6000 pages of innocence

pstrongIndian rights activists and artists gathered at two events this week to honor Leonard Peltier and provide their perspective of what transpired at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26, 1975. /strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/395/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Kaponda/p pVapors from the sweet grass streamed through the scant light in the Mission Cultural Center for Latin Arts into the presence of the 300 single-heartedly multiracial souls in the audience. The keepers of the drums, All Nations Singers, strummed prayers that resonated beyond the circle of humanity into the sublimity of the Spirit of the Creator. The vapors were ushered to the four corners to root out the evil spirits and create a sacred atmosphere to observe the 26th Anniversary of the incident at Oglala and pay tribute to a great spirit-warrior, Leonard Peltier./p pWhile Vietnam fought against American military aggression in Southeast Asia and scores of countries in Africa were extricated from the tyranny they suffered during centuries of colonial imperialism, there were also battles being waged against civil, human and National rights in America between 1965 and 1975. In addition to the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, at least one member of every African-American household was a casualty in the battle for equality at that time./p pAlso, in 1973, in South Dakota, another struggle for liberty was in progress. While the Black Movement fought for civil rights, the American Indian Movement had launched a campaign for National rights. That campaign was linked to every race, nation and continent that fought against the forces of aggression. And, like so many other civil rights struggles, the price of freedom for the American Indians in South Dakota was meted out in blood. Leonard Peltier was a casualty of that struggle and has been a political prisoner of war for over 25 years. He is currently in Leavenworth Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas./p pIn 1973, there was a "reign of terror created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Marshals and other law enforcement agencies in the area on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation," stated Bill Means of the Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota, who also serves as President of the Board of Directors of the International Indian Treaty Council, the political arm of the American Indian Movement./p p"Agents of the FBI dragged our people out of their cars and made them get face down on the ground, under the pretext that they were in pursuit of weapons and fugitives. They even dragged people out of their houses and ransacked the houses," continued Bill Means, who owns the Indigenous Trading Company, which trades in agriculture and textile with Indians throughout the Western Hemisphere./p pIn 1973, safety was a commodity that could not be obtained on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. "There was a paramilitary group sanctioned by the FBI known as the goon squad that did drive-by shootings and harassed people sympathetic to the Movement," concluded the brother of the legendary Russell Means./p pAs a result of months of harassment and the siege by FBI and law enforcement agencies, activists came to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to monitor FBI activities and protect and preserve the American Indian Movement. One of the activists who came to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was Leonard Peltier./p p"One June 26, 1975, FBI agents converged on Indian homes looking for a Jimmy Eagle, who, according to agents of the FBI, had stolen a pair of cowboy boots. So, they broke down doors on the Reservation in search of Jimmy Eagle," stated Floyd Red Crow Westerman, the Minister of Culture of the American Indian Movement (AIM)./p pThe FBI agents came to the home of Grandma and Grandpa Jumping Bull. Leonard Peltier and the other activists who had come to monitor the activity of the FBI were camped near the home of the Jumping Bulls. The agents served a warrant in the name of Jimmy Eagle, who was not even in the state of South Dakota during that time, at the home of the Jumping Bulls. When the warrant was served, a firefight ensued and two FBI agents were killed," stated Westerman./p pTwo Indian brothers were initially charged with the murder but were acquitted on the grounds of self defense by a white jury of farmers and ranchers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After FBI agents came up empty and had no suspects in the deaths of their comrades, they extradited Leonard Peltier back to South Dakota. Leonard Peltier was tried in Fargo, North Dakota and convicted of aiding and abetting in the deaths of the two FBI agents. He was given two life sentences to be served consecutively. He has been incarcerated for over 25 years./p pSpeaker after speaker at the Mission Cultural Center provided their perspective of what transpired at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26, 1975. Not one speaker neglected to mention the 6,000 classified documents that were germane to the case of Leonard Peltier and essential for a fair and impartial trial but were withheld by FBI agents during his trial. Each speaker at the event also urged members of the audience to contact their Congressional representatives and ask them to demand the release of the documents, and also demand that the documents be admitted as evidence so that Peltier also