FREE LEONARD PELTIER

wofford914@yahoo.com

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO THE CAUSE OF FREEING LEONARD PELTIER, A NATIVE AMERICAN ACTIVIST WHO HAS BEEN FALSELY IMPRISONED FOR MANY YEARS.

HERE IS HIS STORY AND LINKS IN WHICH YOU MAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN FREEING THIS POLITICAL PRISONER.

HIS STORY IS, IN MANY WAYS, THE STORY OF THE MISTREATMENT OF THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THIS CONTINENT. IT IS WITHIN OUR POWER TO FORCE JUSTICE.

TERRY

Denial of parole to Leonard Peltier after more than 32 years in prison disappointing Published on Aug 22, 2009 - 9:53:42 AM

By: Amnesty International Aug. 21, 2009 - Amnesty International today regretted the US Parole Commission’s decision not to grant Leonard Peltier parole despite concerns about the fairness of his 1977 conviction for murder. The organization called for the immediate release on parole of the activist, who is serving two consecutive life sentences and has spent more than 32 years in prison. A prominent member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), Leonard Peltier was convicted of the murders of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, during a confrontation involving AIM members on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on 26 June 1975. While Leonard Peltier admits having been present during the incident, he has always denied shooting the agents at point blank range as alleged by the prosecution at his trial. Amnesty International recognizes the seriousness of the crime for which Leonard Peltier was convicted. However, having studied the case extensively over many years, the organization remains concerned about the fairness of the process leading to his conviction, including questions about evidence linking him to the point-blank shootings and coercion of an alleged eye-witness. One of Amnesty International’s concerns is that Leonard Peltier’s extradition from Canada in 1976 -- where he had fled following the shootings -- was secured on the basis of the coerced testimony of an alleged eye-witness which the FBI knew to be false. The witness, Myrtle Poor Bear, later retracted her testimony that she had seen Leonard Peltier shoot the agents but the trial judge did not allow her to be called as a defence witness at his trial. Other concerns include the withholding by the prosecution of evidence, including potentially key ballistics evidence that might have assisted Leonard Peltier’s defence. "The interest of justice would be best served by granting Leonard Peltier parole,” said Angela Wright, US Researcher at Amnesty International. “Given the concerns around his conviction, the fact that appeals before the courts have long been exhausted and that he has spent more than 32 years in prison, we urge the Parole Commission to reconsider its decision.” The parole hearing, which took place over four hours on 28 July, was the first full parole hearing to be held in the case since 1993. In addition to the concerns about the fairness of his conviction, parole was sought by Peltier and his lawyer based on his good conduct record in prison and arrangements made by the Turtle Mountain tribe to receive him into their community on his release. Leonard Peltier is an Anishinabe-Lakota Native American who was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an activist group involved in promoting the rights of “traditionalist” Indians during a period of intense conflict in the 1970s. In the two years prior to the confrontation in which the agents were killed, more than 60 Indians on the Pine Ridge reservation had been killed, allegedly by paramilitary squads connected to the tribal government, without anyone being brought to justice for the crimes. AIM members who had come to the reservation to assist “traditionalists” opposing the tribal government were also allegedly threatened. Relations between AIM and the FBI were also tense, with accusations that the authorities had not done enough to protect those at risk on the reservation. The confrontation in which the two FBI agents were killed took place after the agents entered the reservation with an arrest warrant for four people and started following a van. A fire-fight ensued. Evidence was presented at trial to show that the agents received multiple shots and were quickly disabled before being shot dead at point-blank range. Two other AIM leaders, Darelle Butler and Robert Robideau, were initially charged with the agents’ murders and were tried separately: no evidence was presented to link them to the point-blank shootings. The jury acquitted them after hearing evidence about the atmosphere of violence and intimidation on the reservation and concluded that, arguably, they might have been acting in self-defense when they were involved in the exchange of gunfire. Following their acquittal, the FBI renewed its efforts to pursue Leonard Peltier, who had fled to Canada. At his trial, the prosecution alleged that the rifle which killed the agents belonged to Peltier. During post-trial investigations, the defence team discovered a teletex message suggesting that the rifle in question contained a different firing pin from the one used to kill the agents; this was raised on appeal and an evidentiary hearing held at which the significance of the teletex was contested by the government. On appeal, the government also argued that sufficient evidence had been presented to the jury at trial to show that Leonard Peltier had “aided and abetted” the killings even if he had not been the actual killer. However, Amnesty International believes that the outcome may well have been different had Peltier been able to challenge the ballistics evidence linking him to the fatal shots more effectively. Website: www.amnestyusa.org

