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Dear Editor:
When President Clinton told a group of Native Americans last March that they "got a bad deal," I wonder if he was including Leonard Peltier, a Native American unjustly incarcerated for the last 24 years. President Clinton, who in recent months visited two Indian reservations, has for years been the focus of a campaign to free Peltier. As President Clinton's last days in office rapidly approach we, along with thousands of others, are wondering if he will put his money where is mouth is and grant executive clemency to the most well known symbol of injustice against Indigenous peoples of this hemisphere.
Amnesty International considers Peltier to be a political prisoner who should be "immediately and unconditionally released." Archbishop Desmond Tutu has referred to the case as a "blot on the judicial system of this country." The list of Leonard Peltier's prominent supporters goes on and on, and millions have asked President Clinton to free this man.
Why the uproar?
Leonard Peltier was a key organizer of the American Indian Movement. He and other AIM members had been asked to go to the Pine Ridge reservation where conflict between a pro-assimilation tribal chairman and traditionalists had escalated to violence. The chairman used tribal monies to fund a campaign of intimidation against his opposition, resulting in several beatings and murders. Despite an overwhelming presence of FBI agents on the reservation, these murders, totaling 64 between 1973 and 1976, were never properly investigated, and virtually no prosecutions were brought.
Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that a shoot-out erupted on June 26, 1975 after two FBI agents in unmarked cars chased a red pick-up truck onto the property of a traditional family that was housing a group of AIM members. Within hours the home was surrounded by 150 SWAT team members, FBI agents, Bureau of Indian Affairs police, and vigilantes.
Women and children barely escaped through the hail of bullets. In the end, the two agents and one Native man lay dead.
Three people were tried for the deaths of the agents. Two of those were found innocent on grounds of self-defense. Peltier, who was in Canada seeking political asylum, would be tried separately. He was eventually extradited from Canada on the weight of an affidavit from a woman who claimed to have witnessed him murder the agents. In fact, she had never seen Peltier nor was she ever in the area where the shoot-out took place.
She would later recant her statement saying the FBI had threatened her into co-operating. However, the jury in Peltier's trial was never allowed to hear her testimony.
Peltier's trial was mysteriously and unfavorably transferred to a different judge and district from that of his co-defendants. Exculpatory evidence was withheld, witnesses were coerced, and the judge erred in his rulings, making it impossible for Peltier to properly defend himself. He was found guilty of first-degree murder, and was given two consecutive life sentences.
The main evidence used to convict was a shell casing found in the agents' car, said to match Peltier's gun. However, documents released through the Freedom of Information Act would reveal that the casing did not match and the FBI ballistics expert had perjured himself. When faced with this evidence on appeal, the government prosecutor admitted that he could not prove who killed the agents. Six thousand FBI documents pertaining to the case are still being withheld for reasons of "national security."
The only evidence against Peltier is the fact that he was present at the Jumping Bull ranch during the fatal shoot-out. There were more than 30 others there that day as well. Yet Peltier is the only one who was ever sentenced and imprisoned.
President Clinton should follow the advice of Jesse Jackson, the National Congress of American Indians, several members of Congress, and millions of U.S. citizens and free Leonard Peltier. If he does so, he wil ruly leave behind a legacy of one who took a substantial step toward improving the plight of Native people.
Call the White House Comments Line today and demand justice for Leonard Peltier! 1-202-456-1111.
Leonard Peltier
Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
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