FREE LEONARD PELTIER

(Free Mumia)

Then shalt thou shalt cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the Tenth day of the Seventh Month, in the Day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

And ye shall hallow the Fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto ALL the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a Jubilee unto you: and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family...(Leviticus 25:9,10).

Thomas-- Thanks for your moving words. TOGETHERNESS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. THE POWERS THAT BE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO SEE THAT WE DON'T JOIN TOGETHER. They seed the internet with dissenters and discouragers who keep us fighting among ourselves, while they pick us off one by one. Let's look for the good in each other, and tolerate each others imperfections. As Leonard says in PRISON WRITINGS: MY LIFE IS MY SUN DANCE, "We're not supposed to be perfect; we're supposed to be useful."

Thanks for being part of the network, Thunderbolt! Encourage others to join!

/Harvey
Original Message
From: thomas pruett
To: Harvey Arden
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 12:48 PM
Subject: Re: MESSAGE TO BE FWD'd TO LPNET

My great grandmother came from the what is now known as Oklahoma she was full blooded cherokee. My mother used to take me as a child to Horton reservation where we have family. All I know is her last name was Parker, as for me I feel that the goverment has held Leonard long enough for something he never did. Our goverment says one thing to our people and acts on what they feel is best for us. Whatever happened to the people being heard we are becoming more of a police state as time passes. Our rights are gone actually we as the people really never had any. When will we quit talking about doing something , its time for the people to stand as one for in numbers we have the power to once again be heard as a nation. My wife Raven was their when the FBI unjustly accussed leonard of a crime he had no part in. May the great spirit help us becme as one as our grandfathers was. Peace&Happiness to all who fight the wronges to make them right. Thunderbolt

Harvey Arden <harveyarden@starpower.net> wrote:
Message of 11/23/03 from Harvey Arden for FWD’g to LP Network

Thanks for joining the new network for getting out the word on Leonard. People have no idea from the corporate media what's going on. They've built a wall of silence between us--either no information or disinformation. We need to reach out to each other personally, one by one, just to grasp the enormity of the injustice against Leonard that is NOW GOING ON in 2003!

This report below from human rights activist Arthur J. Miller of the Tacoma (Oregon) LPSG--Leonard Peltier Support Group--should be MUST READING for everyone on this planet. We must make this whole outrageous system uncomfortable in its continuing conspiracy against Leonard and against all of us and EACH of us, and that is done precisely by breaking down and shattering that wall of silence which both surrounds and separates us. This means we must all communicate, and one effective way to communicate is to join our growing international email network. Let knowledge itself be our weapon.

I'm not sending out petitions to sign or addresses of government officials to contact. Others are doing that. What I'm sending out here is a SCREAM!--A WARRIOR'S CRY--that needs to be heard around this entire planet, which only YOU personally can help accomplish by sending out this very message to your list of other REAL PEOPLE, who will have the personal gumption to send it on to still other REAL PEOPLE, who in turn will have the gumption to send it on to still other REAL PEOPLE...and so on through the '6 degrees of separation' that connect all of us on this Mother Earth to each other. As Leonard says in PRISON WRITINGS: MY LIFE IS MY SUN DANCE: ‘We must EACH be an ‘Ar my of One.’ EACH of us must seek our own peaceful way of expressing our own outrage. And EACH of us can help spread the message via this network with NO MASTER LIST…just each of us reaching out to others who reach out to others, and so on. Right now we each need to UNDERSTAND the pernicious workings of a legal system that allows such OPEN & UNCONCEALED INJUSTICE to persist. Each of us needs to feel the OUTRAGE—as well as the COMMITMENT—of great activists like Arthur J. Miller of Tacoma, Oregon.

By all means, if you haven’t already, email harvey@HaveYouThought.com with the words YES, I’LL JOIN THE NETWORK in the subject line. Also PLEASE do check out www.HaveYouThought.com--the exciting Companion Website to the forthcoming book: ~HAVE YOU THOUGHT of LEONARD PELTIER LATELY?~ Your thoughts, information, suggestions, stories, poems relating to Leonard, etc etc are welcome there, and should be addressed to my friend and editor George Blitch at george@HaveYouThought.com. And DO visit Leonard’s own official LPDC website at www.leonardpeltier.org

Please FWD this very email on to your personal list NOW and emphasize to those you send it to that they TOO need to pass the message on to THEIR personal list, etc etc etc We CAN do this. We can span & network the globe to DEMAND Leonard’s freedom. Let’s start right NOW! Become part of the history of your own times!

We WILL get Leonard out!!

Harvey Arden www.HaveYouThought.com...www.dreamkeepers.net...www.leonardpeltier.org

.Here’s Arthur’s powerful message: FOR THE INDYMEDIA (BLESS THEM!) ORIGINAL, GO TO: http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/5389/index.php

From: Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Subject: MUMIA ABU JAMAL's Message of support for Leonard Peltier Date: 4 Feb 1999

Please read at your local event:

Message of Thanks to Leonard Peltier and the LPDC from Mumia Abu Jamal. January 21, 1999

Ona Move! We, all of us, give solid thanks to Leonard Peltier and his numerous supporters worldwide, for the principled assistance in France recently. I deeply appreciate it - we ALL do.

Many years ago, when I was doing radio commentary for several Philadelphia college stations, I frequently received taped reports from communications people from AIM (American Indian Movement ), and promptly reported such information to my audience. What I learned was that the U.S. government was waging a vicious and unrelenting war against native people. In (It) was a phase in that war that an innocent Lakota activist, Leonard Peltier was dogged by this government, and framed for murder.

For almost a quarter of a century, this kind and gentle warrior, this artist, this son of his people, has withstood the brutal assaults of the U.S. government, against its own "law," its own constitution, its own precedent. On February 6, 1999 the calendar will strike 23 long and lonely years in U.S. gulags for Leonard Peltier. Twenty-three years since an overtly illegal extradition from Canada to the U.S. Twenty-three years in a Yankee Iron Cage for the "crime" of resisting American repression.

As we enter a new century, it is past time for us to correct this vile injustice against Leonard Peltier. Let a new century begin with an act of justice for the Oglola people.

Free Leonard Peltier!
Free the MOVE 9! Long Live John Africa!
In the Spirit of Nat Turner
And Crazy Horse!
Ona Move!

Mumia

FREE LEONARD, FREE MUMIA

_______


LEONARD PELTIER'S APPEAL DENIED

By Arthur J. Miller

Tacoma-lpsg@ojibwe.us

Once again the courts have closed the door to justice and the truth. The U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, on Nov. 4, 2003, issued their ruling denying Leonard Peltier's appeal. The conclusion of the ruling by the court states: "Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed. Mr. Peltier asserts that "the blatant government misconduct! is a mitigating factor which should bear strongly on whether (he) should be immediately considered for parole…." He may be correct. But whether the Parole Commission gave proper weight to this mitigating evidence is not a question we have authority to review. Our only inquiry is whether the Commission was rational in concluding Mr. Peltier participated in the execution of the two federal agents. On the record before us, we cannot say this determination was arbitrary and capricious."

A very interesting statement. The Parole Commission based its decision upon a trial where evidence that Leonard could have used to prove his innocence was withheld and part of what was used to convict Leonard was testimony by witnesses intimidated by the FBI and the court admits this as fact. The court also in its ruling stated that "the Commission's description of the firefight as an "ambush" was imprecise: there is no indication any of the participants were lying in wait for the agents." An! d the court admits: "In 1975, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota was embroiled in conflict between traditional elders, who sought independence from Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) managers, and Native Americans supportive of the BIA power structure. The conflict became violent, and the traditional elders sought protection from members of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Mr. Peltier and other AIM activists arrived at Pine Ridge to defend reservation traditionalists."

So the court acknowledges the reason why Leonard was there, it acknowledges that the government behavior at Pine Ridge, which was to side against the traditionalist, is to be condemned. It acknowledges the violence, over 60 traditionalists had been murdered, many victims of drive by shootings. The first two AIM members who went on trial were found not guilty for reason of self-defense. But the court states that the Parole Commission' s denial of parole for Leonard, which was based upon things that the court states should be condemned, was not "arbitrary and capricious." Again the courts have shown, that in the case of Leonard Peltier, such things as justice and common sense do not apply.

Like in the past when Leonard lost appeals, was not granted clemency and not paroled, there are those that want to give up because Leonard will never find justice in a system that only acts in its own interest even when its actions stand against any sense of justice and even violates its own laws. Though it is clear that the system will not grant justice to Leonard, but we should not give up. For what will grant justice to Leonard is if enough people demand it and how the government then decides to free Leonard is up to it. Rather than give into the government and the system of injustice, we ! should use each and every act by the government and its courts as further example of the rightness of our cause and struggle even harder. I know that it is hard to continue this struggle; I have been actively continuously working for Leonard for 24 years. I have gone through all the appeals and felt the great sorrow and frustration that each step has brought us. But we cannot surrender in the face of such oppression, for the sake of Leonard we cannot surrender and for the sake of all who resist this system that works in the interest of a few at the expense of the many.

