Foreign Policy (10/6/17)
This week on CounterSpin: Public protest against racist police brutality has been a beacon for all kinds of activists looking for ways to stand up to oppression—a model for those who want to go down on the right side of history with principled, persistent and peaceful action in resistance to increasingly frightening reactionary exertions of state power. Into this context we now introduce, by way of documents leaked to the magazine Foreign Policy, the FBI’s designation of “black identity extremists” as a movement constituting a violent threat to public safety, and warranting the surveillance and scrutiny of the country’s “counterterrorism” forces. What do we know about the definition of this term and, more importantly, the FBI’s application of it? The ACLU’s Racial Justice Program is on the case; we’ll hear from lead attorney Nusrat Choudhury.
Transcript: The Bureau is Once Again Profiling Black Activists Because of Their Beliefs and Their Race
Also on the program: Amazon has just ended its request for proposals from US cities jockeying to be the home of the mega-corporation’s second headquarters. We’ve seen jokey stories about what municipalities are offering as incentives—including being willing to change a town’s name to “Amazon”—but what about the much-less-humorous considerations of what a city or state ought to be able to put on the block to woo a wealthy private corporation, and who, ultimately, comes out a winner in such deal-making? Village Voice news editor Neil deMause is author of The Brooklyn Wars and co-author of Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit. He’ll help shed some light on that story.
Transcript: The Winner of the Amazon Headquarters Might End Up Being the Biggest Loser
October 20, 2017
I am generally a big supporter of FAIR. Counter Spin, and ACLU, but there was a serious omission in the coverage today, within the interview of ACLU’s Choudhury (which I heard on KOPN FM in Columbia, Mo.). The central topic regarding injustice against Black activists labeled extremists, etc. is laudable and needs to be covered in the media. However, when the interviewer (sorry I didn’t catch her name) and Nusrat Choudhury were discussing the infamous COINTELPRO program of the FBI during the 70’s and to some extent the 80’s they labeled it a program against black activists, as if that was all that it was! That is a shamefully limiting term, completely ignoring that the FBI (and it’s horrific Director J. Edgar Hoover) targeted Native American activists every bit as much and as disastrously as Black activists. I would not be surprised at that egregious omission if it was mainstream media reporting, but Counter Spin and ACLU have been famous for representing the under-represented and the unrepresented, as a cornerstone of their principles and their efforts to be inclusive. Native American rights have been far more under-reported than the injustices against Black activists, and deserve to have their story told. So this was a serious mistake that deserves not only a correction but a follow-up story.
Moreover, the longest standing political prisoner in the U.S. who is still incarcerated is Native American activist and human rights leader, Leonard Peltier. In spite of extremely outrageous violations of his rights, violations of the constitution, and of international law, he was railroaded in an unjust trial with Judge Benson of Bismarck No. Dakota, a justice well-known to be anti-Indian. He was extradited illegally from Canada, based on falsified evidence obtained from a coerced witness, Myrtle Poor Bear, who was mentally disabled and terrorized. The FBI ballistics expert Evan Hodge was caught in a lie at trial, trying to link Peltier to a gun that was not his. There was not a shred of evidence against him, so even the biased judge could only allow him to be convicted of aiding and abetting a murderer….an unknown murderer at that! Canada has since protested the breach of international law in his extradition in an official resolution. Peltier’s attempts to appeal have been blocked one way after another, rendering him stuck with few if any options left except clemency or what’s called “compassionate release” (for people extremely sick or dying). The world needs to hear his story! Long overdue and crying out to be added to the dialogue about minority rights and profiling that continues to be so timely!
Clinton vowed he would grant clemency and was ready at the end of his presidency, but withdrew when the FBI put him under extreme (and probably deadly) pressures. One story says he was told he would no longer get security protection. Obama considered it but avoided the controversial case because Peltier was accused (but never proven) to be a murderer of 2 FBI agents. The death of the Native American man who was also murdered in the same shoot-out on the terrorized Pine Ridge Reservation was never investigated, nor were the many unexplained terrorist deaths by mercenaries (possibly FBI hired guns although nuclear and oil mining interests were also heavily pressuring the Pine Ridge residents to shut up and not protest the potential raping of their Sacred Black Hills by wealthy mining interests).