Leonard Peltier is an imprisoned Native American considered by Amnesty International, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Jesse Jackson, amongst many others, to be a political prisoner who should be immediately released. Leonard Peltier was convicted for the deaths of two FBI agents who died during a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Mr. Peltier has been in prison for 27 years. The Wounded Knee occupation of 1973 marked the beginning of a three-year period of heightened political violence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The tribal chairman hired vigilantes, self titled as "GOONS," to rid the reservation of American Indian Movement (AIM) activity and sentiment. More than 60 traditional tribal members and AIM members were murdered and scores more were assaulted. Evidence indicated GOON responsibility in the majority of crimes but despite a large FBI presence, nothing was done to stop the violence. The FBI supplied the GOONS with intelligence on AIM members and looked away as GOONS committed crimes. One former GOON member reported that the FBI supplied him with armor piercing ammunition. Leonard Peltier was a talented AIM organizer in the Northwest and was asked by traditional people at Pine Ridge, South Dakota to go to Pine Ridge to support and protect the people being targeted for violence. 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 pickup 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, GOON's, 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 bullet. Mr. Stuntz's death has never been investigated. 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. Further, they could not be tied to the close range shootings. Leonard Peltier was arrested in Canada. The U.S. presented the Canadian court with affidavits signed by Myrtle Poor Bear who said she was Mr. Peltier's girlfriend and she 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 terrorized her and coerced her into signing the affidavits. Mr. Peltier was returned to the U.S. where his case was mysteriously transferred from the judge who tried his co-defendants to a more conservative federal judge in North Dakota. 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 pickup 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 on occasion. Three teenaged Native witnesses testified against Mr. Peltier, all admitting later that the FBI terrorized them and forced them to testify. Still, not one witness identified Mr. Peltier as the shooter. The U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case emphatically stated that they had given the defense all FBI documents. To the contrary, more than 18,000 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, sentenced Mr. Peltier to two consecutive life terms. Following the discovery of new evidence obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, Mr. Peltier demanded 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 arguments, the U.S. Prosecutor 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 27 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. However, the parole commission will not release him unless he admits to a crime he did not commit. Recently, Mr. Peltier's attorneys filed a new round of Freedom of Information Act requests with FBI Headquarters and various FBI field offices in an attempt to secure the release of additional documents concerning Mr. Peltier. Although the FBI has engaged in a number of dilatory tactics in order to avoid the processing of these requests, 30,000 additional FOIA documents were released in June 2002. Previously, according to the FBI, more than 6,000 full documents remain undisclosed. The 30,000 documents released in 2002 reveal the FBI's prior estimate to be a significant undercount of actual documents still withheld. Currently, FOIA requests submitted to 30 FBI field offices around the country are pending. Similar FOIA requests have been submitted to the CIA. More dilatory responses following the recent requests have resulted in FOIA Complaints filed by Peltier's attorneys against the FBI, CIA and the Executive Office of United States Attorneys. The FBI has disseminated false and inflammatory statements to members of the U.S. Congress, the Department of Justice, the White House, and the public, thus denying Mr. Peltier his right to fair clemency and parole reviews and Congressional oversight. Despite repeated calls for Congressional hearings by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Amnesty International, and individual members of Congress, no Congressional committee has yet had the courage to provide a forum by which to air the truth and bring closure to this case. Mr. Peltier suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition. Time for justice is short.

