Leonard Peltier
Encyclopedia
Leonard Peltier is a Native American
activist
and member of the American Indian Movement
(AIM). In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation
agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
.
Peltier's indictment and conviction is the subject of the 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala
, a film directed by Michael Apted
. Peltier's supporters present him as a political prisoner
, although his murder conviction has survived appeals in various courts. Amnesty International
has expressed concern about the fairness of the proceedings. Numerous lawsuits have been filed on Peltier's behalf, but none has succeeded.
In 2002 and 2003, Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country
, wrote that sources had told him that Peltier had said he killed the FBI agents; DeMain withdrew his support for clemency. At the trials in 2004 and 2010 of two men indicted for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash
in December 1975 at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, prosecution witnesses testified that Peltier had told them and a small group of fugitive activists, including Aquash, that he had shot the two FBI agents. Peltier issued a statement in 2004 accusing one witness of perjury for her testimony and being a sellout. The two men charged in the murder of Aquash were convicted.
Peltier is incarcerated at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex
, Florida
. His projected release date is October 11, 2040.
His last parole hearing was in July 2009; his request for parole was denied. Peltier's next scheduled hearing will be in July 2024.
, the eleventh of thirteen children, to Leo Peltier and Alvina Robideau. His father was three-fourths Chippewa and one-quarter French
, and his mother was Lakota Sioux on her mother's side and Chippewa on her father's. Peltier's parents divorced when he was four years old. At this time, Leonard and his sister Betty Ann were taken to live with their paternal grandparents Alex and Mary Dubois-Peltier in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation
near Belcourt, North Dakota
.
In September 1953, at the age of nine, Leonard was enrolled at the Wahpeton Indian School in Wahpeton, North Dakota
, an Indian boarding school run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA). He graduated at Wahpeton in May 1957, and attended the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, South Dakota
. After dropping out in the ninth grade, he returned to the Turtle Mountain Reservation to live with his father.
. He worked for several years and became the owner of an auto body station. In the city, Peltier became involved in a variety of causes championing Native American civil rights
, and eventually joined the American Indian Movement
(AIM).
In the early 1970s, he learned about the factional tensions at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota between supporters of Richard Wilson
, elected tribal chairman in 1972, and traditionalist members of the tribe. Wilson had created a private militia, known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation
(GOONs), whose members were reputed to have attacked political opponents. Protests over a failed impeachment hearing of Wilson contributed to the AIM and Lakota armed takeover of Wounded Knee in February 1973, which resulted in a 71-day siege by federal forces, known as the Wounded Knee Incident
. They demanded the resignation of Wilson. The takeover did not end Wilson's leadership, the actions of the GOONs or the violence; at least 50 murders were reported on Pine Ridge during the next three years.
In 1975 Peltier traveled to the Pine Ridge reservation as a member of AIM to try to help reduce the continuing violence among political opponents. At the time, he was a fugitive, with a warrant issued in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
. It charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer, a crime for which he was later acquitted.
(FBI) were searching for a young Pine Ridge man named Jimmy Eagle. He was wanted for questioning in connection with the recent assault and robbery of two local ranch hands. Eagle had been involved in a physical altercation with a friend, during which he had stolen a pair of leather cowboy boots. Williams and Coler, driving two separate unmarked cars, saw and followed a red pick-up truck which matched the description of Eagle's.
Williams radioed that he and Coler had come under high-powered rifle fire from the occupants of the vehicle and were unable to return fire with their .38 Special
pistols. Williams radioed that they would be killed if reinforcements did not arrive. He next radioed that he was hit. FBI Special Agent Gary Adams was the first to respond to Williams' call for assistance, and he also came under intense gun fire from the Jumping Bull Ranch; he was unable to reach or see Coler and Williams.
The FBI, BIA, and the local police spent much of the afternoon pinned down on US Route 18, waiting for other law enforcement officers to launch a flanking attack. At 2:30 p.m., a BIA rifleman fatally shot Joe Stuntz. At 4:31 p.m., authorities recovered the bodies of Williams and Coler from their vehicles. At 6:30 p.m. they ignited tear gas and stormed the Jumping Bull houses, where they found Stuntz's body clad in Coler's green FBI field jacket. The two FBI Agents were later confirmed to have died during the early afternoon 26 June 1975. Stuntz appeared to have died later during subsequent shooting.
Other parties escaped the compound after Stuntz's death, crossed White Clay Creek and hid in a culvert beneath a dirt road. With police focused on the storming of Jumping Bull, the group made a break for the southern hills. In the following days, they separated into smaller parties and scattered across the country, causing a nationwide manhunt that lasted eight months.
The FBI reported Williams had received a defensive wound to his right hand (as he attempted to shield his face) from a bullet which passed through his hand into his head, killing him instantly. Williams had received two gunshot injuries, to his body and foot, prior to the contact shot that killed him. Coler, incapacitated from earlier bullet wounds, had been shot twice in the head execution style. In total 125 bullet holes were found in the agents' vehicles, many from a .223 Remington
(5.56 mm) rifle.
At the trial and on other occasions, Leonard Peltier gave a variety of alibis to different people about his activities on the morning of the attacks. In an interview with the author Peter Matthiessen (In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
1983), Peltier described working on a car in Oglala. He drove back to the Jumping Bull Compound about an hour before the shooting started. In an interview with Lee Hill, he described being woken up in the tent city at the ranch by the sound of gunshots; to Harvey Arden, for Prison Writings, he described enjoying a beautiful morning before he heard the firing.
. The FBI sent out descriptions of the vehicle and a recreational vehicle
(RV) in which Peltier and associates were believed to be traveling. An Oregon State Trooper stopped the vehicles and ordered the driver of the RV to exit; but, after a brief exchange of gunfire, the driver escaped on foot. Authorities later identified the driver as Peltier. Coler's handgun was found in a bag under the front seat of the RV, where authorities reported finding Peltier's thumb print. On December 22, 1975, Peltier was named to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
list.