In the spirit of rage and commitment

Arthur J. Miller
Tacoma LPSG

__________

-----Original Message-----
From: John Gallagher [mailto:johnniecakes@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 12:07 PM
To: peltiersupport@lists.riseup.net; kolahq@skynet.be; info@leonardpeltier.org; Cc: FreedomCampaign@aol.com; harveyarden@starpower.net; Tacoma-lpsg@ojibwe.us; Subject: Albuquerque Journal Letter To the Editor (Peltier)

Well folks, I had to write a response to the Presidential Candidates Woo Indian Vote article in the Albuquerque Journal. I would suggest that some of you do the same by clicking on the link below. http://www.abqjournal.com/letters_form.htm

Now lets see if this appears. Thats why I would request others to write a letter to the Editor on this matter. Lets let our voices heard. John G

Would be Presidents courted the Indian vote in Albuquerque, but there was no mention if they would grant American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier clemency, who has served 27 years thus far for allegedly shooting 2 FBI agents in Oglala, SD in 1975. Former President Clinton promised to review clemency for Mr. Peltier in his eight year in office. He did not grant Mr. Peltier clemency, but granted clemency to Marc Rich who was guilty of the biggest tax evasion in U.S. history.

Picture this Mr. Presidential candidates. Picture yourself as a judge. The proscecutor states that we don't know who shot our agents. It is known that the proscecution withheld evidence to the defense, that two co-defendants were found NOT GUILTY on the grounds of self defense, and that FBI files eleased through the Freedom Of Information ACT revealed that a firing pin test resulted in NO match between Mr. Peltier's AR-15 rifle and shell casings found near the slain agents despite the fact that a ballistics expert testified to a jury that there was a match between the casings and the AR-15 rifle.

Wouldn't you say he deserves a new trial? Well, the eighth circuit court of appeals said NO. In fact, the parole commission can go beyond their guidelines in denying him parole, even though he's long overdue. If Mr. Peltier's civil rights can be violated, what does that say for the rest of us.

Thus far, only Carol Moseley Braun said yes to clemency for Mr. Peltier. You Presidential candidates want to apologize to Native Americans, pardon Leonard Peltier. Otherwise your apology doesn't hold water.

__________

From: Ranger Tanker [mailto:rangertanker@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 7:07 PM
To: harveyarden@starpower.net

After reading this, does anyone get the impression that something or someone is missing in the equation? JG

Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 06:15:38 EST
Subject: Albuquerque Journal: Presidential Candidates Woo Indians
By Leslie Linthicum Journal Staff Writer

Would-be presidents courted the Indian vote in Albuquerque on Monday, vowing in person, by satellite and videotape to right old
wrongs. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark used the word "genocide" to describe what the conquering second Americans did to the American Indians. Rep. Dennis Kucinich bemoaned broken treaties and said that, as president, he would apologize to Indian people for what the government has done to them. Sen. Joe Lieberman said he would settle up the Indian trust account discrepancy. Sen. John Kerry said he would pour money into Indian health care. And Rep. Dick Gephardt promised to fill federal judgeships with American Indians.

The National Congress of American Indians, which is holding its annual session in Albuquerque, is hosting six of the nine candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for president. Clark and Kucinich came to the convention in person. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is scheduled to attend Wednesday. Lieberman and Gephardt sent taped remarks Monday and Kerry appeared live via satellite.

They all used the word "sovereignty," which, when you're trying to woo the votes of American Indians, is something like saying, "You have beautiful eyes." "When you say stuff like that, wow, you get Indians' attention," said Tex G. Hall, president of the NCAI, the country's oldest and largest Indian organization. There has not always been such a clamor among presidential
candidates to get on Indian Country's dance card. But with an estimated 1.5 million registered voters and increasing political participation, Indians have begun to command the attention of presidential candidates.

Healthy campaign contributions funded by the $15 billion Indian gaming industry don't hurt either. "Tribes are serious about looking for friends," Hall said. "And they shouldn't apologize for that." Tribal leaders and members are increasingly sophisticated about pressing their agendas on candidates and holding them to their promises for Indian Country after they're elected, Hall said. By appearing at the convention, the candidates spoke directly to between 3,000 and 4,000 tribal leaders and through them will send their messages and platforms back to several hundred reservations. Kucinich promised a national Indian policy that restates the separate sovereign status of tribes and enforces it. "This country has a moral obligation to keep its agreements," he
said.

Clark said his agenda would borrow from a common Indian outlook: that actions taken today should be viewed in terms of their effects on people who will live seven generations from now. He said the rate of diabetes and living conditions on many reservations are "disgraceful" and that he will work to make them better. "You've enriched us for generations," Clark said, "but sadly our country has not returned the favor." Gephardt said he would make sure federal Indian programs are fully funded and would work with tribal governments, not against them. "You don't have to worry about me," Gephardt said. "I understand sovereignty. I believe in sovereignty. I will work with tribal governments and respect them." Lieberman said the Bush administration has dragged its feet on resolving Indian trust funds and that the long-standing federal lawsuit on the issue would be settled with an accounting and payment of the money owed if he is elected president. "When I'm president," Lieberman said, "you're going to be treated with respect."

Kerry promised to build and repair Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and to put money into reservation roads and housing. "Again and again," he said, "Native Americans are getting the short end of the stick. This is one of the great scars of America." Clark and Kucinich were wrapped by convention organizers in Indian blankets and given bumper stickers that said, "I'm Indian and I Vote." The bumper stickers and the slogan are part of Native Vote 2004, an initiative to register Indian people to vote, to inform them and to get them to the polls. NCAI is nonpartisan and will not endorse a presidential candidate, executive director Jacqueline Johnson said. However, NCAI is working with tribal governments to encourage them to schedule tribal elections to coincide with national elections to get more tribal members to the polls.
Copyright 2003 Albuquerque Journal

__________

-----Original Message-----
From: peltiersupport@riseup.net [mailto:peltiersupport@riseup.net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 8:09 AM
To: peltiersupport
Subject: Feb. 6th event-Boston/ FW: Writ of Habeas - Filed by Leonard Peltier concerning the Federal Parol Commission Not Setting a Parole Date]

Please stay tuned for upcoming details on a Friday, Feb. 6th Boston area event marking the beginning of 29th year of Leonard Peltier's incarceration as a political prisoner.

If you are interested in volunteering for Leonard, support groups who are actively organizing and seeking volunteers can be found at: http://www.peltiersupport.org/Contacts.html

Writ of Habeas - Filed by Leonard Peltier concerning the Federal Parol Commission Not Setting a Parole Date

Author: Bachrach, Barry A. Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004

The habeas filed by Leonard in the District of Colombia is extremely important to Leonard. as requested, I am writing a summary of the position and why it is a strong case. In 1984, Congress passed a sentencing reform act which ultimately provided for the demise of the parole commission and required the parole commission to establish a firm date of release for all pisoners still within it jurisdiction within five years of the effective date of the act. The commission was required to set the date within the guidlines and within enough time to give the prisoners an opportunity to appeal from the date set by the commission. This statute became effective on November 1, 1987, thus requiring the commission to establish a firm date for parole within guidelines for leonard prior to October 31, 1992. thus, under the applicable statute, as of November 1,1992, the parole commission would have been abolished and Leonard would have been given a release date within guidelines which means he would have been entitled to be released at 200 months, or Novermber 1992(200 months from 2/76).

Thirty six days after the statute became effective, congress amended amended the statute and, as applicable here, the amendment omitted the mandatory release date criteria and reinstated the parole commission and its previously terminated discretion. The Congressional amendment unconstitutionally violated Leonard's rights by Congress' enacting an ex post facto punishment and a bill of attainder. In short, once Congress mandated a release of those in Leonard's position within a specific date within guidelines, Congress' subsequent repeal of that statute and its thereby increasing the sentences of those in leonard's position constitutes a violation of Leonard's Constitutional rights and means he has been unconstitutionally incarcerated since 11/92. He should be immediately released. There is strong law in Leonard's favor. we need to rally around this issue and insure that the courts finally give Leonard the justice he is due.

thanks, Barry Bachrach.

Subject: Anniversary Statement from Leonard Peltier
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 14:24:00 -0500
From: info@leonardpeltier.org --[via Harvey's LPNET]

Below is Leonard Peltier's annual message delivered in conjunction with the anniversary of his incarceration on February 6th. Please broadcast as widely as possible to as many groups as possible. This is a message to all people regardless of color:

Leonard Peltier
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
http://www.leonardpeltier.org
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

January 23, 2004

Hau Kola, Hello my friends, my relatives: You can never imagine the heartfelt comfort it brings to know you're not forgotten in prison. This is my 28th year, and I've seen others come and go and return again. I can't help but feel a great sorrow for many of these young men who keep coming back for one reason or another; most of which are alcohol related offenses. So much has changed since I came here and yet, in many ways, it's still the same.

The government, under the pretext of security and progress, liberated us from our land, resources, culture, dignity and future. They violated every treaty they ever made with us. I use the word "liberated" loosely and sarcastically, in the same vein that I view their use of the words "collateral damage" when they kill innocent men, women, and children. They describe people defending their homeland as terrorists, savages and hostiles, and accuse us of being aggressors. We have never fought a battle
or war that was not on our own land; we never fired the first shot ... ever. My words reach out to the non-Indian: Look now before it's far too late - see what is being done to others in your name and see what destruction you sanction when you say nothing. Your own treaty, the one between yourselves and the government, is being violated daily; this treaty is commonly known
as the Constitution.