Leonard Peltier, a citizen of the Anishinabe and Lakota Nations, is a father, a grandfather, an artist, a writer, and an Indigenous rights activist. He has spent more than twenty-seven years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Amnesty International considers him a "political prisoner" who should be "immediately and unconditionally released." To the international community, the case of Leonard Peltier is a stain on America's Human Rights record. Nelson Mandela, Rigoberta Menchu, the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights, the Dalai Lama, the European Parliament, the Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, and Rev. Jesse Jackson are only a few who have called for his freedom. To many Indigenous Peoples, Leonard Peltier is a symbol of the long history of abuse and repression they have endured. The National Congress of American Indians and the Assembly of First Nations, representing the majority of First Nations in the U.S. and Canada, have repeatedly called for Leonard Peltier's freedom. Leonard Peltier is 58 years old and was born on the Anishinabe (Chippewa) Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. He came from a large family of 13 brothers and sisters. He grew up in poverty, and survived many traumatic experiences resulting from U.S. government policies aimed to assimilate Native Peoples. At the age of eight he was taken from his family and sent to a residential boarding school for Native people run by the US Government. There, the students were forbidden to speak their languages and they suffered both physical and psychological abuses. As a teenager Leonard Peltier returned to live with his father at the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. It was one of three reservations, which the United States Government chose as the testing ground for its new termination policy. The policy forced Native families off their reservations and into the cities. The resulting protests and demonstrations by tribal members introduced Leonard Peltier to Native resistance through activism and organizing. During one particularly difficult winter on the Turtle Mountain Reservation Leonard Peltier recollects protests by his people to the Bureau of Indian Affairs about the desperate lack of food. (The termination policy withdrew federal assistance, including food, from those who remained on their land). Following these protests, B.I.A. social workers came to the reservation to investigate the situation. Leonard Peltier and one of the organizers on the reservation went from household to household before the arrival of the investigating party to tell the local people to hide what little food they had. When he got to the first house, he found that there was no food to hide and the same story was repeated in each of the households that he went to. This experience awakened him to the desperate situation for all people on his reservation. As he grew older, he began traveling with his father as a migrant farm worker. While following the harvests, they stayed at different reservations. During this time, he came to learn that policies of relocation, poverty, and racism were endemic issues affecting tribes across the U.S. In 1965, Leonard Peltier moved to Seattle, Washington, where he worked for several years as part owner of an auto body shop which he used to employ Native people and to provide low-cost automobile repairs for those who needed it. During the same period, he was also active in the founding of a Native halfway house for ex-prisoners. His community volunteer work included Native Land Claim issues, alcohol counseling, and participation in protests concerning the preservation of Native land within the city of Seattle. In the late 1960's and early 1970's Leonard Peltier began traveling to different Native communities. He spent a lot of time in Washington and Wisconsin and was working as a welder, carpenter, and community counselor for Native people. In the course of his work he became involved with the American Indian Movement (AIM) and eventually joined the Denver Colorado chapter. In Denver, he worked as a community counselor confronting unemployment, alcohol problems and poor housing. He became strongly involved in the spiritual and traditional programs of AIM. Leonard Peltier's participation in the American Indian Movement led to his involvement in the 1972 Trail of broken Treaties which took him to Washington D.C., in the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building. Eventually his AIM involvement would bring him to assist the Oglala Lakota People of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in the mid 1970's. On Pine Ridge he participated in the planning of community activities, religious ceremonies, programs for self-sufficiency, and improved living conditions. He also helped to organize security for the traditional people who were being targeted for violence by the pro-assimilation tribal chairman and his vigilantes. It was here that the tragic shoot-out of June 26, 1975 occurred, leading to his wrongful conviction. Despite the harsh conditions of imprisonment, Leonard Peltier has continued to lead an active life. From behind bars, he has helped to establish scholarships for Native students and special programs for Indigenous youth. He has served on the advisory board of the Rosenberg Fund for Children, and has sponsored children in Central America. He has donated to battered women's shelters, organized the annual Christmas drive for the people of Pine Ridge Reservation, and promoted prisoner art programs. He has also established himself as a talented artist, using oils to paint portraits of his people, portraying their cultures and histories. He has written poetry and prose from prison, and recently completed a moving biography titled Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance (St. Martin's Press, NY, 1999). Leonard Peltier credits his ability to endure his circumstances to his spiritual practices and the love and support from his family and supporters. Write to Leonard Peltier: USPL Leonard Peltier #89637-132 PO Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66048 For information on the case of Leonard Peltier contact: LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE PO Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA Tel 785-842-5774 / Fax 785-842-5796

http://www.leonardpeltier.org

http://www.freepeltier.org

WHO IS FRANK BLACKHORSE AND DOES HE HOLD THE KEY TO LEONARD’S FREEDOM? COMPILED BY MICHAEL KUZMA, ESQ. 01/22/69: Blackhorse enters Hoosier Boys Town. Exhibit A, p. 1.