On September 10, 1975, a station wagon exploded on the Kansas Turnpike
near Wichita
. A burned AR-15
rifle was recovered, along with Agent Coler's .38 Special revolver. The car was loaded with weapons and explosives, which apparently ignited when placed too close to a hole in the exhaust pipe. Among those in the car were Robert Robideau
, Norman Charles, and Michael Anderson, said to be associates of Peltier.
Peltier fled to Hinton, Alberta
, where he hid in a friend's cabin. On February 6, 1976, he was arrested and extradited from Canada based on an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, a local Native American woman. She claimed to have been Peltier’s girlfriend at the time and to have witnessed the murders. But, according to Peltier and others at the scene, Poor Bear did not know Peltier, nor was she present at the time of the shooting. She later confessed that she was pressured and threatened by FBI agents into giving the statements. Poor Bear attempted to testify about the FBI's intimidation
at Peltier’s trial; however, the judge barred her testimony on the grounds of mental incompetence.
Peltier fought extradition to the United States, even as Bob Robideau and Darelle "Dino" Butler, AIM members also present on the Jumping Bull compound at the time of the shootings, were found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense by a federal jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
. Peltier returned too late to be tried with Robideau and Butler, and he was tried separately.
The trial was held trial in Fargo, North Dakota
, where a jury convicted Peltier of the murders of Coler and Williams. Unlike the trial for Butler and Robideau, the jury was told that the two FBI agents were killed by close-range shots to their heads, when they were already defenseless due to previous gunshot wounds. They also saw autopsy and crime scene photographs of the two agents, which had not been shown to the jury at Cedar Rapids. In April 1977, Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. Upon hearing the appeals case on February 11, 1986, Federal Appeals Judge Gerald W. Heaney
, concluded, "When all is said and done ... a few simple but very important facts remain. The casing introduced into evidence had in fact been extracted from the Wichita AR-15." In his 1999 memoir, Peltier admitted that he fired at the agents, but denies that he fired the fatal shots that killed them.
A cartridge case from the Wichita AR-15 was found in the trunk of Agent Coler's car, and admitted as evidence at Peltier's trial in Fargo, N.Dakota. Also admitted as evidence was the fact that no person involved in shooting at the agents, other than Peltier, possessed a Wichita AR-15 weapon.
The journalist Scott Anderson said that in a 1995 interview, he sought answers to the contradictions he had found in Peltier's accounts of the incident on 26 June 1975. When asked about the guns he carried that day, Peltier listed a .30-30, a .303, a .306, a .250 and a .22, but he did not remember the AR-15.
The former United States Attorney General
Ramsey Clark
has served pro bono as one of Peltier's lawyers and has aided in filing a series of appeals on Peltier's behalf. In all appeals, the conviction and sentence have been affirmed by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The last two appeals were Peltier v. Henman, 997 F. 2d 461 in July 1993 and United States v. Peltier, 446 F.3d 911 (8th Cir. 2006) (Peltier IV) in 2006.
to be a political prisoner
and has received support from individuals and groups including Nelson Mandela
, Rigoberta Menchú
, Amnesty International
, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
, Tenzin Gyatso
(the 14th Dalai Lama
), the European Parliament
, the Belgian Parliament, the Italian Parliament, the Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
, and Rev. Jesse Jackson
.
Peltier's supporters have given two different rationales for overturning the conviction. One argument asserts that Peltier did not commit the murders, and that he either had no knowledge of the murders (as he told CNN
in 1999), or that he has knowledge implicating others which he will never reveal, or (as told in Peter Matthiessen
's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (book)
, 1983) that he approached and searched the agents but did not execute them. The other rationale holds that the murders (no matter who committed them) occurred during a war-like atmosphere on the reservation in which FBI agents were terrorizing residents in the wake of the Wounded Knee Incident
in 1973.
The film Incident at Oglala (1992) included the AIM activist Robert Robideau
saying the FBI agents had been shot by a 'Mr X'. When Peltier was interviewed about 'Mr X', he said he knew who the man was. In 1995 Dino Butler, in an interview with E.K. Caldwell of News From Indian Country
, said that 'Mr X' had been invented as the murderer in an attempt to achieve Peltier's release. In a News From Indian Country interview with Bernie Lafferty in 2001, she said that she had witnessed Peltier's referring to his murder of one of the Agents.
was considering granting Peltier clemency. Opponents campaigned against that, culminating in a protest outside the White House
by about 500 FBI agents and families, and a letter opposing clemency from FBI director Louis Freeh
. Clinton did not grant or deny Peltier clemency. In January 2009, President George W. Bush
denied Peltier's clemency petition before leaving office.
In 2002, Peltier filed a civil rights
lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the FBI, Louis Freeh
, and FBI agents who had participated in the campaign against his clemency petition, alleging that they "engaged in a systematic and officially sanctioned campaign of misinformation and disinformation." On March 22, 2004, the suit was dismissed.
, the publisher Paul DeMain wrote an editorial that an "unnamed delegation" told him, "Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of the [FBI] agents..." DeMain described the delegation as "grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll." DeMain said he was told the motive for the execution-style murder of the AIM activist Anna Mae Aquash
in December 1975 "allegedly was her knowledge that Leonard Peltier had shot the two agents, as he was convicted." DeMain did not accuse Peltier of participation in the Aquash murder (and in 2003 two Native American men were indicted for the murder).
