The
American Indian Movement or A.I.M. was formed in 1968 by Native
Americans so that they could fight for freedoms and for a different
way of life. Native people were tired of having their kids being
taken away and sent to boarding schools where they were indoctrinated
in the white man's ways, and they were tired of over 300 years of
lies, and broken promises. These people wanted their own rights to
choose and to live the way they wished to live, on their land.
Leonard
Peltier was born on September 12th, 1944 in Grand Forks
North Dakota. He is a member of the American Indian Movement and has
been incarcerated now for over 38 years. Leonard Peltier is being
charged with the deaths of two F.B.I. agents during a shootout on the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26th 1975. If you
study the case you will see that their are many serious violations
and that Mr. Leonard Peltier did not get a fair trial, and that there are many things that just don't make sense.
What
where those F.B.I. Agents doing on the reservation in plain clothes
and unmarked cars chasing a car matching one belonging to a man
named Jimmy Eagle? The whole affair is said to be regarding some
alledged stolen cowboy boots. This man Jimmy Eagle could have easily
mistaken the men chasing him for someone out to hurt him.
One
thing to keep in mind is that there had been many shootings on the
reservation at Pine Ridge , and they were being carried out by the
reservations Elected Tribal Leader Richard (Dickie) Wilson's Goons
(Guardians of Oglala Nation) who had been shooting up the homes of
American Indian Movement members and other native people who they
thought were affiliated with the group, or helping them in any way.
Sixty people had died at the hands of the GOONS.
Soon
after shooting broke out, and after the shooting had stopped,
American Indian Movement member Joe Stuntz and two F.B.I. Agents
Ronald A. Williams and Jack R. Coler had been killed.
It
is tragic that anyone died on that sad day. I think it is tragic that
we cannot live in peace, I would like to send my condolences to the
families of the men who lost their lives on that day. I also believe
that Mr. Peltier did not get a fair trial and that he has been in
jail way too long. I feel that he should be let out immediately so he
can be reunited with his family and friends.
On
a personal note, I really do not like jails, I do not like what they
do to people, and I really do not like what they do to the families
of the incarcerated beings. I have personally seen people I love
taken away, and put into jail. I have personally seen people crying
out due to the pain the separation from their loved one is causing
them. I think that we need to find a better way. I think that many
men in jail are innocent or are there for some non sense reasons, and
people may also be incarcerated for having been tried by racist
juries, and not their peers, or being pressured into signing plea
bargain agreements that trick them into pleeding guilty even when
they are innocent. I think this is an attack against the poor and the
colored.
Contact
Leonard Peltier:
LEONARD
PELTIER #89637-132
USP
COLEMAN I
P.O. BOX 1033
COLEMAN, FL 33521