With us, they started a little at a time, encroaching on our rights until we had none at all. It will be the same for the Constitution; this is not conjecture, but fact. We are not embattled with the color of man, but with the weakness of man, a mindset that lusts for power and wealth at the expense of life. Men of all colors, cultures and religions must stand together to oppose the genocidal policies that face us all as the corporate world seeks to enslave all, and pit one nation against another.

If you avoid breaking laws and do what you're told and ignore the poor, the oppressed and the downtrodden - you probably won't be bothered. If you try to right what is wrong, however, you will surely meet great opposition and run the risk of imprisonment or death.

I am a Sun Dancer. I took a vow for my people. I chose to seek the Creator's will and to follow it to the best of my ability. I WILL NOT STAND DOWN FROM THAT VOW. I will continue to speak, write and organize until Grandfather himself quiets my life. If I can do this in prison, I have no doubt you can do much better from where you stand. I encourage you to do your best, be kind to one another, seek harmony and balance with all natural life, enjoy what freedom you have left, and most of
all, never, never give up.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
Mitakuye Oyasin

__________

Please Post Widely
From: Tacoma Leonard Peltier Support Group

P.O. Box 5464 Tacoma, WA 98415-0464

Tacoma-lpsg@ojibwe.us

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH LEONARD PELTIER

MARCH AND RALLY FOR JUSTICE

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2004

TACOMA, WA.

UP-DATE ON MARCH

As many of you know last year the City of Tacoma refused to issue us a march permit because we did not have the funds they demanded to pay for police, $1,000 for every 300 marchers, and they wanted us to have a million dollar insurance bond. The ACLU filed a suit against the City of Tacoma and because of that suit the City of Tacoma changed the city ordinance so that political marches no longer had to pay for their right to march in Tacoma.

We though we would have no problems from the City of Tacoma with this years march. We filed the papers for a march permit two months before the march and did everything that the ACLU lawyers, the City of Tacoma Attorney and the City of Tacoma ordinances told us to do. On January 12, 2004, we were issued our permit. Our march permit was for marching in one lane in the street from Portland Ave Park to the Federal Courthouse. Rather than trying to stop our march through placing fees on it that we could not pay, this year the City of Tacoma is trying to stop us through bureaucratization. In other words they are placing many conditions on our permit that are impossible to fulfill. I should point out that no other march, including peace marches and labor marches, have had these type of conditions placed on them. We can only conclude that because our march is in support of Leonard Peltier and speaks to the misconduct of the U.S. government in its policies in dealing Native people, and that our march includes Native people from throughout our region, that the actions of the City of Tacoma that are meant to try to stop our march are racist to the core.

Following are some of the conditions that they have placed on us:

1.We are told two weeks before the march (even though we filed for the permit two months before the march) that we must submit to the fire department a “site plan” 30 days before our march. That is not in the city ordinances. That alone makes fulfilling the conditions of the permit impossible and thus invalidates our permit.

2.One week before our march we have to notify all “merchants and neighbors” along our route of our march. I can tell you for a fact that this is not a condition of other events because every year they close down the street in front of my house for a run and no one has ever notified me.

3.We must notify all those taking part in the march in writing “all rules, regulations and laws related to pedestrians”. They tried to pull that one on us last year. If we have a march in the street the rules of pedestrians do not apply to us.

4.We must ensure that no traffic will be blocked or delayed. How can we ensure that if we are marching in the street? Even if we marched on the sidewalk we could not ensure that because we cross streets.

5.“All intersections must remain open for traffic”. How about side streets where we have the right-of-way? How do you march through intersections and at the same time keep them completely open to traffic?

6.Fire hydrants, sprinkler connections, building entrances, exit doors etc must have an unobstructed path to them at all times. How then can we march past them?

7.Temporary wiring (that of our sound system) must be approved by the Electrical Inspection Division. If they want to come out and look at our sound system they can.

Our group has given this problem back to the lawyers and there maybe another law suit in the works. We have issued a statement to the City of Tacoma that states, we will not shut down our march because of their attempt to suppress us by bureaucratization, We will march on Feb. 7th and it is our constitutional right to do so.

DO NOT BELIEVE THE MEDIA! Last year some of the mass media stated that our march had been called off even though it had not been called off. There is no way that we will call off our march and rally. If need be we will march on the sidewalk which we don’t need a permit to do.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Send this message to every list, news web site and to your friends.
Use this attempt at suppressing our right to march as additional motivation to mobilize your groups, organizations and friends to come out to the Feb. 7th Tacoma Justice for Leonard Peltier March. This march is not only in support of Leonard Peltier, but also in support of the right to march for Leonard. E-mail the Tacoma Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Clerk and City Council in support of our right to march for Leonard Peltier in Tacoma and ask them to end their attempt to suppress our march through bureaucratization. Use the information above in your messages. Please send a copy to our group at: bayou@blarg.net. We have put all the e-mail addresses together so that all you need to do is cut and paste them into your “send” box of your e-mail.
bbaarsma@cityoftacoma.org; bevans2@cityoftacoma.org; julie.anderson@ci.tacoma.wa.us; cladenbu@cityoftacoma.org; mlonergan@cityoftacoma.org; spiro.manthou@ci.tacoma.wa.us; kphelps@cityoftacoma.org; thomas.stenger@ci.tacoma.wa.us; rtalbert@cityoftacoma.org; dsorum@cityoftacoma.org; bayou@blarg.net
.

MOBILIZATION FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE, FREE LEONARD PELTIER NOW!

Leonard Peltier is an Anishinabe/Lakota American Indian Movement activist who was frame-up and convicted after a firefight on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. The firefight took place as part of an attempt to suppress traditional Oglala Lakota people who resisted losing any of their land to multinational corporations who sought to mine uranium.

Now is a critical time in the struggle for social justice and the case of Leonard Peltier. In past appeals of Leonard’s case, his defense disproved the government’s case to the point that the government’s prosecutor stated that the government has no evidence connecting Leonard to the deaths of the FBI agents and that he only “aided and abetted”. Given the fact that the first two AIM members to go on trial were found not guilty for reason of self-defense, because it was shown in court that there had been many killings (over 63) of Lakota people and AIM members in two and a half years before the firefight and the FBI came up to the AIM encampment in the same way that other drive-by shootings had taken place. That means Leonard has spent all these years in prison for “aiding and abetting” an act of self-defense.

The latest ruling from the Tenth Circuit Court Appeals stated, “Much of the government’s behavior at Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence (it is still withholding evidence). It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed.” Even though the court acknowledged government misconduct in Leonard’s trial, the court rejected Leonard’s appeal based on that trial.

We of the Tacoma Leonard Peltier Support Group are putting out a call for a general mobilization of all people who believe in social justice to come together in Tacoma on Feb. 7th to begin a renewed struggle to gain justice for Leonard Peltier. The government’s actions against Leonard should be viewed by all as direct actions against all people’s rights to liberty and justice. Please join us on Feb. 7th and please join the mobilization by actively helping to bring people out for our march and rally. One way to help is to get this message out to everyone you know and post it on every list and web site that you can.

12:00 NOON: MARCH FOR JUSTICE

Portland Ave. Park (on Portland Ave. between E. 24th and E. Fairbanks Ave. Take Portland Ave. exit off I-5 and head east)

1:00 PM: RALLY FOR JUSTICE

U.S. Federal Court House, 1717 Pacific Ave.

CARAVAN FOR JUSTICE:

SEATTLE: Meet at 10:45 AM at the parking lot 22nd and Madison

OLYMPIA: Meet at 10:45 AM at Media Island, 816 Adams St.

AFTER RALLY POT LUCK: (Starting around 3:00 PM or sooner if the weather is bad) First United Methodist Church, 423 Martin Luther King Way (next to Tacoma General Hospital). Go up the Hill from the rally and turn right on Martin Luther King Way.

Speakers
Harold Belmont: Elder, Native People’s Alliance With Friends and Allies; Dorothy Ackerman: Lakota Elder; Shelly Vendiola: Indigenous Women’s Network/ Indigenous Environmental Network; Pete Sanchez: Ktunaxa (Kutenai), Drummer; Kelly White: Coastal Salish, long time B.C. Peltier activist; Kerwin Hemlock: Drummer; Jeanette Bushnell: Native People’s Alliance With Friends and Allies; Michael One Road: Portland AIM; Juan Jose Bocanegra: Community organizer and long time Peltier supporter; Matt Remle: Hunkpapa Lakota/ Native Youth Action; Steve Hapy, Jr: Tacoma LPSG; Arthur J. Miller: Tacoma LPSG; NW AIM DRUM; Anne Feeney: Labor Folk Singer, Native Youth Movement

SEATTLE BUS: Sometimes it is even faster taking the bus than driving.Express Bus 594 leaves 2nd & Union St. downtown Seattle at 10:40am. Get off at the Tacoma Dome Station walk north to Portland Ave and then head east to Portland Ave, Park or wait until 11:50 and catch bus number 41 “Portland Ave” and get off at 34th St.. Return trip: take the street car to the Tacoma Dome Station and return to downtown Seattle on Bus 594.

PARKING FOR MARCH: The parking at Portland Ave. Park parking lot is limited and we filled it up fast last year. Also, the park is in a community, mostly poor, and we want to maintain good relations with the community. So there are a few ways you can help.