On May 1, 2003, Peltier sued DeMain for libel for similar statements about the case published on March 10, 2003, in News from Indian Country. On May 25, 2004, Peltier withdrew the suit after he and DeMain settled the case. DeMain issued the following statement:
In February 2004, Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud, an Oglala Sioux, was tried and convicted for the murder of Aquash. In Looking Cloud's trial, the federal prosecution argued that AIM's suspicion of Aquash stemmed from her having heard Peltier admit to the murders. Darlene Kamook Nichols, former wife of the AIM leader Dennis Banks
, was a witness for the prosecution. She testified that in late 1975, Peltier told her and a small group of AIM fugitive activists about shooting the FBI agents. At the time all were fleeing law enforcement after the Pine Ridge shootout. The other fugitives included her sister Bernie Nichols, her husband Dennis Banks, and Anna Mae Aquash, among several others. Bernie Nichols-Lafferty testified with a similar account of Peltier’s statement.
Earlier in 1975, the AIM member Douglass Durham had been revealed to be an FBI agent and dismissed from the organization. AIM leaders were fearful of infiltration. Other witnesses have testified that, once Aquash was suspected of being an informant, Peltier interrogated her while holding a gun to her head. Peltier and David Hill were said to have Aquash participate in bomb-making so that her fingerprints would be on the bombs. The trio planted these bombs at two power plants on the Pine Ridge reservation on Columbus Day 1975.
During the trial, Nichols acknowledged receiving $42,000 from the FBI in connection with her cooperation on the case. She said it was compensation for travel expenses to collect evidence and moving expenses to be further from her ex-husband Dennis Banks, whom she feared because she had implicated him as a witness. On February 10, 2004, Peltier issued a statement suggesting that Kamook Nicholls had committed perjury by her testimony and was a sellout.
On June 26, 2007, the Supreme Court of British Columbia
ordered the extradition
of John Graham
to the United States to stand trial for his alleged role in the murder of Aquash. He was eventually tried by the state of South Dakota in 2010. During his trial, Darlene "Kamook" Ecoffey said Peltier told both her and Aquash that he had killed the FBI agents in 1975. Ecoffey testified under oath, "He (Peltier) held his hand like this," she said, pointing her index finger like a gun, "and he said ‘that (expletive) was begging for his life but I shot him anyway.". Graham was convicted of murder as the gunman who shot Aquash and sentenced to life imprisonment.
in the 2004 Presidential race. While prison inmates convicted of felonies are frequently prohibited from voting in the United States (Maine and Vermont are exceptions), the United States Constitution
has no prohibition against felons being elected to Federal offices, including President
. The Peace and Freedom Party secured ballot status for Peltier only in California
, where his presidential candidacy received 27,607 votes, approximately 0.2% of the vote in that state.
, a Peltier supporter, shifted his financial support from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign to that of Barack Obama
. Geffen said he switched his support because he was disillusioned by Bill Clinton
's refusal to pardon Peltier, although he had pardoned Marc Rich
.
, where he had been transferred from USP Lewisburg. He was sent back to Lewisburg.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and member of the American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
(AIM). In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
.
Peltier's indictment and conviction is the subject of the 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A...
, a film directed by Michael Apted
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
. Peltier's supporters present him as a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
, although his murder conviction has survived appeals in various courts. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
has expressed concern about the fairness of the proceedings. Numerous lawsuits have been filed on Peltier's behalf, but none has succeeded.
In 2002 and 2003, Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country
News from Indian Country
News From Indian Country is a nationwide, privately owned newspaper, published twice a month, founded by Paul DeMain in 1986, who is the managing editor and an owner. It is the oldest continuing, nationally distributed publication that is not owned by a tribal government...
, wrote that sources had told him that Peltier had said he killed the FBI agents; DeMain withdrew his support for clemency. At the trials in 2004 and 2010 of two men indicted for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash
Anna Mae Aquash
Anna Mae Aquash was a Mi'kmaq activist from Nova Scotia, Canada who became the highest-ranking woman in the American Indian Movement in the United States during the mid-1970s.Aquash...
in December 1975 at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, prosecution witnesses testified that Peltier had told them and a small group of fugitive activists, including Aquash, that he had shot the two FBI agents. Peltier issued a statement in 2004 accusing one witness of perjury for her testimony and being a sellout. The two men charged in the murder of Aquash were convicted.
Peltier is incarcerated at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex
Coleman Federal Correctional Complex
Coleman Federal Correctional Complex is a prison complex operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Located south of the town of Coleman, Florida in an unincorporated area of Sumter County off U.S...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. His projected release date is October 11, 2040.
His last parole hearing was in July 2009; his request for parole was denied. Peltier's next scheduled hearing will be in July 2024.
Early life and education
Peltier was born in Grand Forks, North DakotaGrand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 52,838, while that of the city and surrounding metropolitan area was 98,461...
, the eleventh of thirteen children, to Leo Peltier and Alvina Robideau. His father was three-fourths Chippewa and one-quarter French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, and his mother was Lakota Sioux on her mother's side and Chippewa on her father's. Peltier's parents divorced when he was four years old. At this time, Leonard and his sister Betty Ann were taken to live with their paternal grandparents Alex and Mary Dubois-Peltier in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation
Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation
Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation is an Indian Reservation located primarily in northern North Dakota. It is the land-base for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians ....
near Belcourt, North Dakota
Belcourt, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,440 people, 806 households, and 561 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 417.0 people per square mile . There were 856 housing units at an average density of 146.3/sq mi...
.
In September 1953, at the age of nine, Leonard was enrolled at the Wahpeton Indian School in Wahpeton, North Dakota
Wahpeton, North Dakota
The first European explorer in the area was Jonathan Carver in 1767. He explored and mapped the Northwest at the request of Major Robert Rogers, commander of Fort Michilimackinac, the British fort at Mackinaw City, Michigan, which protected the passage between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron...
, an Indian boarding school run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
(BIA). He graduated at Wahpeton in May 1957, and attended the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, South Dakota
Flandreau, South Dakota
Flandreau is a city in Moody County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,341 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Moody County...
. After dropping out in the ninth grade, he returned to the Turtle Mountain Reservation to live with his father.
Career and activism
In 1965, Peltier relocated to Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. He worked for several years and became the owner of an auto body station. In the city, Peltier became involved in a variety of causes championing Native American civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, and eventually joined the American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
(AIM).