I’ve been an activist for Native American rights since 1980 and have known Peltier personally and believe those who’ve stated he’s innocent are correct. He’s been lauded by international and national human rights and religious rights individuals and organizations for decades, including many thousands calling for his release as a political prisoner, such as luminaries Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and in the entertainment and environmental fields Robert Redford, Sting, Susan Sarandon, Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, and many others. Amnesty International assisted him with legal advice on pardons and clemency, especially helping during his campaign to obtain clemency from Obama, and always called for his release.
Now he’s over 70, a grandfather several times over, an accomplished self-trained artist who donated art to help the Standing Rock activists, and a man who’s worked hard for many human rights causes world-wide from his prison cell. He’s written two books, partly co-authored by Harvey Arden, which include both prose and heart-rending poetry, most recently “My Life is My Sun Dance”. He’s been in many prisons and is now in Coleman II in Florida so far from his family and tribal people it’s another disgrace. He was ready when Clinton was in office, to comply with all the requirements of parole, as he had a place to live, family and tribal friends who were ready to employ him, and all the other details needed. He’s already served more than legally required, but the parole board gets stuck on one of the prerequisites, to show remorse. Yet’s he’s steadfastly insisted he is innocent, so how in good conscience can he say he’s sorry for what he did not do? It’s a total travesty of injustice.
Add to that, the fact his health has deteriorated so badly he’s not only diabetic and losing his eyesight, but he’s got a bad hip needing surgery and a life-threatening abdominal aortic aneurysm. Give all of this, surely you can see that his story and the story of Native American activists targeted by COINTELPRO is long-overdue, and now especially timely.
You’re welcome to contact me, 573-443-5985, but better yet, reach out to the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, at 701-293-4806, or to Paulette D’Autieul (sorry, unsure if spelling is right) at 218-790-7667 and tell her I referred you. She can refer you to Harvey Arden, and to Peltier’s current Attorney and others who would be helpful for a story, or better yet, for a series, since the story is complex and multi-faceted and is relevant to so many of today’s crucial justice and minority rights issues as well as issues of free speech and freedom of religion. Prior to going to law school I assisted as an informal legal intern to an Atty. Margaret Gold seeking to get his religious rights in prison, since Christians always got their rights but not Native Americans. He undertook a Spiritual Fast in Marion Illinois, which was denied and he was sent to Springfield Mo., to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners to be force-fed. His efforts were instrumental in fueling the movement that eventually got the rights for native prisoners to have contact with a “Spiritual Advisor”, to use a Sacred Prayer Pipe and Sacred herbs: Sage, Cedar and Sweet Grass and tobacco, in traditional prayers, as well as to have Sweat Lodge Ceremonies for prayer and purification.
Sorry this is so long, but this cause is worthy and too long over-looked, and the connections to current issues of the news is undeniable. I hope you will take this extremely seriously, and forward it to people who will give it the time and effort it deserves. Please also forward this to ACLU’s N. Choudhury. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Carolyn E. Mathews
Attorney and Human Rights Activist
573-443-5985 (please leave a voice mail and I’ll return your call)
You can also find me on Facebook as Admin. for Native American Support Group
Did I not as a white boy, of the slow and careful thinking laboring-class, grow up in the slums of Milwaukee, Minneapolis and LA, from time to time my brother, sister and I being among the homeless? Good, so now comes the real USA.
EDUCATED UPPER-HALF
90% of whites
5% of Latinos
5% of Blacks
POOR LOWER-HALF
10% of whites
95% of Latinos
95% of Blacks
For my laboring-class ancestors have been among the working poor since they came to America as bond slaves aboard a sailboat from England. The same for 95% of Afro-Americans, as they were captured from the laboring-class in Africa.
For the root cause of predigest in America is not race but class. For humans have a superiority complex against anyone who has less wealth, knowledge or whiteness.
And so, it is not the black race against 88% of Americans, but the 50% poor laboring-class against the 50% most wealthy who own all of the land and wealth.
“…the longest standing political prisoner in the U.S. who is still incarcerated is Native American activist and human rights leader, Leonard Peltier. In spite of extremely outrageous violations of his rights, violations of the constitution, and of international law, he was railroaded in an unjust trial…” deserves a response, that is, if documented quotes mean anything:
“This story is true.”