09/30/71: Blackhorse leaves Hoosier Boys Town. Claims he is going to Denver, Colorado. Exhibit A, p. 1.

01/12/72: Blackhorse arrested by FBI Boston for interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle, 18 USC 2312, under the name Frank Leonard Deluca, Arrest #BS26-35774. Exhibit B, p. 6. NOTE: Another FBI report claims that Blackhorse was arrested in Allston, Massachusetts by Barrington, Rhode Island Police. Four other individuals also in the vehicle. Blackhorse used a DOB of: 10/16/51. Exhibit C, p. 3.

04/06/72: Blackhorse arrested in Zion, Illinois under the name of James Bolte, Arrest #BI 19490A-3, for Disorderly Conduct. Exhibit B, p. 7.

09/23/72: Blackhorse arrested (charge(s) not known) in Alliance, Nebraska under the name Frank Black Horse, Arrest #9529. Exhibit B, p. 7.

12/15/72: Blackhorse arrested (charge(s) not known) in South Littleton, Colorado under the name Francis Blackhorse, Arrest #639638. Exhibit B, p. 7.

02/14/73: Blackhorse arrested (charge(s) not known) in Olympia, Washington by the Sheriff’s Office under the name Bruce Johnson, Arrest #63810. Exhibit B, p. 7.

03/11/73: Blackhorse allegedly shoots FBI S/A Curtis A. Fitzgerald in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Exhibit B, p. 5. Also, see “FBI Agent Shot as Indians Warn U. S.” by Bill Kovach, New York Times, March 12, 1973, p. 1.

08/29/74: Blackhorse indicted by Federal Grand Jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for Assaulting a Federal Officer (AFO). Exhibit B, p. 6.

09/04/74: Blackhorse arrested (charge(s) not known) by Bureau Agents Seattle Division in Seattle, Washington. Blackhorse was in possession of a Social Security Card bearing the name Richard Tall Bull. Exhibit D, p. 1.

02/04/75: Blackhorse arrested in Shawano, Wisconsin by the Sheriff’s Office under the name Michael Houston, Arrest #2382, for Obstructing an Officer and Carrying a Concealed Weapon. Bond $150. Exhibit E, p. 1.

03/19/75: Blackhorse fails to appear in Shawano, Wisconsin Court. Exhibit E, p. 1.

04/16/75: Blackhorse fails to appear for scheduled trial for shooting of S/A Fitzgerald at Council Bluffs, Iowa. United States District Court Judge Andrew W. Bogue subsequently issued a bench warrant for Black Horse. Exhibit B, pp. 5 - 6.

05/04/75: A bond default hearing is held in the United States District Court, Rapid City, South Dakota before Judge Bogue. Blackhorse’s $10,000 cash bond is revoked. Exhibit B, p. 6.

06/26/75: Joe Stuntz Killsright, S/A Jack Coler and Ron Williams killed at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

07/03/75: Dale Lewis Shepard purchases 12-guage Remington shotgun which was taken from S/A Coler at the time of his death for $15 from an individual resembling Blackhorse. Exhibit F.

07/17/75: Teletype from FBI Rapid City to the Director and several other FBI field offices: The investigation of this case is being directed towards: “. . . develop[ing] information to lock Peltier and Black Horse into this case.” Exhibit G.

08/15/75: Father Michael Campagna, Hoosier Boys Town, views FBI Wanted Flyer #482, and identifies Blackhorse as Frank L. Deluca, DOB: 10/16/54, POB: Chicago, Illinois, Mother: Kay Goldfein, Father: Frank Deluca. Exhibit A, p. 1.

08/15/75: Kay Edgil (Goldfein), 5757 Melton Road, Portage, Indiana, identifies Blackhorse as her son. Exhibit A, p. 2.

02/06/76: Leonard Peltier and Blackhorse apprehended by RCMP, 70 miles south of Hinton, Alberta, Canada. Exhibit H.

02/09/76: Richard Stadelman, Shawano-Menominee Court, advises FBI that the pending charges against Blackhorse of Carrying a Concealed Weapon and Obstructing an Officer will formally be dropped at a future date. Exhibit E, p. 1.

Blackhorse never extradited to United States. He remains a free man in Canada to this very day.