In the early 1970s, he learned about the factional tensions at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in South Dakota between supporters of Richard Wilson
Dick Wilson (tribal chairman)
Richard A. "Dick" Wilson was elected chairman of the Oglala Lakota Sioux of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he served from 1972–1976, following re-election in 1974...
, elected tribal chairman in 1972, and traditionalist members of the tribe. Wilson had created a private militia, known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation
Guardians of the Oglala Nation
The Guardians of the Oglala Nation were a private paramilitary group active on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during the early 1970s.-Formation:...
(GOONs), whose members were reputed to have attacked political opponents. Protests over a failed impeachment hearing of Wilson contributed to the AIM and Lakota armed takeover of Wounded Knee in February 1973, which resulted in a 71-day siege by federal forces, known as the Wounded Knee Incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
. They demanded the resignation of Wilson. The takeover did not end Wilson's leadership, the actions of the GOONs or the violence; at least 50 murders were reported on Pine Ridge during the next three years.
In 1975 Peltier traveled to the Pine Ridge reservation as a member of AIM to try to help reduce the continuing violence among political opponents. At the time, he was a fugitive, with a warrant issued in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. It charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer, a crime for which he was later acquitted.
Shootout at Pine Ridge
On June 26, 1975, Special Agents Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams of the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) were searching for a young Pine Ridge man named Jimmy Eagle. He was wanted for questioning in connection with the recent assault and robbery of two local ranch hands. Eagle had been involved in a physical altercation with a friend, during which he had stolen a pair of leather cowboy boots. Williams and Coler, driving two separate unmarked cars, saw and followed a red pick-up truck which matched the description of Eagle's.
Williams radioed that he and Coler had come under high-powered rifle fire from the occupants of the vehicle and were unable to return fire with their .38 Special
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
pistols. Williams radioed that they would be killed if reinforcements did not arrive. He next radioed that he was hit. FBI Special Agent Gary Adams was the first to respond to Williams' call for assistance, and he also came under intense gun fire from the Jumping Bull Ranch; he was unable to reach or see Coler and Williams.
The FBI, BIA, and the local police spent much of the afternoon pinned down on US Route 18, waiting for other law enforcement officers to launch a flanking attack. At 2:30 p.m., a BIA rifleman fatally shot Joe Stuntz. At 4:31 p.m., authorities recovered the bodies of Williams and Coler from their vehicles. At 6:30 p.m. they ignited tear gas and stormed the Jumping Bull houses, where they found Stuntz's body clad in Coler's green FBI field jacket. The two FBI Agents were later confirmed to have died during the early afternoon 26 June 1975. Stuntz appeared to have died later during subsequent shooting.
Other parties escaped the compound after Stuntz's death, crossed White Clay Creek and hid in a culvert beneath a dirt road. With police focused on the storming of Jumping Bull, the group made a break for the southern hills. In the following days, they separated into smaller parties and scattered across the country, causing a nationwide manhunt that lasted eight months.
The FBI reported Williams had received a defensive wound to his right hand (as he attempted to shield his face) from a bullet which passed through his hand into his head, killing him instantly. Williams had received two gunshot injuries, to his body and foot, prior to the contact shot that killed him. Coler, incapacitated from earlier bullet wounds, had been shot twice in the head execution style. In total 125 bullet holes were found in the agents' vehicles, many from a .223 Remington
.223 Remington
The .223 Remington is a sporting cartridge with almost the same external dimensions as the 5.56×45mm NATO military cartridge. The name is commonly pronounced either two-two-three or two-twenty-three. It is loaded with a diameter, jacketed bullet, with weights ranging from , though the most common...
(5.56 mm) rifle.
At the trial and on other occasions, Leonard Peltier gave a variety of alibis to different people about his activities on the morning of the attacks. In an interview with the author Peter Matthiessen (In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (book)
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse is a book by author Peter Matthiesen chronicling the tumultuous history between the Sioux and the United States government, with emphasis on contemporary events on the Sioux reservations of South Dakota. He focused on the events of the 1970s on the Pine Ridge Indian...
1983), Peltier described working on a car in Oglala. He drove back to the Jumping Bull Compound about an hour before the shooting started. In an interview with Lee Hill, he described being woken up in the tent city at the ranch by the sound of gunshots; to Harvey Arden, for Prison Writings, he described enjoying a beautiful morning before he heard the firing.
Aftermath
On September 5, 1975, Williams' handgun and shells from both agents' handguns were found in a vehicle near a residence where Dino Butler was arrested. On September 9, 1975, Peltier purchased a Plymouth station wagon in Denver, ColoradoDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. The FBI sent out descriptions of the vehicle and a recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
(RV) in which Peltier and associates were believed to be traveling. An Oregon State Trooper stopped the vehicles and ordered the driver of the RV to exit; but, after a brief exchange of gunfire, the driver escaped on foot. Authorities later identified the driver as Peltier. Coler's handgun was found in a bag under the front seat of the RV, where authorities reported finding Peltier's thumb print. On December 22, 1975, Peltier was named to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1970s is a list, maintained for a third decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.-FBI headlines in the 1970s:...
list.
On September 10, 1975, a station wagon exploded on the Kansas Turnpike
Kansas Turnpike
The Kansas Turnpike is a freeway-standard toll road that lies entirely within the U.S. state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest-northeast direction from the Oklahoma border, and passes through several major Kansas cities, including Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City...
near Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
. A burned AR-15
AR-15
The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials....
rifle was recovered, along with Agent Coler's .38 Special revolver. The car was loaded with weapons and explosives, which apparently ignited when placed too close to a hole in the exhaust pipe. Among those in the car were Robert Robideau
Robert Robideau
Robert Eugene Robideau was an American Indian activist who was acquitted in the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota.-Early years:...
, Norman Charles, and Michael Anderson, said to be associates of Peltier.