Leonard Peltier, assuring his supporters that a mysterious Mr. X shot the FBI agents, as depicted in Robert Redford’s discredited documentary, Incident at Oglala.
“Peter, you put my life in jeopardy and you put the lives my family in jeopardy by putting that bullshit in your books. Why didn’t you call me and ask me if it was true?”
Dean Butler, chastising Peter Matthiessen for promoting Peltier’s sworn alibi, Mr. X, in his book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. Peltier’s lawyer, Mike Kuzma, publicly admitted that the X story was “concocted” as are all of Peltier’s alibis. Note: The stand-in who played “Mr. X” in Peltier’s video (as seen on 60 Minutes) has been exposed as AIM member and “Mt Rushmore bomber,” David Hill.
“I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.”
Leonard Peltier, standing over the bodies of Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, moments after their heads were blown off, commenting on Joe Stuntz wearing Jack Coler’s green FBI jacket taken from his car trunk, as quoted in, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse.
“I didn’t think nothing about it at the time: all I could think of was, We got to get out of here!”
Leonard Peltier, reacting to Joe Stuntz wearing Jack Coler’s jacket, quote from In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. Peltier could hear the chatter over the FBI car radio from other agents who were racing to the scene and attempting to re-establish contact with Agent Williams in response to his calls for help. The Eighth Circuit court of Appeals affirmed that Peltier initially opened fire on the agents because he mistakenly thought they were there to arrest him. Peltier also feared that the agents would discover his armed encampment where numerous weapons, boxes of ammo, bomb-making materials, and several hand grenades lay hidden in the trees.
“I heard the bullet go whizzing by my head.”
FBI Agent Dean Hughes, describing Joe Stuntz shooting at him after being repeatedly warned to stop firing at responding law enforcement officers. A BIA officer returned fire and killed Stuntz, an ex-convict who had volunteered to stay behind and help Peltier escape from the murder scene, as quoted in American Indian Mafia.
Mark Potter: “Did you fire at those agents, Coler and Williams?
Leonard Peltier: “I shot in their direction, yes.”
CNN interview, Oct 1999. Later in the interview, Peltier admits for the first time on camera that he left his firing position near a large tree and stood over the two dead agents moments after they were both shot in the face at point-blank range.
“…I can’t tell the system I was shooting at their police officers that were trying to arrest me. They’ll hold that against me. I’ve got to be careful about that stuff.”
Leonard Peltier, 1995 interview with Native journalist Richard LaCourse, admitting that he mistakenly believed the FBI agents were there to arrest him. At the time, Peltier was a wanted fugitive for the attempted murder of a police officer in Wisconsin. Agents Coler and Williams were looking for someone else when Peltier opened fire on their FBI cars, apparently recognizing the vehicles from the day before when the agents had visited the same compound in the same cars.
“When all is said and done, however, a few simple but very important facts remain. The casing introduced into evidence in fact had been extracted from the Wichita AR-15. This point was not disputed.”
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Feb 1986, finding of fact that a shell casing found at the murder scene was ejected from the AR-15 assault rifle carried by Leonard Peltier. Over a hundred shell casings, all matched to Peltier’s weapon, were found in the area where he was seen shooting and over a hundred bullet holes were found in the FBI cars.
“The record as a whole leaves no doubt that the jury accepted the government’s theory that Peltier had personally killed the two agents, after they were seriously wounded, by shooting them at point blank range with an AR-15 rifle ….The critical evidence in support of this theory was a casing from a .223 caliber Remington cartridge recovered from the trunk of [the car of one of the murdered agents] …The district court, agreeing with the government’s theory … sentenced Peltier to two consecutive life sentences.”
United States v. Peltier, 800 F.2d 772, 772-73 (8th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 822, 108 S. Ct. 84, 98 L. Ed. 2d 46 (1987)
“The motherf—er was begging for his life but I shot him anyway.”
Sworn testimony attributed to Leonard Peltier, boasting in the Marlon Brando motor home about shooting Ronald Williams, as heard by Dennis Banks, Ka-Mook Banks, Bernie Lafferty, and (soon-to-be-murdered) Anna Mae Pictou Aquash. According to the autopsy report, Ronald Williams died with his right hand held up in front of his face; there were powder burns on his fingers.