Get to the starting point of the march, Portland Ave Park early, drop off all passengers at the park, then drive to the rally site and we will organize cars to bring drivers back to the starting point of the march. This will mean that your car will be close to the rally so that it will be easy for you to get to it to go home or to the after rally pot luck meal. Park at the Tacoma Dome “park and ride” Station and either walk to the starting point of the march or at 11:50am catch bus number 41 “Portland Ave” and get off at 34th St. Then after the rally take the street car, which stops right by the rally site, back to the Tacoma Dome Station.

We need volunteers who are willing to drive drivers back to the starting point of the march. If you can help please be at the Portland Ave. Park by 11:00am.

TWO PAGE FLIER ON WEB SITE:

A two-page flier, 8 ½” x 11”, for the up-coming Tacoma Leonard Peltier events is available for downloading at:

http://www.peltiersupport.org/Events/NWLPSG02072004.html

DONATIONS NEEDED (to help pay for the costs of the march and rally): Please send donations to (make checks out to Northwest Leonard Peltier Support Network): Tacoma LPSG, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464.

YOU CAN HELP: Please pass this message on to e-mail lists, web sites, to friends, family and groups. We also have fliers and posters that you can help us get out. Please contact us with a mailing address and we will send them to you.

YOU CAN ALSO HELP WITH THE FOLLOWING:

Legal Observers. Someone to videotape our march, rally and after rally meal. There are three reasons for this. First, in case there are any problems or to show that there were no problems, this has to do with legal matters. Second, videotape of our events has been used around the country by Leonard Peltier supporters. And last, we have videotapes of a number of our events and we hope to edit them into one good video for supporters to use. So if anyone can videotape this event please do so and give a copy of it to Arthur J. Miller, c/o Tacoma LPSG, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464.

Photographers. We need photographs for the same reasons as we need video, plus we send some of the best photos to the LPDC and to Leonard. Same as video please send photos to Arthur J. Miller.

Banners. We only have three banners left which are rather old. One banner has been to all 61 of our marches and has been all over the country. So we need some new Leonard Peltier support banners. It would be nice if we had one banner with the eagleman on it and Free Leonard Peltier and Tacoma Leonard Peltier Support Group.We need as many Leonard Peltier support signs as possible.

For those of you who only wish to just receive event up-dates from the Tacoma LPSG please send a message to: Tacoma-lpsg@ojibwe.us, and request to be place on the Tacoma LPSG up-date list.

Those who wish to sign up on the NWPeltierSupport list you can do so by going to the following address on the internet: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/nwpeltiersupport Or send an e-mail to: nwpeltiersupport-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.

-----Original Message-----
From: info@leonardpeltier.org [mailto:info@leonardpeltier.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 5:14 PM
To: harveyarden@starpower.net
Subject: Appeal to John Edwards for Release of Complete set of FOIA Documents ASAP

To: Supporters

May I suggest some letters to Presidential candidate and Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology & Homeland Security member John Edwards? This subcommittee has jurisdiction to release the remaining withheld FBI
documents in the case of Leonard Peltier. May I suggest you click on the following link and send message. I feel that
publicly displayed would be good. John G

Sen. John Edwards January 27, 2004

You sir are a member of the subcommittee of Technology, Terrorism and Homeland Security. This is a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee as I understand. This subcommittee has the jurisdiction to hold hearings in releasing documents in the case of Leonard Peltier and the reservation murders of over 60 people in South Dakota from 1973 to 1976. The FBI is currently stalling in releasing these documents from individual offices despite the fact that there is a law stating that such documents are classified as historical documents and should be released to the public. Rep Barney Frank had released some documents in the case of Leonard Peltier, but there are still documents not yet released. Thats where the subcommittee of Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security comes in. What I am asking for is for you and your colleges in this subcommittee to do the public service that you were elected and appointed for. Will you work in releasing these documents as Rep Barney Frank had done? And will you correct a 28 year injustice by freeing Leonard Peltier as Bill Clinton had not done? Shame on him. The proscecution doesn't know who killed their agents, yet Leonard Peltier remains behind bars.

Respectfully,

This message was launched into cyberspace to harveyarden@starpower.net

From: Ward Dossche [mailto:wd@skynet.be]
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004
To: LP-KOLA-Els; LP-Harveyarden
Subject: Election year

Dear Harvey and Els,

For starters I am overwhelmed by the support that seems to have a global origin. I never even thought that this Nobel Peace Prize `nomination would have the impact that it has. Whatever the outcome, thank you for the encouragement Harvey to go through with this! What we now need to do, I think, is to make it exceptionally attractive for the Norwegian Nobel people to award the prize to Leonard Peltier. These Norwegians before have not been too shy to be controversial, although we would not think Leonard's nomination to be controversial at all, but well deserved and when using the correct wording they may be swayed towards Leonard Peltier.

2004 is a US Presidential election year. As you well know these elections always take place in November but the Peace Prize announcement is always during mid-October. This is a unique opportunity for the Nobel Committee and the Nobel Institute to influence the agenda for something with such global repercussions as the US Presidential elections. Leonard Peltier as the recipient would be a blow to the US justice system, to every President brushing his case aside and to every candidate -nomatter his/her party-membership- refusing to lend an ear to the valid claims of his case during the campaign. The lobbying opportunities during that small window of opportunity of some 3 weeks might be worth their weight in gold.

What a humiliation if the Peace Prize laureate would be unable to collect his prize because he is in jail ... not in South Africa, not in
Birma/Myanmar, not in the People's Republic of China but in a US prison.

In hopes that it will inspire more and other people to send their letters of support to the Norwegian Nobel Institute, not in email or fax, but by snailmail to :

The Norwegian Nobel Institute (not to the Committee !!!)
Drammensveien 19
NO-0255 OSLO
Norway

Greetings from Belgium, Ward

__________

LPNET:

Probably best not to read the reports below. They'll break your heart & infuriate you that your own government permits such atrocities to occur. Save yourself the heartache, if you like, and just let it happen, the way we Americans leave so many governmental crimes happen these days--like the continued false imprisonment of Leonard Peltier & tens of thousands of other innocents. Leonard--now nearly 30 years in prison for a crime the whole world knows he never committed--has set aside his own suffering to plead with the US govt to STOP THE SLAUGHTER OF THE YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO! Let the rest of us join him in a public chorus by contacting via TELEPHONE or PAPER LETTER...OR EVEN JUST AN EMAIL...the following:

Ask Rep. Boehlert to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 3446, the Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act. Ask him to call for an oversight hearing to investigate the killing of Yellowstone buffalo based on inconsistent and inaccurate science. Contact Rep. Boehlert's office in Washington, D.C. by phone at 202-225-3665 or by e-mail through www.congress.com.

PS: Please DO pass this message on to your entire list. It's time each of us did our part in this struggle. To help the buffalo is to help Indian people, to help Leonard. I remember the late Iroquois Tadodaho Leon Shenandoah telling me, "Bless the buffalo! They took the killing instead of us Indian people. That's why some of us survive today." Please--see how you can help PERSONALLY in this struggle by visiting www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

/Harvey Arden

PSS: To join LPNET and become part of an international network of kindred spirits, send an email t harvey@haveyouthought.com with YES I'LL JOIN LPNET on the subject line. Your only obligation: to FORWARD occasional messages regarding Leonard and related subjects to your OWN personal list! No spam! No master list! Please join us. We CAN reach the whole world!

Update from the Field Buffalo Supporters,

The dust from the Stephens Creek trap has hardly settled. Our volunteers have returned with disturbing video and stories. Images of buffalo bucking and fighting in the trap as they are forced into head clamps, struggling to escape until their noses are tugged up by rings, forcing them into submission, while Park Service employees test them. These images of hundreds of buffalo forced through this gruesome procedure haunt me. Thinking of the 198 buffalo held in captivity at the Stephens Creek trap, scarred by the experience of this brutal testing procedure, fills me with anger and despair. When will the madness stop? Some 278 wild Yellowstone buffalo have already been killed this season. And the spring migrations are just beginning.

The other day I followed buffalo tracks down the Madison River. It was a beautiful sunny spring afternoon. Bald eagles, trumpeter swans, blue herons, osprey, geese and ravens filled the sky. The snow is melting, uncovering grass and sagebrush. The frozen lake is receding. Sets of tracks clearly pointed their way to Horse Butte. As we approached we saw a bull buffalo, moving briskly, stopping to wallow and jump, grazing, and moving along again. Further along was a mixed herd of buffalo continuing their trek westward.

By the time we caught up to them, they had already reached the Horse Butte trap and were grazing behind the police tape that warns the public that a piece of our national forest is closed to the public good. We watched nervously as the buffalo grazed by the trap. I have seen this sort of brazen resistance from wild buffalo before. Sometimes it seems that they choose to roam into the danger zone as an example of their wild spirit. Unwilling to be domesticated, they challenge their would be captors with their courage. These majestic buffalo inspire me with their resistance.

I was relieved when they moved on down the Butte. For now they are being left alone. Department of Livestock (DOL) agents have hazed some buffalo leaving Yellowstone National Park near the highway, but have not mounted a major hazing or capture operation on Horse Butte. These few dozen Yellowstone buffalo graze wild and free on our national forests on Horse Butte. More buffalo will follow. Volunteers reported from a flyover this weekend that several hundred buffalo are gathered inside the park at Cougar Knoll, less than 10 miles from the border. It is only a matter of time before their calving instinct brings them to Horse Butte. Their fate is unknown.