Peltier fled to Hinton, Alberta
Hinton, Alberta
Hinton is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada.It is located in Yellowhead County, northeast of Jasper and about west of Alberta's capital city, Edmonton, at the intersection of Yellowhead and Bighorn Highway, in the Athabasca River valley.-History:...
, where he hid in a friend's cabin. On February 6, 1976, he was arrested and extradited from Canada based on an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, a local Native American woman. She claimed to have been Peltier’s girlfriend at the time and to have witnessed the murders. But, according to Peltier and others at the scene, Poor Bear did not know Peltier, nor was she present at the time of the shooting. She later confessed that she was pressured and threatened by FBI agents into giving the statements. Poor Bear attempted to testify about the FBI's intimidation
Intimidation
Intimidation is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. It's not necessary to prove that the behavior was so violent as to cause terror or that the victim was actually frightened.Criminal threatening is the crime of intentionally or...
at Peltier’s trial; however, the judge barred her testimony on the grounds of mental incompetence.
Peltier fought extradition to the United States, even as Bob Robideau and Darelle "Dino" Butler, AIM members also present on the Jumping Bull compound at the time of the shootings, were found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense by a federal jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...
. Peltier returned too late to be tried with Robideau and Butler, and he was tried separately.
The trial was held trial in Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, where a jury convicted Peltier of the murders of Coler and Williams. Unlike the trial for Butler and Robideau, the jury was told that the two FBI agents were killed by close-range shots to their heads, when they were already defenseless due to previous gunshot wounds. They also saw autopsy and crime scene photographs of the two agents, which had not been shown to the jury at Cedar Rapids. In April 1977, Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. Upon hearing the appeals case on February 11, 1986, Federal Appeals Judge Gerald W. Heaney
Gerald William Heaney
Gerald William Heaney served for nearly forty years as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, from his appointment by President Lyndon B. Johnson in November 1966 until his full retirement in August 2006. Heaney’s career in public service began in 1941, upon...
, concluded, "When all is said and done ... a few simple but very important facts remain. The casing introduced into evidence had in fact been extracted from the Wichita AR-15." In his 1999 memoir, Peltier admitted that he fired at the agents, but denies that he fired the fatal shots that killed them.
A cartridge case from the Wichita AR-15 was found in the trunk of Agent Coler's car, and admitted as evidence at Peltier's trial in Fargo, N.Dakota. Also admitted as evidence was the fact that no person involved in shooting at the agents, other than Peltier, possessed a Wichita AR-15 weapon.
The journalist Scott Anderson said that in a 1995 interview, he sought answers to the contradictions he had found in Peltier's accounts of the incident on 26 June 1975. When asked about the guns he carried that day, Peltier listed a .30-30, a .303, a .306, a .250 and a .22, but he did not remember the AR-15.
The former United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Ramsey Clark
Ramsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
has served pro bono as one of Peltier's lawyers and has aided in filing a series of appeals on Peltier's behalf. In all appeals, the conviction and sentence have been affirmed by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The last two appeals were Peltier v. Henman, 997 F. 2d 461 in July 1993 and United States v. Peltier, 446 F.3d 911 (8th Cir. 2006) (Peltier IV) in 2006.
Doubts about Peltier's legal proceedings
Numerous doubts have been raised over Peltier’s guilt and the fairness of his trial, based on allegations and inconsistencies regarding the FBI and prosecution's handling of this case:- FBI radio intercepts indicated that the two FBI agents had been pursuing a red pickup truck; this was confirmed by the FBI the day after the shootout. Red pickup trucks near the reservation were stopped for weeks, but Leonard Peltier did not drive a red pickup truck. Evidence was given that Peltier was driving a suburban vehicle, sometimes known as a stationwagon or panelvan, a large sedan with an enclosed rear section, able to be accessed from inside the front of the vehicle, by climbing over the seats, or by opening the door or hatch at the rear. Peltier's vehicle was red with a white roof; not a red, open-tray pickup truck with no white paint. The FBI agents' radio message said that the suspect they were pursuing was driving a red pickup truck, with no additional details. At Peltier's trial, the FBI testified that it had been searching for a red and white van, which Peltier was sometimes seen driving. This was a highly contentious matter of evidence in the trials.
- Testimony from three witnesses placed Peltier, Robideau and Butler near the crime scene. Those three witnesses later recanted, alleging that the FBI, while extracting their testimony, had tied them to chairs, denied them their right to talk to their attorney, and otherwise coerced and threatened them. Robideau said during an interview in the Robert Redford/Michael Apted film Incident at Oglala (1982), that "we approached' the agents" cars.
- Unlike the juries in similar prosecutions against AIM leaders at the time, the Fargo jury were not allowed to hear about other cases in which the FBI had been rebuked for tampering with evidence and witnesses.
- An FBI ballistics expert testimony during the trial asserted that a shell case found near the dead agents' bodies matched the rifle tied to Peltier. He said that a forensics test of the firing pin, which would have more definitively matched the gun to the cartridge case, was not performed because the gun was damaged in the fire. A less definitive test indicated that the extractor marks on the case and rifle matched.
- Years later, after an FOIAFreedom of Information Act (United States)The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
request, the FBI ballistics expert’s records were examined. His report said that he had performed a ballistics test of the firing pin and concluded that the cartridge case from the scene of the crime did not come from the rifle tied to Peltier. That evidence was withheld from the jury during the trial.
- Though the FBI's investigation indicated that an AR-15AR-15The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials....
was used to kill the agents, several different AR-15s were in the area at the time of the shootout. Also, no other cartridge cases or evidence about them were offered by the prosecutor’s office, although other bullets were fired at the crime scene. During the trial, all the bullets and bullet fragments found at the scene were provided as evidence and detailed by Cortland Cunningham, FBI Firearms expert, in testimony. (Ref US v Leonard Peltier Vol 9).
