Leonard Peltier, an Anishinabe-Lakota political prisoner, has spent the last 24 years of his life in prison despite the fact that the government has admitted on numerous occasions that they do not know who is responsible for the crime he was convicted of. Because of the glaring Human and Constitutional violations that have been made in the overall targeting, prosecution, and continued imprisonment of Peltier, millions have come to know of his case and support his freedom. Some of whom are the late Mother Theresa, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Amnesty International, the European Parliament, the Italian Parliament, the Belgium Parliament, the Green Party, 50 members of U.S. Congress, Robert Redford, the National Congress of American Indians, and Jesse Jackson among others. In the late 1960's and early 1970's Leonard Peltier lived 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 and eventually joined the Denver Colorado chapter. He worked as a community counselor confronting job issues, alcohol problems and better city housing. Leonard Peltier's support for the American Indian Movement led to his involvement in the 1972 Trail of broken Treaties which took him to Washington D.C., in the non-violent occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building. He became strongly involved in the spiritual and traditional programs of AIM. Leonard Peltier's involvement in AIM is what brought him to Pine Ridge in 1975. During that time the reservation was rife with conflict between the conservative tribal chairman and his supporters and the traditional people who wanted to keep their land, language, culture, and spirituality. The tribal chairman and his hired vigilantes know as "GOONS" carried out a campaign of violence against those in opposition to his policies. In a period of three years over 60 traditional people were murdered on Pine Ridge and over 300 were severely beaten, several of whom were involved with AIM. During this period the reservation had the highest ratio of FBI agents to citizens than any other area in the US. Despite this, no murders or beatings were ever investigated. Furthermore, one GOON leader has since gone on record to say that in fact, the FBI intentionally turned their heads to such behavior and moreover, helped to arm those carrying out these crimes. It was for this reason Leonard Peltier along with other AIM members were asked to come to Pine Ridge to help the people who were being targeted. It was in this climate of fear that a shoot out broke out on June 26, 1975 between two FBI agents in unmarked cars and local residents and members of AIM. The two agents and one Native man were killed. Three people went to trial for the deaths of the agents, one of whom was Leonard Peltier. No investigation of the Native man's death took place. Two of those who went to trial were found innocent on grounds of self defense. Leonard Peltier, who had fled to Canada, was tried later, in a different district by a different judge, after being illegally extradited from Canada. He was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive lifes in one of the most controversial trials of the century. When faced with previously withheld evidence on appeal pointing to Leonard Peltier's innocence, the prosecution admitted, and later established that they in fact could not prove who actually shot the agents or what involvement Leonard Peltier may have had in their deaths. Despite this Mr. Peltier remains in prison. For this reason, there is an international outcry for his freedom and Leonard Peltier has become a notorious symbol of injustice against Native Peoples. Millions are asking President Clinton to grant him Executive Clemency. From prison, Leonard Peltier has continued to advocate for the human rights of Indigenous peoples and in doing so has won numerous human rights awards. He was recently declared an official Human Rights Defender at the Human Rights Defenders Summit in Paris which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He has also established himself as a talented artist, using oils to paint portraits of his people which portray their cultures and histories. Leonard has been an integral part of the movement to establish access to the practice of Native religions in prison. He says that it is the sweat lodge, the love and support of so many people, and his relationship with his grandchildren that allows him to keep hope from what has been a long, dangerous and trying twenty-three years. On June 26, 1975 two FBI agents allegedly searching for a young Indian accused of stealing a pair of used cowboy boots spotted several men enter a red pick-up truck. They followed the truck briefly. The occupants of the truck pulled over. Shots were fired though no one knows who fired first. Soon the situation exploded into a firefight involving 30 or so Indian men, women, and children and over 150 FBI agents, BIA police, US Marshals and the local police known as GOONs. Two agents and a young Indian activist died. Within hours of the shootout, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights which labeled it "a full scale vendetta", hundreds of paramilitary equipped, combat-clad FBI agents and US Marshals staged a dragnet through the reservation in a fever of revenge in which men, women, and children were terrified and properties and homes were ransacked. There was no investigation into the death of the Native American. Leonard had been previously identified as an AIM leader by the FBI and targeted by their notorious COINTELPRO program which "neutralized" people by slander, attack, and arrest. Fearing no possibility of a fair trial and at the request of his elders, he fled to Canada where he was later arrested and extradited by affidavits manufactured by the FBI that the government now concedes were false and fabricated. Four men were initially accused of the murders. Two were acquitted and the government dropped all charges against the third to concentrate their "full prosecutorial weight...against Leonard Peltier." He was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. The handpicked judge, favored by the FBI for his anti-Indian reputation, refused evidence of self defense. Information from the acquittals of his codefendants was also ruled inadmissable. Jurors were convinced by the court that AIM "snipers" would kill them at any time. In short Peltier was convicted before his trial even began. The government has subsequently changed its theory on who killed the agents and today admits they have NO IDEA WHO KILLED THEM. This change of theory came about during an appeal when a judge suggested to the prosecution that the evidence was, at best, merely circumstantial. With recent developments in Washington, DC proving the FBI grossly participated in illegally doctoring and manufacturing evidence to ensure criminal convictions, more attention MUST be paid to this renegade organization's past misconduct. Congressional hearings/investigations are critical! During a parole hearing in December 1995, US prosecutor Lynn Crooks admitted again that no evidence exists against Peltier. He further stated that he government never really accused him of murder and that if Peltier were retried, the government could not reconvict. The Parole Board, however, decided not to grant parole because Peltier continues to maintain his innocence (they stated that Peltier had not given a "factual and specific account of (his) actions...consistent with the jury's verdict of guilt") and because he was the only one convicted. As ridiculous as this reasoning sounds, it has thus far held up. A petition for executive clemency remains unanswered 5 1/2 years after being filed with the Department of Justice. The delay has been excused by government officials as a lengthy revue of a complex case. 1999 NEEDS to be the year of JUSTICE for LEONARD PELTIER. FREE LEONARD PELTIER! [email protected] Also email Al Gore [email protected] Join a local Support Group. Contact LPDC for locations. If no Support Group exists in your area, consider starting one. Contact your elected officials and ask that they support the call for clemency.