FBI ad...
j...@infi.net
which recently appeared in Indian Country Today, I am prompted to relay
the following material. The ad itself is disgusting. It's assertions have
been PROVEN to be false! That this piece of trash is forwarded to the
world under the signature of organizations representing "over 15,000
active duty and former FBI agents" is, perhaps, the most perfect
illustration of current FBI misconduct and their continguing gall re the
First NAtions/First People.
The fact that the ad appeared in a First Nations/First People
newspaper is unnerving. Did the FBI pay well? Unless the ad slipped by the
"editor," my guess is that Tim Giago (editor of Indian Country Today) is
making a "statement" here. I suggest also that Tim Giago be contacted re
his purportion that Dick Wilson and his GOONS were in the right on Pine
Ridge. Anyone who says such needs to be knocked around a bit
(figuratively).
I recently asked if anyone knew of the http address for the FBI
WWW page. I have finally run it down but am sorry to say that this page
provides no access "into" the FBI. Nothing which'll allow for a response.
Am hoping that someone will provide an email address for them so that we
can go in directly an solicit some sorta response to the ad's purportions.
Lisa Hellwig (LHE...@delphi.com) has said she is working on a
compilation of material which will provide a complete data set so as one
can see for themselves what happened at Jumping Bull Ranch. This is good.
Lisa also mentioned ""Loud Hawk-The United States Versus The
American Indian Movement" by Kenneth S. Stern (ISBN 0-8061-2587-X,
University of Oklahoma Press). I suggest that this book (full well
recognizing that "In The Spirit of Crazy Horse, is the layman's bible re
what happened back then) is a much easier read, and will provide a
detailed scenario of what happened to those "captured" from the van
provided by Marlon Brando. Get this book! It's current and is written by
one of the lawyers who got involved in the case as a law student and
stayed with them after he passed the bar and became a lawyer.
From the book's jacket:"Loud Hawk is a fascinating and gripping
account of one of the most important instances of judicial repression in
recent years-the thirteen years trial of Dennis Banks, a founder of the
American Indian Movement. Kenneth Stern, a lawyer in the case who now
works for the American Jewish Committee, tells a story of FBI misconduct
and governmental vindictiveness whose importance lies precisely in the
ways that it is not unique, but reflective of the ongoing problems facing
American Indians in the United States...This book should be required
reading in Introduction to American Political Science courses at
universities, and for every lawyer and judge in the U.S."-Michael Lerner,
Editor, Tikkun Magazine.
I won't bother to state established facts which dispute the FBI ad
here. I do suggest though that it's important to note that the man who
killed the FBI agents has admitted such. This, of course, is "Mr. X."
According to his relation of the incident he fired in self-defense as a
reaction to agressive movements on behalf of one of the agents. Since the
Wasichu has admitted, IN COURT, that he/they don't know who killed the
agents, yet persists in hanging on to Leonard, there is no point for Mr. X
to come forward. If anyone is interested in the interview with Mr. X
conducted by Peter Mathiesson(sp?) contact me and I'll send it direct.
Finally:
93-07-16: Indian Activist's Lawyer Recounts Trial, F.B.I. Misconduct
Although well-known authors have written about him, public figures
from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to Marlon Brando have declared their support
and congressmen have submitted amicus briefs on his behalf, Native
American Leonard Peltier remains in prison convicted of murdering two
F.B.I. agents on a South Dakota
Indian reservation 18 years ago, awaiting yet another appeal decision.
A recent U.Va. conference for K through 12 teachers on Native
Americans, past and present, included a talk by law school alumnus John C.
Lowe, who was part of the defense team for Mr. Peltier. Mr. Lowe also
represented Robert Robideau, one of two other Indians acquitted for the
killings.
In addition to hearing Native American artists and scholars speak,
conference participants watched a documentary on the case of the
reservation murders called "Incident at Oglala," produced by Robert
Redford.
It has never been clear who fired first on June 26, 1975, at the
Jumping Bull residence on Pine Ridge Reservation or why special agents
Ronald Williams and Jack R. Coler pursued a red pickup onto the property.
What is clear is that the agents, wounded after a shootout started, were
then finished off at close
range. Although there were no eye witnesses to the execution, according to
Mr. Lowe, the F.B.I. brought the full weight and power of governmental
resources to the prosecutions of Robert Robideau, Dino Butler and Leonard
Peltier, all of whom were leaders in the American Indian Movement (AIM), a
civil rights
group active during the 1970s that stressed getting back to traditional
Indian culture.
During the shooting, a number of women, children and older folks
managed to leave the area unharmed. About 15 others, including the three
men later charged, escaped on foot despite dozens of F.B.I. agents, state
law enforcement and Bureau of Indian Affairs police scouting for them and
shooting, five
roadblocks set up around the property and at least one plane trying to
locate them. In the documentary, several Indians in the party said one of
them spotted an eagle and the group followed its flight, which led to
safety -- at least temporarily.