may receive the due process guaranteed under the United States Constitution./p p"What we are trying to do here tonight is to bring attention to those 6,000 pages of documents," stated Bill Means. "There are many, many issues of fabricated evidence and people made to testify under duress during the trial of Leonard Peltier. There was evidence withheld and documents altered. In addition, the jury and/or court never did deal with the actual evidence. These issues have never been dealt with by the courts. Leonard Peltier has exhausted all judicial remedies for freedom. His case has been before the Supreme Court three times. Leonard Peltier is a political prisoner, and it will take a political action to get him out of prison. We maintain that not only was the evidence clearly in favor of Peltier, but there is still over 6,000 documents that have never been turned over to the authorities regarding this case. Similar to [the FBI withholding documents from the defense of] Timothy McVeigh," stated an agitated Means./p pIn the case of Timothy McVeigh, the FBI insisted and the justices concurred that the evidence would not have affected the disposition of the case. Did Bill Means reference to Timothy McVeigh suggest that the documents withheld by the FBI in the trial of Leonard Peltier could have led to a lesser sentence than two consecutive life sentences?/p p"I think that the documents would clearly show that the FBI first of all had a very calculated campaign against the American Indian Movement to destroy the Movement. I think there is a lot of evidence that would show that there is other evidence that was available that was not used at the trial. And, so, I think that Peltier should, at the very least, be given a new trial based on this new evidence," Means answered in response to the question./p pThere are many people being released from prisons based on evidence such as DNA. For example, in Pennsylvania the defense for Mumia Abu-Jamal stated that they have compelling evidence as well as a declaration from the person who actually pulled the trigger of the gun that was used in the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. I asked Bill Means if he were implying that the evidence contained in the 6,000 pages of documents carried enough weight to prove Leonard Peltier's innocence?/p p"I am not implying," stated Means. "We are saying that Leonard Peltier is definitely innocent. We've maintained that all along. They simply do not have the evidence to convict him. There are many different issues with regard to scientific evidence on the murder weapon that was allegedly found in Kansas, and later to be found that it was impossible for that weapon to have been used as the murder weapon. So, there are a lot of these issues that never came out in the trial that we say are very relevant and could have, in fact, proved what we have maintained all along - that Leonard Peltier is innocent./p pAs the crowd swelled at the Multicultural Center on that Tuesday, June 26, 2001, there were others who had followed the man who Amnesty International referred to as "the most obvious political prisoner in the United States" and also were convinced that he was used as a political scapegoat by the FBI, especially since the FBI had admitted that there was never any evidence that pointed to the person or persons who pulled the trigger of the rifle or rifles that killed the two agents./p p"Most of us who are Indians consider Leonard Peltier our friend and brother," stated the swarthy Lawrence Kiva Greywolf, of the Cree and Arawak Nations. One of the reasons why it is important for me to show up tonight is because a lot of people have also followed Leonard Peltier and understand his situation," concluded Greywolf whose blood consists primarily of African American and Native American ancestry./p pThere are over 350 federally recognized Native American Indigenous tribes in the Continental United States and each tribe has its unique tradition as to its "Way of Life."/p p"When I was a toddler in the White Mountains of Arizona, I began playing the hand drum," stated Silent Thunder Tessier, of the White Mountain Apache tribe with some Navajo blood. "I do the traditional hand drum and the pow wow drum. In order to understand our songs, a person has to know the language and tradition of the tribe," stated Silent Thunder, one of the five drummers who sat in the inner circle of the pow wow and delivered the songs that enchanted the spirits on that evening./p p"The fate of Leonard Peltier is now in your hands," stated Bill Means, as he continued to urge the audience to began a letter and telephone campaign to their Congressional representatives. "We are the Court of last resort."/p piPoor News Network received input on this article from Russell Redner of the Northern California American Indian Movement. Mr. Redner suggested that Poor News Network should mentioned Nilak Butler. Nilak Butler was on the Jumping Bulls Compound during the fire fight with FBI agents on the night of June 26, 1975, and conveyed the story firsthand at the event on June 26, 2001./i/p pIn addition, Mr. Redner reminded Poor News Network that Joe Stuntz, an American Indian at Jumping Bulls on that day, was killed during the fire fight./p pOther speakers at the event on June 26, 2001, included Russell Redner who was also at Wounded Knee./p pMickey Gimmel, an original member of Alcatraz, and Tony Gonzales, NGO representative, organized helped to organize this important event.br / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p