- At the conclusion of Peltier’s trial, the prosecutor closed his argument saying, "We proved that he went down to the bodies and executed those two young men at point blank range." However, at the appellate hearing, the government attorney conceded, "We had a murder. We had numerous shooters. We do not know who specifically fired what killing shots...We do not know who shot the agents.".
- The Pennsylvania Parole Commission, which presides over the Lewisburg prison where Peltier was held, denied Peltier parole in 1993 based on their finding that he "participated in the premeditated and cold blooded execution of those two officers." But, the Parole Commission has since stated that it "recognizes that the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that [Peltier] personally participated in the executions of the two FBI agents."
Post-trial debate
Peltier's conviction sparked great controversy and has drawn criticism from a number of sources. Numerous appeals have been filed on his behalf; none of the resulting rulings has been made in his favor. Peltier is considered by the AIMAmerican Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
to be a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
and has received support from individuals and groups including Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú
Rigoberta Menchú Tum is an indigenous Guatemalan, of the K'iche' ethnic group. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War , and to promoting indigenous rights in the country...
, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
, Tenzin Gyatso
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
(the 14th Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
), the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, the Belgian Parliament, the Italian Parliament, the Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
, and Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
.
Peltier's supporters have given two different rationales for overturning the conviction. One argument asserts that Peltier did not commit the murders, and that he either had no knowledge of the murders (as he told CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
in 1999), or that he has knowledge implicating others which he will never reveal, or (as told in Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist...
's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (book)
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (book)
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse is a book by author Peter Matthiesen chronicling the tumultuous history between the Sioux and the United States government, with emphasis on contemporary events on the Sioux reservations of South Dakota. He focused on the events of the 1970s on the Pine Ridge Indian...
, 1983) that he approached and searched the agents but did not execute them. The other rationale holds that the murders (no matter who committed them) occurred during a war-like atmosphere on the reservation in which FBI agents were terrorizing residents in the wake of the Wounded Knee Incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
in 1973.
The film Incident at Oglala (1992) included the AIM activist Robert Robideau
Robert Robideau
Robert Eugene Robideau was an American Indian activist who was acquitted in the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota.-Early years:...
saying the FBI agents had been shot by a 'Mr X'. When Peltier was interviewed about 'Mr X', he said he knew who the man was. In 1995 Dino Butler, in an interview with E.K. Caldwell of News From Indian Country
News from Indian Country
News From Indian Country is a nationwide, privately owned newspaper, published twice a month, founded by Paul DeMain in 1986, who is the managing editor and an owner. It is the oldest continuing, nationally distributed publication that is not owned by a tribal government...
, said that 'Mr X' had been invented as the murderer in an attempt to achieve Peltier's release. In a News From Indian Country interview with Bernie Lafferty in 2001, she said that she had witnessed Peltier's referring to his murder of one of the Agents.
21st-century developments
Near the end of the Clinton administration in 2000, rumors began circulating that Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
was considering granting Peltier clemency. Opponents campaigned against that, culminating in a protest outside the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
by about 500 FBI agents and families, and a letter opposing clemency from FBI director Louis Freeh
Louis Freeh
Louis Joseph Freeh was the 5th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving from September 1993 to June 2001....
. Clinton did not grant or deny Peltier clemency. In January 2009, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
denied Peltier's clemency petition before leaving office.
In 2002, Peltier filed a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the FBI, Louis Freeh
Louis Freeh
Louis Joseph Freeh was the 5th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving from September 1993 to June 2001....
, and FBI agents who had participated in the campaign against his clemency petition, alleging that they "engaged in a systematic and officially sanctioned campaign of misinformation and disinformation." On March 22, 2004, the suit was dismissed.
DeMain editorial on agents' and Aquash's deaths
In January 2002 in the News from Indian CountryNews from Indian Country
News From Indian Country is a nationwide, privately owned newspaper, published twice a month, founded by Paul DeMain in 1986, who is the managing editor and an owner. It is the oldest continuing, nationally distributed publication that is not owned by a tribal government...
, the publisher Paul DeMain wrote an editorial that an "unnamed delegation" told him, "Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of the [FBI] agents..." DeMain described the delegation as "grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll." DeMain said he was told the motive for the execution-style murder of the AIM activist Anna Mae Aquash
Anna Mae Aquash
Anna Mae Aquash was a Mi'kmaq activist from Nova Scotia, Canada who became the highest-ranking woman in the American Indian Movement in the United States during the mid-1970s.Aquash...
in December 1975 "allegedly was her knowledge that Leonard Peltier had shot the two agents, as he was convicted." DeMain did not accuse Peltier of participation in the Aquash murder (and in 2003 two Native American men were indicted for the murder).
On May 1, 2003, Peltier sued DeMain for libel for similar statements about the case published on March 10, 2003, in News from Indian Country. On May 25, 2004, Peltier withdrew the suit after he and DeMain settled the case. DeMain issued the following statement:
“I do not believe that Leonard Peltier received a fair trial in connection with the murders of which he was convicted. Certainly he is entitled to one. Nor do I believe, according to the evidence and testimony I now have, that Mr. Peltier had any involvement in the death of Anna Mae Aquash.’’DeMain did not retract his allegations that Peltier was guilty of the murders of the FBI agents and that the motive for Aquash's murder was the fear that she might inform on the activist.
Indictments and trials for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash
Bruce Ellison, Leonard Peltier's lawyer since the 1970s, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to testify at the 2003 federal grand jury hearings on charges against Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham for the murder of Aquash. Ellison also refused to testify at Looking Cloud's trial in 2004. During the trial, the federal prosecutor named Ellison as a co-conspirator in the Aquash case. Witnesses said that Ellison participated in interrogating Aquash about being an informant on December 11, 1975, shortly before her murder.In February 2004, Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud, an Oglala Sioux, was tried and convicted for the murder of Aquash. In Looking Cloud's trial, the federal prosecution argued that AIM's suspicion of Aquash stemmed from her having heard Peltier admit to the murders. Darlene Kamook Nichols, former wife of the AIM leader Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks , a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig...