Mr. Robideau and Mr. Butler faced trial for aiding and abetting in
the deaths of the two agents a year later. Although he fled to Canada, Mr.
Peltier was extradicted in December 1976 and found guilty of first-degree
murder in April 1977. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is
currently representing him in another appeal, for which Mr. Lowe wrote the
brief, that he did not receive a fair trial, and the decision could come
any day now. "I want to believe that they're working on an opinion that
will bring some justice to his case," said Mr. Lowe of the Eighth Circuit
Court of Appeals.
No one was ever charged with the death of one of the Native
Americans during the shootout.
Having made his reputation as a civil rights lawyer in the South (and
perhaps better known for filing suit against U.Va. in 1969 for not
admitting women), John Lowe was urged to put his name in the volunteer
pool and was picked as Mr. Robideau's lawyer. A flashy personality named
William Kunstler represented Mr. Butler. "No South Dakota lawyer would
take any of the Indians' cases," said Mr. Lowe, hinting at the anti-Indian
sentiment of many whites in the area at the time. Moving the trial to
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, didn't seem much better, but he said Judge Edward
McManus "bent over backwards to be fair."
One of the most distressing things about working on the case was the
F.B.I.'s misconduct. "I had been raised that the F.B.I. could do no wrong.
It was inconceivable to me that an agent would lie on the witness stand or
tamper with evidence," said Mr. Lowe. "We one-two punched the government's
case. We convinced the jury there was reasonable doubt that Robideau and
Butler were
responsible for the killings."
Some agents were openly weeping in the courtroom, they were so
surprised by the verdict, he said. "After the other two got off, the
F.B.I. wasn't going to let Peltier live peacefully in Canada."
Mr. Peltier's extradiction was based on fraudulent affidavits,
according to Mr. Lowe. FBI agents pressured false statements out of a
mentally incompetent woman named Myrtle Poor Bear, in which she claimed to
be Leonard's girlfriend and to have seen him kill the agents. Not only did
the two not know each
other, but it was later found that she was not at the scene that day. The
trial was mysteriously moved to Fargo, North Dakota, "an extremely
conservative community," added Mr. Lowe. The new lawyer serving as lead
counsel, Elliott Taikeff, did not follow Mr. Lowe's advice or the same
strategy that had worked in the previous trial. "By the second or third
day, I saw the handwriting on the wall," sighed Mr. Lowe. "Every ruling
went against us."
With ballistics evidence, the FBI tried to prove that Mr. Peltier was
the only one using a semi-automatic weapon called an AR-15, and therefore,
the shell found in the trunk of one of the agent's cars must have been
fired by him, even though the shell couldn't be definitely matched to the
gun. Mr. Lowe said that
years later FBI documents made available under the Freedom of Information
Act showed the FBI knew that more than one AR-15 had been fired at the
scene.
"I'm satisfied that the answer [of who really killed the agents] lies
with that red pickup truck," he said. "That hurt the FBI, because they had
a record of an agent seeing that truck leave right after the time of the
murders," but at Mr. Peltier's trial the prosecutors did their best to
confuse the
identification of this vehicle.
Another tactic the prosecution used was making AIM seem like a
dangerous terrorist group. The jury was escorted by a S.W.A.T. team and
rumours were spread that AIM members were planning violent activities,
none of which occurred, for example.
"What I observed firsthand was AIM trying to do the right thing.
Nowadays these people are too busy surviving to be political anymore, but
a lot of them have been motivated to go back to traditional ways," said
Mr. Lowe.
He emphasized how bad life on the Pine Ridge Reservation had become,
due to violence as well as "the worst poverty I have ever seen." Adult
unemployment was a staggering 70 percent. Only one in 50 families had a
telephone, and the reservation was so vast, police could easily be two
hours away. "You heard about the goons in the movie -- they were killers.
When an unfamiliar car came
on your property, you grabbed your gun and turned out the lights," Mr.
Lowe explained. The goons, ("Guardians of the Oglala Nation,") were a
private police force hired by the corrupt president of the tribal council,
Richard Wilson, and paid with federal highway funds. "Wilson and the goons
kept things going
the way the bureaucrats wanted," he added. A good view of the terror they
created can be seen in the commercial film, "Thunderheart," directed by
Michael Apted who also did the documentary, said Mr. Lowe.
This case shows the importance of police authority, he said, when a
teacher asked him to suggest what students could learn from it. "When a
police officer is dishonest in court, the whole system breaks down. We
have to prosecute them to let them know that's not acceptable. We have to
maintain high standards." He
also pointed to the reality of the devastating poverty as an important
lesson. On a more positive note, the case could serve as "an inspiration
to do what's right," he said.
"Some things are wrong, some things are right -- that's the
way I was raised."
The fight continues...
Peace...Jordan
.