Our season is about to get even busier. If you or someone you know wants to come out and join us in the field, now is the time. We will be running more patrols in the next months as hundreds of buffalo migrate to Horse Butte and risk their lives in the shadow of the Horse Butte trap. Even if you can't come join us in the field, there is much you can do to help the Yellowstone buffalo. Your tax-deductible donations help keep volunteers in the field and sustain our efforts to fight this senseless slaughter.

Please read more below and watch for updates in the coming weeks. Thank you for your support of the last wild buffalo in America.

For the buffalo, Ted Fellman BFC Media

Reflections on the recent slaughter in Gardiner

Have you ever experienced something so horrible that you never thought anything could compare? Then, sad as it could be, those memories are rekindled by acts just as disheartening. These feelings haunt my mind after returning home to West Yellowstone yesterday and finally slowing down long enough to digest my sorrow. Having witnessed the 1997 mass slaughter of 1083 buffalo first hand, this year jaunted those nightmares.

First I must take my hat off and thank with all of my heart, George. Your efforts to save the buffalo through dedication and compassion keep me strong. You and your wife Susan are family for life and I already miss you both. The last major capture held over 300 buffalo in the traps for several days. Buffalo family members that had escaped capture circled the trap, lured back by the way that the Park Service had left there as bait. This went on for several days giving the appearance of visitors' day at the county jail. Cramming over 300 buffalo in these death traps produced many injuries and one buffalo died. The Park Service has still not released the cause of death.

It seems that the Park has problems even communicating between themselves. The rangers, wranglers or park police are the ones that haze and capture the buffalo. They don't consult, get advice, or in some cases, get along with the buffalo biologists. The rangers say they have hazed groups of animals several times but the radio collars tell the biologists a different story. The other day on a conference call with the Park Service I brought up the question of why untested buffalo are allowed on the national forest in Eagle Creek, but not in the Gallatin National Forest near West Yellowstone. Wayne Brewster said the difference is that there are no cows or private lands up in Eagle Creek. As we speak Bill Hoppe's cows are giving birth, next to his
>neighbors' houses and the over 100 buffalo that have wintered in the Eagle Creek area. On the west side in the Gallatin National Forest, cows are only here from June 15 through October 15. For the last two years, there have been no cows on the national forest and they can not return until the Forest Service completes an environmental impact statement. To date the Forest Service has no plans to do the EIS.

I have grown tired of the double talk. If the Park Service feels so bad about being involved, then STAND UP and be counted. Voice your outrage and pull out of the bison management plan. Show the world that you are able to protect our national treasure, the buffalo and Yellowstone National Park. Expose Montana's ability to justify anything for the cattle industry. Return the responsibility and financial burden for the buffalo slaughter to Montana, the state demanding zero tolerance for wild buffalo, not on the US taxpayer.

With the Buffalo, Mike Mease

Last Words...Three letters to the editor on behalf of the buffalo were published in the Bozeman Chronicle this week...

March 19, 2004 Spend bison slaughter money on real solution The government is taking our wildlife. Is it worth it and for what? These are two questions reasonable people are asking about our government's bison slaughter program. We spend more than $3 million annually, hazing, confining and slaughtering wild bison both within and near Yellowstone National Park. Supposedly, we do this to protect the livestock industry's brucellosis-free status. However, the government will likely begin killing wild bison regardless of their disease status (Bozeman Chronicle, March 16). In reality, few domestic cattle use the area and most of them belong to the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT).

Supposedly the CUT moved to Montana for "spiritual renewal" and to live in harmony with the environment. Unfortunately, the consequences of their land use and management choices near Yellowstone National Park have led to everything but renewal and harmony. As well, the Department of Livestock (DOL), the agency responsible for regulating livestock in Montana, turns its back on reckless livestock husbandry practices that unnecessarily threaten the entire industry. If DOL doesn't care, why should
we?

The Wyoming livestock industry lost its brucellosis-free status. Interestingly, brucellosis was probably transferred to cattle from wild elk. Regardless, has the sky fallen in Wyoming? No. Dr. Jim Logan, Wyoming's state veterinarian, notes 100,000 to 300,000 livestock will be tested in Wyoming (Belgrade News, Feb. 24). At $5 per test, a worst-case scenario leads to an annual cost of $1.5 million.

Oh, by the way, taxpayers picked up the tab there. We could do the same here. The cost of testing cattle in Wyoming is half the cost of our government-run bison slaughter program, and cattle testing is much more humane. Let's spend the $1.5 million we save each year on habitat, a real solution.

Of course, wild bison have never transmitted brucellosis to cattle in the wild, so the questions remain -- IS IT WORTH IT AND FOR WHAT? When the DOL, CUT and our government turn their backs on reasonable solutions, one has to wonder.

Glenn Hockett President, Gallatin Wildlife Association Montana director, Western Watersheds Project Bozeman

March 23, 2004 Urge agencies to stop bison slaughter

I want to thank Scott McMillion for his stories on the current Yellowstone bison situation. People have to realize that the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) has no intention of tolerating bison on our public lands in Montana even when no cattle are present for miles around. It is all about power and control. Karen Cooper of DOL is quoted as saying, "It really doesn't have anything to do with the cattle there (on the CUT property). It has to do with the fact that there is disease in the herd (of park bison)." This is totally disingenuous! Of course this situation has everything to do with livestock, which wrongly take precedence over native wildlife too often on our public lands. It is cattle that should be managed, not bison. Bison tolerate brucellosis. It is not a threat to people. To wipe out this disease in wild herds is to condemn these herds. Do we really want to eradicate this genetically unique herd? Do we want them to be less wild? Do we want them sent to slaughter from our most famous national park?

I went to Yellowstone two days ago because I was distraught. From a mile away, with good binoculars, I could see the huge corral complex, which is off of the old Corwin Springs to Gardiner Road to the west. The public cannot get anywhere close (because of safety issues and effect on the bison?). There are warning signs everywhere. It was horrible to see. Here are park bison in corrals in the park, which is supposed to be their refuge, tested, ear-taged, fed hay, just like cattle, calves vaccinated with a drug not proven effective in bison. I cried.

I urge the concerned public to go see this travesty. Our tax dollars are funding the slaughter of our native wildlife to protect the cattle industry. Let them protect themselves. Vaccinate their cattle and graze them away from the bison migratory routes north and west out of the park. I talked with park officials, and they don't like the situation either, but there is little they can do because of the current bison management plan.

The Park Service input into this plan did soften it. DOL would have liked to go into the park to kill all the bison that tested positive (for antibodies, not necessarily the disease), maybe half of the herd. The Park Service would not allow that. There was compromise. These individual bison who exercise their urge to move north (or west) are now sacrificed, when there are no cattle for miles. Pressure DOL, pressure the Church Universal and Triumphant and the Park Service. This is bureaucracy gone amok. Bison deserve a better fate.

Gail Richardson Bozeman

March 25, 2004 Buffalo on public land should be managed as wildlife Yellowstone National Park is trapping our wild buffalo, and with the complicity of the Montana Department of Livestock herding them into cattle trucks for transport to slaughter. With high fanfare of official uniforms, badges, sidearms and flashing red lights on official cars, they are sending them down the highway to death, for no good reason. Our native buffalo evolved over thousands of years to become fit for Montana's land, water and climate. They must be allowed to move into public wildlife winter ranges in the Yellowstone, Gallatin and Madison River basins. Native genetically pure wild buffalo are more valuable than the few cows that are causing their slaughter.

Buffalo are being trucked out without even testing for brucellosis. Who gave the right to Yellowstone Park and Montana Department of Livestock to slaughter our buffalo? I am requesting that Yellowstone National Park, Gallatin National Forest and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks remove themselves from this quagmire and let Montana Department of Livestock and the Animal and Plant Health Service roast in hell for their actions.

Do this before the killing once again plunges us into national disgrace over one of our national symbols. We can balance our buffalo numbers on public land by managing them as wildlife, with discrete, fair chase, efficient, money-making public hunts that will be a fair harvest open to all and participated in by many. As biologist Jim Posewitz said, "Montana still has the opportunity to do it right. After that is accomplished, let the other states feel free to follow."

Joe Gutkoski, secretary American Buffalo Foundation Bozeman
Buffalo Field Campaign
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
(406) 646-0070
buffalo@wildrockies.org

Please distribute to LPNET & BEYOND. Thanks! /Harvey Arden

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: URGENT ACTION REQUESTED
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:45:56 -0500
From: info@leonardpeltier.org

Urgent Call to Action

This week -- writing in support of the plan by the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate the misuse of informants by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) -- the Peltier attorneys submitted a position paper and a formal request to Congress proposing that they complete the work undertaken by the Church Committee in the 1970s. This would include investigation of the FBI's misuse of not only informants, but agent provocateurs against the American Indian Movement (AIM); the Bureau's role in the "Reign of Terror" at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from 1973-1976; and official misconduct against AIM, in general, and in the case against Leonard Peltier, in particular.

See the press release:...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome/PeltierPressRelease3.html

Read (and/or download) the position paper submitted to Congress:...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome.html

We're counting on YOU -- Peltier supporters worldwide -- to support this action.

