (Messerschmidt, 113). The trial began with a series of legal handcuff for Peltier. The judge's instructions to the jurors about their personal safety made it seem as if the AIM had a contract out on each of their lives, "This is a very charged case, and I would not be surprised if outside influences may try to intimidate you... be careful" (Weyler, 131).
Also, Judge Benson disallowed any evidence from the two prior acquittals and refused to hear evidence for "self defense, " the same plea that the two others were acquitted on. Peltier obviously was not being given a fair case. The prosecution then went on to show ballistics evidence in order to prove that Peltier's gun killed the agents at close range. This contention kept Leonard from entering the same self-defense argument that had allowed the other two to go free. Recently, however, a 1975 telex from an FBI ballistics expert said that "based upon the ballistics tests, " the rifle alleged to be Peltier's had "a different firing pin" from the gun that was used to kill the two agents at close range (Messerschmidt, 148). Later in an appeals court, an FBI witness contended that the telex was just a progress report, and that other tests showed Peltier's gun to be "an exact match. " When the defense attempted to call Myrtle Poor Bear as a witness to show how the FBI had coerced her into signing fake affidavits, Judge Benson denied the request, stating that ."..
the witness could be highly prejudicial" towards the government (Matthiessen, 296). In sharp contrast to the previous two trials, Peltier was not allowed to argue in self-defense, because of the ballistic tests linking him. Without these tests, he would have been able to speak about the atmosphere of terror surrounding the reservation, as the two acquitted did. Judge Benson also refused to let the defense call key witnesses in regard to alleged FBI misconduct, such as intimidating witnesses. At the end, Peltier was unable to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, present important evidence, or argue for his self-defense.
In the coming months, every key government witness would come forward and claim to have been coerced or threatened. Leonard Peltier was convicted and sentenced to more than twice his life in jail. In 1986 the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the prosecution had withheld evidence favorable to Peltier, but then concluded that this had not affected the verdict, and upheld the conviction. The judge who ruled on that case however, has expressed much concern over Peltier's battle, "The FBI used improper methods in Peltier's extradition, and in otherwise trying the case, " wrote Judge Gerald Heaney in a letter to the Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (Peltier, 211). Heaney has also written a letter to the President on Peltier's behalf. Very recently, more new evidence supporting Leonard has been discovered.
Apparently during an appeal, Peltier's lawyer made a mistake by agreeing on the testimony of Norman Brown, who had actually recanted his testimony in court and claimed to have been coerced by the FBI. Also, tapes at the North Dakota attorney General's office proved that there were other agents stationed in the area on the day of the firefight, contradicting the government's testimony. Another document has been located in which the FBI discussed plans for "paramilitary law enforcement on Indian land" (web). In a 1985 appeals court, the government prosecutor Lynn Crooks acknowledges that "We don't know who killed them" (web) and that is why Peltier has been tried both as murderer and the aider.
That is also why so many people are calling for Leonard's freedom. Five and a half years after Leonard Peltier filed a request for executive clemency, it still remains unanswered, and untaxed about by much of the American public. Right now, the request for executive clemency is sitting upon President Clinton's desk, but has not been touched due to the President-elect confusion, so the next month will be critical. While in jail, Leonard has gained many educated supporters, ranging from rock bands to celebrities to Amnesty International. Leonard was declared an official Human Rights Defender at the Human Rights Defenders Summit in Paris, which commemorated the 50 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He is also the author of a few award winning books, including one that was used to base the Robert Redford film, Incident at Oglala.
To this day, over 600 pages of documents regarding the case remain classified, for reasons of National Security. All in all, the life of Leonard Peltier is a very intriguing and saddening journey. Although it can not be said whether or not Peltier committed the crime, it can be surmised that he was not given a fair trial, and that he and other Native Americans have suffered through numerous injustices at the hands of the US Government. In the end, will Leonard Peltier be viewed as an extremist radical, as the government saw him? Or will he be revered as one of the leaders of The American Indian Movement; an organization which brought Native Americans of the Midwest back from the brink of poverty and despair, and instilled in them a sense of pride which had been long lacking? I guess it's up to each person to form his or her own educated opinion, except for Leonard, that is.
Freedom. Yeah, right. "I am an Indian who dared to stand up to defend his people. " -- Leonard Peltier My Life Is My Sundance Bibliography: References 1. Matthiessen, Peter. In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse. New York; Viking Press, Copyright 1983. 2. Peltier, Leonard.
Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sundance. New York; St. Martin's Press, Copyright 1999. 3. Weyler, Rex. Blood Of The Land: The Government and Corporation's War Against The American Indian Movement. New York; Everest House, Copyright 1982. 4.
Bureau of Indian Affairs. American Indians and Their Federal Relationship To The United States. Washington, D. C. ; United States G. P.
O, Copyright 1972. 5. Messerschmidt, James W. The Trial Of Leonard Peltier. Boston; South End Press, Copyright 1983. 6. The United States, Congress, Senate. Revolutionary activities within the United States, the American Indian Movement.
Washington; U. S. Government Print Office, Copyright 1976. 7. Frazier, Ian. On the rez. New York; Farrar, Straus, Giroux, copyright 2000. 8.
Spanish Fork Motion Picture Company. Incident at Oglala. Van Nuys, CA; LIVE Home Video, Copyright 1991.
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