1) Lewisburg Penitentiary;
July 28, 2009; Peltier parole hearing:
Sometime after Peltier’s parole denial he wrote a letter to
a rabid supporter and bragged about what a tough guy he was during the hearing
and claimed to have intimidated one of the witnesses. “I seen in his eyes even
for the brief second he dared and forced himself to look at me total fear in
his eyes. I’m not shitting you…this guy had fear in his eyes.”
Peltier, in his jailhouse bluster, was pretending to
intimidate one of the other witnesses. However, what he actually did was stare
lamely at his prison sneakers, which could not have been easy because there was
this huge mass in the way. He sat there knowing he was getting severely
trounced with a mountain of evidence against him and a marginal attorney to his
right.
I never gave it a second thought when I sat next to him, not
to even acknowledging his presence, which I didn’t. I wasn’t there for Peltier anyway;
I was there for two guys named Jack and Ron.
But let’s look at a few other things the tough guy had to
say:
“A cold chill ran up the back of my neck when we drove past
the long, long eighteen-foot-high wall and then up to the front entranceway of
Leavenworth.” “Suddenly your mind plays tricks on you and it’s as if you hear
your spirit telling you to run, to not go there, and then the fear rushes on
you almost unbearably, your knees grow week, you feel as if you’re going to wet
your pants, you feel like crying, call out for help. I had a barely resistible
urge to turn to the marshals and plead with them, beg them not to take me in
that place. I’m sure, if I had, my voice would have cracked and I would have
broken down in tears.” (Prison Writings, p.154-155)
Cold chill, urge to run, unbearable fear, weak-kneed,
urinating, crying, tears; that’s more like it, and far indeed from when
Peltier’s pointing a weapon at a severely wounded human being.
Excepts from Editorial Essay, “Mission to Lewisburg:”
“…Admittedly, I was nervous, not because
Peltier was present but because there was so much at stake. I would have preferred
to debate the issue rather than just make a presentation that I felt was
rushed. I didn't want to take any more time than necessary away from the other
witnesses and wanted to verbally present the reasons why Peltier has not earned
the right for release; instead, I read most of the prepared talking points and
added additional comments.”
“It was interesting though that when my
testimony was finished, knowing full-well that Leonard Peltier was painfully
aware of how much the NPPA had been in his face for the past nine years, that I
was the only one he acknowledged. After thanking the hearing officer I got up
and headed for the door when I heard something behind me. I couldn't tell if it
was, "Hey Ed," or "Agent Woods," but I turned and saw
Leonard smiling and waving goodbye. Perhaps it was his half-hearted attempt at
humor or sarcasm. It didn't matter. I waved back, "Take it easy Leonard…"
“With certainty, Ron Williams, in his final
moments did not face the same Leonard Peltier I met at the parole hearing. The
angry Leonard Peltier at Jumping Bull, much younger and stronger, was not the
same bloated figure in the Lewisburg hearing room. Perhaps Peltier is no longer
the direct danger to society that he was in 1975, but that does not lessen his
crime. Making the fateful decision to murder the agents that day carried with
it the responsibility of a lifetime…”
2) Peltier’s First Escape Plan: Part 1
First, a little Peltier
history and folklore; July 20th 1979, Lompoc Penitentiary,
California:
Peltier tells us that he had
been alerted to a government plot to assassinate him, first possibly at Leavenworth
then following him with his transfer to Lompoc. “My days at Lompoc were
definitely numbered. Unless I wanted to wake up dead one morning soon, I had no
choice but to make a break for it. Of course, they really wanted me to try to
escape. That would make killing me both convenient and totally justifiable.
Still, in retrospect, I deeply regret trying. It was a setup and I fell for it.
(Prison Writings, p.165-168)”
Peltier doesn’t explain how
it’s possible to “wake up dead.” Logic would dictate that you simply wouldn’t
wake up at all. But he offers a dual-scenario, a conundrum that serves his
purpose either way to justify an armed escape. Either there was an assassination
plot or there wasn’t, or they just wanted him to think there was as an excuse
to kill him during an attempt. Brilliant, the folklore works either way.
But then there must be a
third element to the plot that Peltier wants us to ignore, which is better
explained by Matthiessen: “His shots (a prison guard’s) were answered by what
turned out to be diversionary fire from outside persons who had positioned
themselves near the northeast corner of the prison, where a service road ran
along a tree line; one of these people gave a Mini-14 rifle to Peltier as he
ran past. (ITSOCH p. 384)” And, when arrested, “Although equipped with a rifle,
binoculars, and maps, (Peltier) seemed very tired and disoriented after
travelling without food for five long days. (ITOSH p. 392)”
Note Matthiessen’s
description, no doubt coming from Peltier himself; “person(s),” and “these
people.”
“On February 4, 1980,
Peltier was acquitted of conspiracy and assault and was sentenced to five years
for escape plus two years for possession of a weapon by a felon; the seven
years were added on to his two consecutive life terms. (ITSOCH, p. 400)”
Odd though, with all those “persons
and people” involved, Peltier was acquitted of the conspiracy charge.
This blog will end with a
question for Leonard Peltier, which he will receive, via the U.S. Mail at
Coleman 1, as he always has:
Have you ever planned another escape from prison when
there wasn’t this mythical assassin lurking about between the cellblocks?
Peltier is challenged to
answer this question. He certainly can bloviate and play the tough guy with his
handful of mindless followers, but will he step up to the plate when someone
gets in his face.
“In the Spirit of Coler and
Williams”
Ed Woods