INTERNATIONAL PELTIER SUPPORTERS

Please contact the following Senate Subcommittee to request members' active support for hearings by their colleagues on the House and/or Senate Judiciary Committees on FBI misconduct in Indian Country:

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510

Please consult the following tips for communicating with Members of the U.S. Congress ...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome/Tips.html

NOTE: PLEASE BE SURE TO USE WHITE PAPER. SECURITY MEASURES USED BY THE MAIL FACILITY AT THE U.S. CONGRESS WILL CAUSE COLORED PAPER TO BROWN OR OTHERWISE DISCOLOR AND RENDER YOUR CORRESPONDENCE UNREADABLE.

US CITIZENS...Please review the following resources and write the Members of the Judiciary Committees today urging them to complete the work of the Church Committee. Then contact your own representatives in Congress to urge them to support Judiciary Committee hearings:

Tips (on communicating with Members of Congress):...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome/Tips.html

Sample Letter:...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome/SampleLetter.html

Talking Points:...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome/TalkingPoints.html

Judiciary Committee Membership:...http://www.peltiersupport.org/Welcome/CommitteeRoster.html

Locate Your Elected Officials:...http://www.house.gov...http://www.senate.gov

QUESTIONS? Contact: peltiersupport@riseup.net

Do It Today. Keep Doing It. Let Them Know We Won't Go Away!

JUSTICE. WE WANT IT. WE WANT IT NOW.

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

info@leonardpeltier.org
http://leonardpeltier.org

FREE LEONARD PELTIER!

"These white people think this country belongs to them - they don't realize that they are only in charge right now because there's more of them than there are of us. The whole country changed with only a handful of raggedly-ass pilgrims that came over here in the 1500s. And it can take a handful of raggedy-ass Indians to do the same, and I intend to be one of those raggedy-ass Indians." ....Anna Mae Pictou

Lawrence Sampson

Board Member, Support Group Coodinator-
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
HTTP://WWW.LEONARDPELTIER.ORG

FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!!!

FREE MUMIA.

__________

-----Original Message-----
From: info@leonardpeltier.org [mailto:info@leonardpeltier.org]
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2004 9:27 PM
To: Bachrach, Barry A.
Subject: A Primer on Leonard Peltier, COINTELPRO, AIM, and FBI Suppression of Indigenous Activities

LEONARD PELTIER, COINTELPRO, AIM & Peltier:

FBI Suppression of Indigenous Activists in the 1970s: A Primer

What is COINTELPRO?

Despite its carefully contrived image as the nation's premier crime fighting agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has alway functioned primarily as America's political police. This role includes not only the collection of intelligence on the activities of political dissidents & groups, but often times counterintelligence operations to thwart those activities.

Although covert operations have been employed throughout FBI history, the formal COunter INTELligence PROgram, or COINTELPRO, of the period from 1956 to 1971 was the first to be both broadly targeted & centrally directed. The stated goals of COINTELPRO were to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize those persons or organizations that the FBI decided were enemies of the State.

COINTELPRO Techniques

At its most extreme dimension, political dissidents have been eliminated outright or sent to prison for the rest of their lives. Many more, however, were neutralized by intimidation, harassment, discrediting, & a whole assortment of authoritarian & illegal tactics. Neutralization, as explained on record by the FBI, didn't necessarily pertain to the apprehension of parties in the commission of a crime, the preparation of evidence against them, & securing of a judicial conviction. Rather, the FBI simply made activists incapable of engaging in political activity by whatever means.

For those not assessed as being in themselves a security risk but engaged in what the Bureau viewed to be politically objectionable activity, those techniques consisted of disseminating derogatory information to the target's family, friends & associates, or visiting & questioning them. False information was planted in the press. The targets' efforts to speak in public were frustrated, & employers were contacted to try to get them fired. Anonymous letters were sent by the FBI to targets' spouses, accusing them of infidelity. Other letters contained death threats. These strategies are well-documented, for example, in the case of Martin Luther King, Jr. Records also show that activists in the 1960s were repeatedly arrested on any excuse until they could no longer make bail.

In addition, the FBI made use of informants, often quite violent & emotionally disturbed individuals, to present false testimony to the courts & frame COINTELPRO targets for crimes the FBI knew they did not commit. In some cases the charges were quite serious, including murder.

Another option was snitch jacketing where the FBI made the target look like a police informant or an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. This served the dual purposes of isolating & alienating important leaders, as well as increasing the general level of fear & factionalism in the group.

Many counterintelligence techniques involved the use of paid informants. Informants became agents provocateurs by raising controversial issues at meetings to take advantage of ideological divisions; promoting enmity with other groups; or inciting the group to violent acts, even to the point of providing them with weapons. Over the years, FBI provocateurs repeatedly urged & initiated violent acts, including forceful disruptions of meetings & demonstrations, attacks on police, bombings, etc.

The full story of COINTELPRO may never be told. The Bureau's files were never seized by Congress or the courts or sent to the National Archives. Some were destroyed. In addition, many counter-intelligence operations were never committed to writing as such, or involved open investigations making ex-operatives legally prohibited from talking about them. Most operations remained secret until long after the damage had been done.

The FBI has continued to use proven COINTELPRO tactics into the 21st century. In fact, many such techniques are now overt, conducted under the guise of Homeland Security & even codified in key pieces of legislation such as the U.S. Patriot Act, the government's response to the September 11, 2002, attack on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City.

What is AIM?

The American Indian Movement (AIM), an Indigenous rights group committed to uniting all Native Peoples in an effort to uplift their communities & promote cultural pride & sovereignty, was founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The FBI used all of the above COINTELPRO tactics against AIM, including the wholesale jailing of the Movement's leadership. Virtually every known AIM leader in the United States was incarcerated in either state or federal prisons since (or even before) the organization's formal emergence in 1968, some repeatedly. After the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee, for example, the FBI caused 542 separate charges to be filed against those it identified as key AIM leaders. This resulted in only 15 convictions, all on such petty or contrived offenses as interfering with a federal officer in the performance of his duty. Organization members often languished in jail for months as the cumulative bail required to free them outstripped resource capabilities of AIM & supporting groups.

In 1975, against the American Indian Movement in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the FBI COINTELPRO conducted a full-fledged counterinsurgency war - complete with death squads, disappearances & assassinations - not dissimilar to those conducted in third world countries such as El Salvador & Guatemala.

Who is Leonard Peltier?

Leonard Peltier is a citizen of the Anishinabe & Dakota/Lakota Nations who has been unjustly imprisoned for nearly three decades. When the government can select a person for criminal persecution because of their political activity, when they can fabricate evidence against that person & suppress evidence proving that fabrication, & prosecute a person & put them in prison for any amount of time, let alone for life, then you have a political prisoner. Accordingly, Amnesty International considers Peltier a political prisoner who should be immediately & unconditionally released.

What led to Peltier's conviction?

It began in the early 1970s on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (SD), when tensions between then tribal chairman Dick Wilson & the traditionalists began to escalate. Wilson was pro-assimilation, meaning he believed Native Peoples should discard their traditions to join mainstream American society. Traditionalists, on the other hand, felt it important to maintain their culture & land base. Wilson favored those who were pro-assimilation by giving them jobs & other assistance while neglecting the needs of the traditionalists who often lived in the worst poverty. The growing conflict prompted traditionalists to join together with AIM to protect their way of life. In response, Wilson joined with the FBI to destroy the Movement the agency perceived as a threat to the American way of life. The result was disastrous.

In 1973, local traditionalists & AIM occupied the Pine Ridge hamlet of Wounded Knee to protest the many abuses they were suffering. (This was the same site where, less than 100 years earlier, the horrific Wounded Knee massacre was perpetrated against over 300 Lakotas, mostly women & children.) Instead of listening to the Natives' grievances, the government responded militarily, firing over 250,000 rounds of ammunition into the area & killing two occupants whose deaths were never investigated. The occupation lasted 71 days & ended only after the government promised investigations into the complaints. The investigations never materialized & conditions on the reservation worsened. After Wounded Knee, Wilson outlawed AIM activities on the reservation. Traditionalists were not allowed to meet or attend traditional ceremonies. Wilson hired vigilantes who called themselves Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs) to enforce his rules.

The three years following Wounded Knee are often referred to as the Pine Ridge Reign of Terror because anyone associated with AIM was targeted for violence. Their homes were burned & their cars were run off the road. They were struck by cars, shot in drive-by shootings, & beaten. Between 1973 & 1976, over 60 traditionalists were murdered. Pine Ridge had the highest murder rate in the United States. Scores of other people were assaulted. In almost every case, witness accounts indicated GOON responsibility, but nothing was done to stop the violence. On the contrary, the FBI supplied the GOONs with weaponry & intelligence on AIM & looked the other way as the GOONs committed crimes against members as well as supporters of AIM.

As the situation worsened, the traditionalists asked AIM to return to the reservation to offer protection. Leonard Peltier was among those who answered the call. He & a dozen others set up camp on the Jumping Bull ranch at Pine Ridge, the home of a number of traditional families.

On June 26, 1975, two FBI agents in unmarked cars pursued a red pickup truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch. They were ostensibly looking for Jimmy Eagle, who had gotten into a fistfight & stolen a pair of cowboy boots. Gunshots rang out. While mothers fled the area with their children, other residents started to return fire. A shootout erupted between the FBI agents & the residents. Law enforcement immediately mobilized. Within a couple hours, over 150 FBI swat team members, Bureau of Indian Affairs police, & GOONs surrounded the ranch.