“The circumstantial evidence presented at the extradition hearing, taken alone [without the Poor Bear affidavits], constituted sufficient evidence to justify Mr. Peltier’s committal on the two murder charges.”
Anne McLellen, Canadian Minister of Justice, in a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, October 12, 1999, affirming that Peltier was lawfully extradited to the US to stand trial for murder.
“The two witnesses testified outside the presence of the jury that after their testimony at trial, they had been threatened by Peltier himself that if they did not return to court and testify that their earlier testimony had been induced by F.B.I. threats, their lives would be in danger.”
United States v. Peltier, 585 F. 2d 314, U.S. App. Decision September 14, 1978.
“Anna Mae Aquash was executed by a single gunshot to the back of her head on orders from the American Indian Movement because they believed her to be an informant for the FBI…”
Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, June 26, 2007
“There is no doubt that in June 1975 Leonard Peltier put a loaded gun in my mother’s mouth during one of her interrogations and that six months later, other members and leaders of the American Indian Movement carried out my mother’s torture, rape and murder. Leonard knows a lot about the people involved but even today, after all these years, he refuses to cooperate in the on-going murder investigation.”
Denise Maloney, daughter of AIM murder victim Anna Mae Pictou Aquash (Mi’kmaq)
“But in the end, while crossing back and forth over the issue of ‘without doubt,’ and crossing back again to wonder, it simply took a delegation of people who were tired of all the deceptions, lies and dangers to step forward and tell me the truth. ‘Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of the agents…’ and that was the end of that.“
Native journalist Paul DeMain, April 2, 2007, writing about “people who have agonized for years, grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll.”
“This story that the government admitted they don’t know who shot the agents comes from an out-of-context comment attributed to prosecutor Lynn Crooks. Let me tell you something. I know Lynn Crooks, and there is no one on the planet more convinced of Peltier’s guilt than Lynn Crooks.”
John M. Trimbach, American Indian Mafia
“… the greater probability is that you yourself fired the fatal shots… It would be unjust to treat the slaying of these F.B.I. agents, while they lay wounded and helpless, as if your actions had been part of a gun battle. Neither the state of relations between Native American militants and law enforcement at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation prior to June 26, 1975, nor the exchanges of gunfire between individuals at the Jumping Bull Compound and the law enforcement agents who arrived there during the hours after Agents Coler and Williams were murdered, explains or mitigates the crimes you committed…Your release on parole would promote disrespect for the law in contravention of 18 U.S.C….”
Leonard Peltier’s 1999 Parole Board, commenting on his aiding and abetting conviction.
“For me it’s something very heroic that he’s done. He’s putting himself at risk, seriously at risk. I will say this: that this brother is a very strong brother. He is not a cold-blooded murderer. He is not a bad person, he’s very kind, generous and sincere.”
Leonard Peltier, 1991 Darrin Wood interview, describing the man who executed Ronald Williams and Jack Coler.
“I never thought my commitment would mean sacrificing like this, but I was willing to do so nonetheless. And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again, because it was the right thing to do.”
Message from inmate Peltier to his supporters, 2/6/2010.
Parole may be granted when the offender’s “…release would not depreciate the seriousness of the offense.”
DOJ policy statement on parole that explains why inmate Peltier has never qualified. His recent appeal for freedom was directed at President Obama, attempting to convince him that he is a victim of the “system.” But this latest ploy was doomed to fail. In his sworn petition for clemency addressed to the president, Peltier claims he ran in the direction of “women and children” after, as he also claims in his book, waking up to the smell of pancakes and the sound of gunfire in his tent a quarter mile from the murder scene.
Peltier and his lawyers had hoped that President Obama was unaware the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals established and repeatedly upheld that the gunfire started when Peltier emerged from his Suburban van and opened fire on agents Williams and Coler. He could not possibly have been in his tent. Peltier’s worst enemy has always been the truth, the truth about his guilt and his ability to fool many into believing his sob story. Until he shows remorse for his crimes and asks forgiveness from his victims’ families, and cooperates in the still-open murder investigation of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, the “Bernie Madoff of political prisoners” should stay where he is.