Once again with the change in the White House, there comes another opportunity for amnesty for Lenard Peltier, Indian Rights activist and founder of the American Indian Movement of the 1970’s.
To date Presidents have come and gone and while many convicted felons have been given the golden key to freedom by a number of outgoing presidents, Lenard Peltier remains in prison. But despite the many cracks in the federal government’s case against Peltier which have called into question important testimony and evidence of political interference, he gets no clemency.
Current President Joe Biden has been lobbied hard to release Peltier, but to date, there has been no movement in that direction.
The likelihood of incoming President Donald J. Trump, freeing Peltier is pretty small, given the fact he will be busy pardoning as many of his own friends and colleagues to care much about some old Indian.
For a generation not familiar with the case, Peltier was convicted for the death of two FBI agents during a shoot-out at the Pine Ridge Indian Reserve in 1975. He has been denied bail and has served far too long, more than 40-years, for the crime he still insists he did not commit.
The trouble began two years earlier in 1973 when a clash of ideals set the tribal chairman against the young activists seeking justice from the American government. The Tribal Council hired vigilantes, self titled as “GOONS,” to rid the reservation of American Indian Movement (AIM) activity and suppress its militant sentiments from growing among the people. The federals backed the Tribal Council and helped by backing the “GOONS”
More than 60 traditional tribal members and AIM members were murdered and scores more were assaulted during the “Pine Ridge Civil War”.
GOON responsibility in many serious crimes was overlooked and nothing was done to stop the increasing violence.
According to advocates for Leonard Peltier on the Freelenard.org. site, Leonard Peltier, an AIM leader, was asked by traditional people at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to support and protect the traditional people being bullied with violence by Tribal Council thugs.
Mr. Peltier and a small group of young AIM members set up camp on a ranch owned by the traditional Jumping Bull family.
On June 26, 1975 two FBI agents in unmarked cars followed a pick-up truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch. The families immediately became alarmed and feared an attack. Shots were heard and a shoot-out erupted. More than 150 agents, GOONS, and law enforcement surrounded the ranch.
When the shoot-out ended the two FBI agents and one Native American lay dead. The agents were injured in the shoot-out and were then shot at close range. The Native American, Joseph Stuntz, was shot in the head by a sniper’s bullet. Mr. Stuntz’s death has never been investigated, nor has anyone ever been charged in connection with his death.
According to FBI documents, more than 40 Native Americans participated in the gunfight, but only AIM members Bob Robideau, Darrell Butler, and Leonard Peltier were brought to trial.
Mr. Robideau and Mr. Butler were arrested first and went to trial. A federal jury in Iowa acquitted them on grounds of self-defense, finding that their participation in the shoot-out was justified given the climate of fear that existed on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Further, they could not be tied to the close-range shootings.
Leonard Peltier was arrested in Canada on February 6, 1976, along with Frank Blackhorse, a.k.a. Frank Deluca. The United States presented the Canadian court with affidavits signed by Myrtle Poor Bear who said she was Mr. Peltier’s girlfriend and allegedly saw him shoot the agents. In fact, Ms. Poor Bear had never met Mr. Peltier and was not present during the shoot-out. Soon after, Ms. Poor Bear recanted her statements and said the FBI threatened her and coerced her into signing the affidavits.
Mr. Peltier was extradited to the United States where he was tried in 1977. The trial was held in North Dakota before United States District Judge Paul Benson, a conservative jurist appointed to the federal bench by Richard M. Nixon. Key witnesses like Myrtle Poor Bear were not allowed to testify and unlike the Robideau/Butler trial in Iowa, evidence regarding violence on Pine Ridge was severely restricted.
An FBI agent who had previously testified that the agents followed a pick-up truck onto the scene, a vehicle that could not be tied to Mr. Peltier, changed his account, stating that the agents had followed a red and white van onto the scene, a vehicle which Mr. Peltier drove occasionally.
Three teenaged Native witnesses testified against Mr. Peltier, they all later admitted that the FBI forced them to testify. Still, not one witness identified Mr. Peltier as the shooter.
The U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case claimed that the government had provided the defense with all FBI documents concerning the case. To the contrary, more than 140,000 pages had been withheld in their entirety.
An FBI ballistics expert testified that a casing found near the agents’ bodies matched the gun tied to Mr. Peltier. However, a ballistic test proving that the casing did not come from the gun tied to Mr. Peltier was intentionally concealed.
The jury, unaware of the aforementioned facts, found Mr. Peltier guilty. Judge Benson, in turn, sentenced Mr. Peltier to two consecutive life terms.
Following the discovery of new evidence obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, Mr. Peltier sought a new trial. The Eighth Circuit ruled, “There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government’s case.” Yet, the court denied Mr. Peltier a new trial.
During oral argument, the government attorney conceded that the government does not know who shot the agents, stating that Mr. Peltier is equally guilty whether he shot the agents at point-blank range, or participated in the shoot-out from a distance. Mr. Peltier’s co-defendants participated in the shoot-out from a distance, but were acquitted.
Judge Heaney, who authored the decision denying a new trial, has since voiced firm support for Mr. Peltier’s release, stating that the FBI used improper tactics to convict Mr. Peltier, the FBI was equally responsible for the shoot-out, and that Mr. Peltier’s release would promote healing with Native Americans.
Mr. Peltier has served over 29 years in prison and is long overdue for parole. He has received several human rights awards for his good deeds from behind bars which include annual gift drives for the children of Pine Ridge, fund raisers for battered women’s shelters, and donations of his paintings to Native American recovery programs.
Mr. Peltier suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition. Time for justice is short. Peltier’s attorneys have filed a new round of Freedom of Information Act requests with FBI Headquarters and all FBI field offices in an attempt to secure the release of all files relating to Mr. Peltier and the RESMURS investigation. To date, the FBI has engaged in a number of dilatory tactics in order to avoid the processing of these requests.