, was a witness for the prosecution. She testified that in late 1975, Peltier told her and a small group of AIM fugitive activists about shooting the FBI agents. At the time all were fleeing law enforcement after the Pine Ridge shootout. The other fugitives included her sister Bernie Nichols, her husband Dennis Banks, and Anna Mae Aquash, among several others. Bernie Nichols-Lafferty testified with a similar account of Peltier’s statement.
Earlier in 1975, the AIM member Douglass Durham had been revealed to be an FBI agent and dismissed from the organization. AIM leaders were fearful of infiltration. Other witnesses have testified that, once Aquash was suspected of being an informant, Peltier interrogated her while holding a gun to her head. Peltier and David Hill were said to have Aquash participate in bomb-making so that her fingerprints would be on the bombs. The trio planted these bombs at two power plants on the Pine Ridge reservation on Columbus Day 1975.
During the trial, Nichols acknowledged receiving $42,000 from the FBI in connection with her cooperation on the case. She said it was compensation for travel expenses to collect evidence and moving expenses to be further from her ex-husband Dennis Banks, whom she feared because she had implicated him as a witness. On February 10, 2004, Peltier issued a statement suggesting that Kamook Nicholls had committed perjury by her testimony and was a sellout.
On June 26, 2007, the Supreme Court of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
ordered the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
of John Graham
John Graham
- Politics and history :*John de Graham , Scottish soldier*John Graham, Earl of Menteith*John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose , Scottish peer*John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose, , Scottish peer...
to the United States to stand trial for his alleged role in the murder of Aquash. He was eventually tried by the state of South Dakota in 2010. During his trial, Darlene "Kamook" Ecoffey said Peltier told both her and Aquash that he had killed the FBI agents in 1975. Ecoffey testified under oath, "He (Peltier) held his hand like this," she said, pointing her index finger like a gun, "and he said ‘that (expletive) was begging for his life but I shot him anyway.". Graham was convicted of murder as the gunman who shot Aquash and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Presidential candidate
Peltier was the candidate for the Peace and Freedom PartyPeace and Freedom Party (United States)
The Peace and Freedom Party is a minor political party in California. Its first candidates appeared on the ballot in 1966, but the national party was officially founded in 1967 as a left-wing organization opposed to the Vietnam War. The party nominated Ralph Nader for President in the 2008 U.S...
in the 2004 Presidential race. While prison inmates convicted of felonies are frequently prohibited from voting in the United States (Maine and Vermont are exceptions), the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
has no prohibition against felons being elected to Federal offices, including President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. The Peace and Freedom Party secured ballot status for Peltier only in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where his presidential candidacy received 27,607 votes, approximately 0.2% of the vote in that state.
Ruling on FBI documents
In a February 27, 2006, decision, U.S. District Judge William Skretny ruled that the FBI did not have to release five of 812 documents relating to Peltier and held at their Buffalo field office. He ruled that the particular documents were exempted on the grounds of “national security and FBI agent/informant protection.” In his opinion Judge Skretny wrote, “Plaintiff has not established the existence of bad faith or provided any evidence contradicting (the FBI's) claim that the release of these documents would endanger national security or would impair this country's relationship with a foreign government.” In response, Michael Kuzma, a member of Peltier's defense team, said, “We're appealing. It's incredible that it took him 254 days to render a decision.” Kuzma further said, “The pages we were most intrigued about revolved around a teletype from Buffalo ... a three-page document that seems to indicate that a confidential source was being advised by the FBI not to engage in conduct that would compromise attorney-client privilege.” Peltier’s supporters have tried to obtain more than 100,000 pages of documents from FBI field offices, claiming that the files should have been turned over at the time of his trial or following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed soon after.2007 political controversy
In 2007, billionaire David GeffenDavid Geffen
David Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
, a Peltier supporter, shifted his financial support from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign to that of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. Geffen said he switched his support because he was disillusioned by Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's refusal to pardon Peltier, although he had pardoned Marc Rich
Marc Rich
Marc Rich is an international commodities trader and entrepreneur. He is best known for founding the commodities company Glencore. He was indicted in the United States on federal charges of illegally making oil deals with Iran during the late 1970s-early 1980s Iran hostage crisis and tax evasion...
.
Beaten in Canaan
On January 13, 2009, Peltier was severely beaten by fellow inmates at the United States Penitentiary, CanaanUnited States Penitentiary, Canaan
United States Penitentiary, Canaan is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located in Canaan Township, Pennsylvania, near Waymart.USP Canaan is approximately east of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The United States Penitentiary-Canaan is a high security prison that houses male inmates. A satellite camp,...
, where he had been transferred from USP Lewisburg. He was sent back to Lewisburg.
Films
- The Wind Chases the Sun (2010) is a documentary film about Peltier and his trial by Preston Randolph, released in 2011.
- ThunderheartThunderheartThunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973...
, a 1992 movie by Michael AptedMichael AptedMichael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
, is a fictional drama, partly based on Peltier's case but with no pretense of accuracy.
Music
- Rock band Rage Against the MachineRage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
released "FreedomFreedom (Rage Against the Machine song)"Freedom" was a single released by Rage Against the Machine from their self-titled album in 1994.The song is played in Drop D tuning on the guitars and has a distinctive riff in the intro and chorus...
", a song about Peltier's case and conviction, on their 1992 album Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine (album)Rage Against the Machine is the debut studio album by rap metal band Rage Against the Machine. The album was released on November 10, 1992...
. - Robbie Robertson's album, Contact from the Underworld of Redboy contains the song "Sacrifice", featuring the spoken words of Peltier via telephone.
- Toad the Wet SprocketToad the Wet SprocketToad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986. The band consists of singer/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss. The band enjoyed chart success in the 1990s with the singles "Walk on the Ocean," "All I Want,"...