Peltier helped lead a small group of teenagers out of the area, barely escaping through the hail of bullets. When the shootout ended, AIM member Joseph Killsright Stuntz (below) lay dead, shot in the head by a sniper. His death has never been investigated. The two FBI agents also lay dead - wounded in the gun battle, then shot at point blank range.

Years later, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, it was documented that: * the FBI had been closely monitoring AIM activities on & off the reservation & had even been preparing for paramilitary law enforcement operations on Pine Ridge one month before the shootout. * the two agents had possessed a map that highlighted the Jumping Bull Ranch & labeled the family's storage cellars as bunkers.

According to FBI documents, over 40 Native people participated in the shootout, both AIM & non-AIM. Yet only 4 persons were indicted for the deaths of the agents: 3 AIM leaders - Dino Butler, Bob Robideau, & Leonard Peltier - & Jimmy Eagle. Butler & Robideau were the first to be arrested & tried. The jury found that Butler & Robideau were justified in returning fire given the atmosphere of terror that existed on Pine Ridge during that time. Further, they were not tied to the point blank shootings. Butler & Robideau were found innocent on grounds of self-defense.

The FBI was outraged by the verdict. They dropped charges against Jimmy Eagle so that, according to their own memos, . the full prosecutive weight of the federal government could be directed against Leonard Peltier. Peltier, meanwhile, had fled to Canada believing he would never receive a fair trial. On February 6, 1976, he was apprehended. The FBI presented the Canadian court with affidavits from a woman named Myrtle Poor Bear who claimed she had been Peltier's girl friend & had
witnessed him shoot the agents. Peltier was extradited to the U.S.

However, Poor Bear had never met Peltier, nor had she been present at the time of the shooting - a fact later confirmed by the U.S. Prosecutor. Despite Poor Bear's subsequent declaration that she had given false statements under duress, having been terrorized by FBI agents, Peltier's extradition was not reversed.

How was Peltier's trial unfair?

Leonard Peltier was returned to the U.S. where his case was mysteriously transferred from the judge who had presided over the trial of his co-defendants to a different judge - one who made rulings that severely handicapped the defense. Also, the FBI had carefully analyzed the Butler-Robideau case and, this time, they were determined to secure a conviction. The cards were stacked against Peltier & a fair trial was out of reach.

* Myrtle Poor Bear & other key witnesses were banned from testifying about FBI misconduct. * Testimony about the Pine Ridge Reign of Terror was severely restricted. * Important evidence, such as conflicting ballistics reports, was ruled inadmissible * The red pickup truck that had been followed onto the ranch was suddenly described as Peltier's red & white van. (Agents who described the vehicle as a red pickup truck during the Butler-Robideau trial could no longer recollect their previous testimony.) The jury was sequestered & surrounded by U.S. Marshals at all times. leading them to believe that AIM was a threat to their safety. * Three young Native witnesses were forced to falsely testify against Peltier after being detained & terrorized by FBI agents.

Still, the U.S. Prosecutor failed to produce a single witness who could identify Peltier as the shooter. Instead, the government tied a bullet casing found near the bodies to the alleged murder weapon, arguing that this gun had been the only one of its kind used during the shootout & that it had belonged to Peltier.

The above FOIA suit uncovered FBI documents that showed that: * more than one weapon of the type attributed to Peltier had been present at the scene. * the FBI had intentionally concealed a ballistics report that showed the shell casing could not have come from the alleged murder weapon. * the agents undoubtedly followed a red pickup truck onto the land, not the red & white van driven by Peltier. * compelling evidence against several other suspects existed & was concealed. Unaware of these facts, the jury convicted Peltier. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Peltier is currently imprisoned at the U.S. penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.

What has happened since the trial?

After many of the above abuses surfaced in the 1980s, the Peltier defense team demanded a new trial. During subsequent oral arguments, the U.S. Prosecutor admitted, . we can't prove who shot those agents. The appellate court found that Peltier may have been acquitted had evidence not been improperly withheld by the FBI. However, a new trial was denied on the grounds of a legal technicality.

In 1993, Peltier requested Executive Clemency from then President Clinton. An intensive campaign was launched - supported by Native & human rights organizations, members of Congress, community & church groups, labor organizations, luminaries, & celebrities. Even Judge Heaney, who authored the above court decision, expressed firm support for Peltier's release. The Peltier case became a national issue.

On November 7, 2000, during a live radio interview, Clinton stated that he would seriously consider Peltier's request for clemency & make a decision before leaving office on January 20, 2001. In response, the FBI launched a major disinformation campaign in both the media & among key government officials. On December 15, over 500 FBI agents marched in front of the White House to oppose clemency. On January 20, the list of clemencies granted by Clinton was released to the media. Without explanation, Peltier's name had been excluded.

Mr. Peltier has served a significantly longer period of time thannormally would be served before a grant of parole in similar cases. Various FBI agents, together with the U.S. Prosecutor, are present at parolehearings to personally oppose Mr. Peltier's release. The U.S. Parole Commission has made it clear that parole will not even be considered until the year 2008 - when Peltier will have served twice the normal time according to the Commission's own congressionally mandated guidelines. No adequate reason has been given for such arbitrary & discriminatory treatment. Instead, the Parole Commission has stated the denial of parole is based on Mr. Peltier's participation in the premeditated & cold blooded execution or the ambush of the two agents. Yet, there is no evidence that Mr. Peltier ever fired the fatal shots. This has been admitted to by the government attorneys themselves. At one parole hearing it was made clear that Mr. Peltier will not receive parole until he recognizes his crime or, in short, confesses to a crime he didn't commit.

Leonard Peltier has made remarkable contributions to humanitarian & charitable causes during his many years behind bars. He sponsors an annual Christmas drive for clothes & toys for the children of Pine Ridge, helps to establish Native American Scholarship funds, assists programs for battered women & substance abuse recovery, collaborates to improve medical care on the reservations, & assists other prisoners in developing prison art programs. Peltier also has adopted children in Guatemala & El Salvador. As a result, he has received recognition & acclaim from many human rights groups, including the Human Rights Commission of Spain & the Ontario (Canada) Federation of Labour.

Mr. Peltier suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure & a heart condition. According to an affiliate of Physicians for Human Rights, he risks blindness, kidney failure & stroke in the future, given his inadequate diet, living conditions, & health care. Our concepts of justice & good government require that such tragic errors of the past be set right. We ask that you act now to secure Mr. Leonard Peltier's freedom.

C 2004 Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, PO Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044-0583

1-888-316-8437 (Toll Free) & 1-785-842-5774; 1-785-842-5796 (Fax)

Web site; www.leonardpeltier.org / E-mail: info@leonardpeltier.org

From the desk of Harvey Arden Founder: ~dreamkeepers.net~
"Bringing the Elders to the World & the World to the Elders

Author: WISDOMKEEPERS: Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders
DREAMKEEPERS: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia
TRAVELS IN A STONE CANOE: The Return to the Wisdomkeepers
HAVE YOU THOUGHT of LEONARD PELTIER LATELY?
Editor: PRISON WRITINGS: My Life Is My Sun Dance by Leonard Peltier
NOBLE RED MAN: Lakota Wisdomkeeper Mathew King
WHITE BUFFALO TEACHINGS by Chief Arvol Looking Horse
**********************************************************************
Dear Friends... Here's an advance peek of few pages from the new book ~HAVE YOU THOUGHT of LEONARD PELTIER LATELY?~ which we've put together and will shortly be printing. This extract revolves around my answer to a gal who asks why I, a Jew, concern myself with the fate of a Native American political prisoner in Leavenworth. I sent her these paragraphs...partly from the book's Foreword, partly from the body of the text.

[FROM THE AUTHOR'S FOREWORD]

THIS BOOK ~Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately? ~ wasn't written. It was-and continues to be- lived. What you read and see in these pages-and in our companion website www.haveyouthought.com -are the artifacts of an ongoing struggle for one man's freedom and for all of our self-respect. The issue of Leonard's freedom should be seen not simply in regard to his own personal physical freedom, but as a key to freedom for tens of thousands of others in our American Gulag, the innocent callously imprisoned along with the guilty, serving time for crimes they never committed. I personally champion Leonard's cause not as a Native American activist, which I'm not-though I empathize profoundly with the cause of indigenous peoples everywhere-but as an American, as a Jew, and as a human being, a 'Citizen of Planet Earth.'

We are all indigenous to somewhere.

I'm reminded of the words of an Aboriginal Australian Wisdomkeeper named Lilla Watson: "If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

I'VE OFTEN THOUGHT that my own empathy with indigenous peoples and their sufferings relates to the still searingly recent Holocaust upon my own people, the Jews of Europe, a calamity that haunts every fiber of my being to this day-witness the scores of books on Auschwitz and histories and testimonies of the Jewish Holocaust on my bookshelves, and the dust-gathering boxes of notes and drafts for a yet-to-be-finished Holocaust novel of my own. When the Nazi war on the Jews ended in 1945, I was just ten years old, living carefree in Chicago-too young to grasp even remotely what had happened to my own People on the killing fields of Europe, much less to do anything about it. Had my grandparents not emigrated to America in the early 1900's, I-or any Jewish child my age in Lithuania or the Ukraine, where my maternal and paternal families came from-would likely have been rounded up for the death camps in 1941-1942 or so. There's a famous historic photograph of a young Jewish boy of just about my age at that time, holding his arms in the air in frozen terror as a Nazi officer points a Luger pistol directly at his head during a round-up of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. I often contemplate that image with an anguished mixture of sorrow, anger, guilt and frustration.