's song "Crazy Life" from the album CoilCoil (album)Coil is an album by Toad the Wet Sprocket released in 1997. It is their fifth studio album, and the final one before the band broke up in 1998. As with previous albums, Coil was released under the Columbia Records label and produced by Gavin MacKillop....
is about Peltier. - Buffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
's song "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" from the album Coincidence and Likely StoriesCoincidence and Likely StoriesCoincidence and Likely Stories was the thirteenth studio album by Buffy Sainte-Marie but her first for sixteen years, during which time she had been raising her son and working on the children's television show Sesame Street...
mentions Peltier. - FlobotsFlobotsThe Flobots are a political rock and hip hop musical group from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2000 by Jamie Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut Fight with Tools , featuring the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio in April 2008.-Early...
' albums Fight With Tools and Onomatopeia frequently mention Peltier. - The plot of the graphic novel ScalpedScalpedScalped is a critically acclaimed ongoing crime/western comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, published monthly by Vertigo Comics...
is partly inspired by Peltier's case. - In the Jeffrey Rowland webcomic Wigu, the main character's father says he goes barefoot "to protest the unfair imprisonment of Native American activist Leonard Peltier"
- Sixteen Canadian artists contributed to Pine Ridge: An Open Letter to Allan Rock - Songs for Leonard Peltier, a benefit CD released by What Magazine in 1996.
- "Leonard's song" on the RenaudRenaudRenaud, born Renaud Séchan, is a French singer, songwriter and actor.Renaud may also refer to:* Renaud , a male French given name* Renaud , a 1783 opera by Antonio Sacchini* Renaud, Quebec, part of Laval, Quebec...
album Rouge sangRouge sangRouge Sang is a studio album by French singer Renaud released in 2006. It gained particular media attention for the song Elle est facho which portrays a female Front National voter. The song brought about a controversy because of its last verse à la facho.....
is about Peltier. - The song "Leonard Peltier" on the album RevolutionRevolution (Little Steven album)Revolution was a 1989 album by Little Steven. The Disciples of Soul were gone in all but name , and the music was largely electronic.-Track listing:...
by Little Steven. - Peltier is the subject of the song "Ya'at'eeh" on the album Amzer an dispac'h by the Breton Celtic punk group Les Ramoneurs de menhirsLes Ramoneurs de menhirsLes Ramoneurs de menhirs is a Breton celtic punk group formed in 2006. Its members include Éric Gorce on the bombardon, Richard Bévillon on the bagpipes, the traditional vannetais singer Maurice Jouanno and Loran, guitarist from the group Bérurier Noir. They play concerts at fest noz as well as...
. - GrindcoreGrindcoreGrindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
/NoisecoreNoisecoreNoisecore is a term for three separate music genres:* A subgenre of hardcore techno, similar to power noise or breakcore.* A form of grindcore, also known as noisegrind....
band AxCx lampooned his imprisonment in their song "Laughing While Leonard Peltier Gets Raped in Prison" on the album It Just Gets WorseIt Just Gets WorseIt Just Gets Worse is the sixth full-length album by the grindcore band Anal Cunt. It was released in 1999 by Earache Records.-Recording information:...
Comic Books
- The Vertigo series ScalpedScalpedScalped is a critically acclaimed ongoing crime/western comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, published monthly by Vertigo Comics...
by Jason AaronJason AaronJason Aaron is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as The Other Side, Scalped, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and PunisherMAX.-Early life:Jason was born in Jasper, Alabama...
uses elements of Peltier's story. Set in present day, the story of Indian reservation crime flashes back to the killing of two federal agents on the res in 1974. The man convicted of that murder (but innocent in the story) is drawn to look like Peltier.
Further reading
- Arden, Harvey (& Leonard Peltier). "Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately?" HYT Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0975443704
- Peltier, Leonard. Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. New York, 1999. ISBN 0-3122-6380-5.
- About Leonard Peltier:
- "Writer Sues Peltier", Kansas City Star, July 3, 1992.
- Anderson, Scott. "The Martyrdom of Leonard Peltier", Outside Magazine, July 1995.
- Churchill, WardWard ChurchillWard LeRoy Churchill is an author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1990 to 2007. The primary focus of his work is on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government...
and Jim Vander Wall: Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther PartyBlack Panther PartyThe Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
and the American Indian MovementAmerican Indian MovementThe American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
. South End PressSouth End PressSouth End Press is a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, John Schall, Pat Walker, Juliet Schor, Mary Lea, Joe Bowring, and Dave Millikan, among others, in Boston's South End...
, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988, 2002. ISBN 0-8960-8293-8. - Matthiessen, PeterPeter MatthiessenPeter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist...
(1983). In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. PenguinPenguinPenguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
. ISBN 0-1401-4456-0. - Trimbach, Joseph H. and John M. Trimbach (2008). American Indian Mafia: An FBI Agent's True Story about Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, and the American Indian Movement (AIM). Outskirts Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-9795855-0-0.
External links
- The Leonard Peltier Trial (Documents)
- Leonard Peltier: "When Truth Doesn't Matter. Thirty Years of FBI Harassment and Misconduct". CounterPunchCounterpunchCounterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
, January 9, 2007. - Interview with Leonard Peltier from jail in 2000 by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
- Plazm magazine — Interview with Leonard Peltier from jail in 1995
- Documents from Leonard Peltier's FBI File
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Minneapolis Division: Leonard Peltier Case
- Leonard Peltier Memorial Bridge
- Leonard Peltier on Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
- No Parole Peltier Association
- International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Website
- A.I.M (the American Indian Movement)
- It's Time to Free Leonard Peltier by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, Counterpunch, January 23, 2009
- Parole Hearing to Be Held Tuesday for Imprisoned Native American Activist Leonard Peltier - video report by Democracy Now!
- the yet official Leonard Peltier ~ Denfense Offense Committee - LP-DOC(since May 2008)