That boy-my other Self, in a way-likely died in the death camps circa 1942. I myself-blessed to be an American-lived through it all, quite unknowing of my great good luck at the time, and today I continue unabashedly to live a full, challenging life at age 68 more than six decades later. Yes, God Bless America.

So when-as much by accident as inclination, though both are involved-I find myself, first as a journalist, later as an author, witnessing a Holocaust in this same land of America-a Holocaust against American Indian Peoples that has taken millions of lives over the past 500 years-and, what's more, a Holocaust that in many ways is still going on, all but totally disregarded by American society at large, then my Jewish outrage, my aboriginal outrage, my indigenous outrage, my human outrage resonates powerfully against such injustice-and so should all of ours. I become drawn to the victims, and, yes, to their Cause-to which I here give a capital 'C'. That Cause, is quite simply, To survive as a People. The Jews of Auschwitz would have understood that.

Lakota Elder Mat King, when he was explaining to me the concept of the 'Original Instructions' given to Indian Peoples by Tunkashila, the Great Spirit, emphasized: "The first Instruction is to survive as a People! Nothing is more important than that! You understand that and you understand a lot about us Indian People. We intend to survive.and that means to survive as a People!" Yes, my liberation is bound up with theirs.and with Leonard's.

As his Lakota/Nakota/Dakota brethren of the Great Sioux Nation say on sacred occasions: Mitakuye Oyasin-'We are all related'.'We are all One Family of Humankind.' Yes, we are. If only we might all realize it.

From: Webmaster, BA-LPSG Sites [mailto:WillowElderGrove@netscape.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 11:14 AM
To: info@leonardpeltier.org
Contact: Barry Bachrach, Esquire; Bowditch & Dewey, 311 Main Street,
Worcester, MA 01615 at (508) 926-3403 or bbachrach@bowditch.com

SETTLEMENT REACHED IN PELTIER'S LAWSUIT AGAINST EDITOR PAUL DEMAIN

The terms of a settlement agreement were fulfilled today in a defamation lawsuit filed over one year ago by Native American activist and political prisoner Leonard Peltier against Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country. According to Peltier's attorney, Barry Bachrach, Mr. DeMain had avoided giving a deposition for several months. Just before a deposition was finally to take place, on or about April 9, 2004, the two parties began settlement negotiations. With nothing further to negotiate, an agreement was reached on April 16th. However, over one month later, DeMain had yet to fulfill the terms of the agreement. Therefore, on May 24, 2004, a motion to enforce the settlement agreement was filed with the Eighth U.S. District Court of Claims in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Subsequent to that filing, Pursuant to the agreement, DeMain released the following statement which incorporates language he had originally proposed:

".I agree with Leonard Peltier that there have been numerous instances of questionable conduct by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in connection with prosecution of Native Americans in this country. I also agree that the legal, social, and political environment prevailing on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the 1970s could be legitimately compared to a war zone. In my opinion, there has also been widespread misconduct in the judicial system historically with respect to cases involving Native Americans.

More particularly, I do not believe that Leonard Peltier received a fair trial in connection with the murders of which he was convicted. Certainly he is entitled to one. Nor do I believe, according to the evidence and testimony I now have, that Mr. Peltier had any involvement in the death of Anna Mae Aquash."

In exchange for this public statement, Peltier has dismissed with prejudice his lawsuit against DeMain. "Justice is possible for both Anna Mae and Leonard Peltier, but justice won't be done in either case by people falsely pointing fingers of blame. Leonard's only concern is for the truth, which is why monetary damages are not a part of this settlement.

A member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), Peltier was charged for the June 26, 1975, shooting deaths of two agents of the FBI on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier, who still maintains his innocence, was convicted of the killings in 1977 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He is currently imprisoned at the United States penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. "Statements were authored by DeMain that were false, defamatory, and malicious. They were then circulated by DeMain's newspaper with reckless disregard and with the knowledge that they were false," explained BarryBachrach, Peltier's attorney. "DeMain had stated, as a matter of fact, that Mr. Peltier was guilty of shooting the two FBI agents when the government itself has repeatedly admitted that it did not and cannot prove that Mr. Peltier shot the agents. ," Bachrach added. "DeMain also implied Peltier's involvement in the Pine Ridge murder of fellow AIM member Anna Mae Pictou Aquash in 1976. We couldn't let such statements stand." "Justice is possible for both Anna Mae and Leonard Peltier, but justice won't be done in either case by people falsely pointing fingers of blame. Leonard's only concern is for the truth, which is why monetary damages are not a part of this settlement.

Leonard Peltier's case has been the topic of several books - "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen, for example - and documentaries, most notably "Incident at Oglala" produced by Robert Redford. Amnesty International, convinced that he did not receive a fair trial and will not receive fair consideration for parole or executive clemency, has called for Peltier's immediate and unconditional release.

Leonard Peltier, noted for his continuing activism and humanitarian works, also was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, PO Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044-0583
Telephone: 785/842-5774; 785/842-5796 (Fax)
E-mail: info@leonardpeltier.org <mailto:info@leonardpeltier.org>

__________

6/13/2004 LPNET: PLEASE READ THIS AMAZING ARTICLE FROM TOMDISPATCH. http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=1494

My own thoughts after reading the TomDispatch article...

THE ABSOLUTE LIE & ITS MAKERS!

THESE NEOCONS PRACTISED THEIR TECHNIQUE ON LEONARD PELTIER & OTHERS FOR DECADES...NOW THEY'RE GOING FOR ALL OF US. WE MUST STAND UP TO THEM TOGETHER OR FUTURE GENERATIONS WON'T HAVE A CHANCE TO TRY! THE SEVENTH GENERATION IS IN OUR HANDS, AND THAT, FRIEND, MEANS EVERY ONE OF US...YOU, ME, LEONARD HIMSELF--ALL OF US & EACH OF US. STAY ALERT FOR THE DARKNESS GATHERING AROUND US; USE YOUR INNER LIGHT TO GUIDE YOURSELF & OTHERS. LET ALL OUR INNER LIGHTS MERGE INTO ONE GREAT BEACON THAT CAN LAUNCH A TRULY NEW & WONDERFUL AGE, NOT THE NEOCONS' HORRIFIC VISION FOR THE FUTURE.

TRUTH...DEMOCRACY...LEONARD PELTIER. KEEP THOSE AS SYNONYMS & METAPHORS IN YOUR MIND & HEART. BEWARE THOSE WHOSE LIES VIOLATE ALL OF THESE & AND ALL OF US. MAY THE "EVIL EMPIRE" IN OUR MIDST BE DESTROYED FROM WITHIN! BUT COURAGEOUS HEARTS MUST ALSO BE PREPARED TO OPPOSE IT FROM WITHOUT. WE MUST JOIN TOGETHER FOR THAT.

To those have not yet joined LPNET, you are invited to do so at harvey@haveyouthought.com...just reply to this message with "Yes, I'll join LPNET" & you become part of a world network. Your only obligation: to FORWARD occasional messages regarding Leonard and related subjects to your OWN personal list, and personally ask each of those friends to do the same. No spam! No master list! Become part of the history of your own times! We CAN reach the whole world! And we WILL get Leonard out!!

FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!

/HARVEY ARDEN
HARVEY@HAVEYOUTHOUGHT.COM
WWW.HAVEYOUTHOUGHT.COM

PS: Please excuse me for 'SHOUTING' in CAP LETTERS, but I FEEL like SHOUTING after reading that TomDispatch. Like Mat King used to say, "Excuse my language, but I feel like cussin'!" We ALL & EACH OF US ought to be shouting FREE LEONARD PELTIER! at every opportunity. If it takes shoutin' & cussin' to get Leonard out, I'm for it!

PSS: We're trying reach hearts around the world for Leonard...trying to get the final bucks to print 2500 copies of my new book ~HAVE YOU THOUGHT of LEONARD PELTIER LATELY?~ It's filled with new info, including some new writing by Leonard himself just for this book & it's a great read, I guarantee! ;0) Please suggest to a few good friends that they check out www.haveyouthought.com and order some copies...gift copies etc...it sure would help! Blessings, /Harvey

Indian Spirit

Where is he?

Where is the Man ?

A cold blue bluff rises from the mist swathed forest.

An eastern peak capped with gold

Kissed by the morning Sun.

Where is he?

Where is the Man?

The scent of Lynx and Fox rise on gentle air.

Life stirs.

Warmed by the morning Sun.

Where is he?

Where is the Man?

The Eagle soars in silent sky to golden clouds.

Ribbon thin.

Lit by the morning Sun.

Where is he?

Where is the Man?.

On the lonely bluff to dance to the New Day?

And the ancestors?

To greet Grandfather Sun.

Where is Man?

Drifts his life away?

Numb in the stockade of ignorance

And greed?

Far from Grandfather Sun?

Where is the Man?

The dust on Lonely Mountain grows

A footfall sounds in distant time.

Comes he back?

Great Spirit hear us.

That he may dance to Life and greet the morning Sun.

Crichton E M Miller  2000