Dear Supporters:
February 6th marks the 43rdyear of Peltier’s not-so-continuous incarceration since his arrest by the RCMP at Smallboys Camp near Hinton, Canada. Peltier’s incarceration was interrupted by an armed escape from California’s Lompoc Penitentiary during which guards were fired upon. Peltier, captured days later, armed, lost and delirious, received an additional seven consecutive years added to his consecutive life sentences for the brutal execution style slayings of two already wounded and defenseless FBI Agents. (Fn. 1)
Of course, any February 6th announcement will contain the predictable Peltier tripe of, “I’m innocent, Oh poor me who stood up for my people, yada, yada,” and the countless litany of falsehoods and lies that have created the myth and folklore surrounding him since his first Committee started pumping out a false narrative of remaking a brutal convicted murderer into the absurdity of a warrior victim. However, Peltier or the Committee will never mention The Big Lie that went on for years, that it wasn’t Peltier but the fictitious Mr. X who killed the Agents, a lie that has been repeatedly debunked but conveniently forgotten by his supporters, but not everyone. (Fn. 2)
Unless Peltier offers something completely new or utterly false, as he did on February 6, 2018, we will just ignore it. (Fn. 3)
On January 22ndPeltier offered a bewilderingly incoherent public statement attacking the Covington Catholic High School students in Washington D.C. stating that “There were threats and insults by the young punk wearing the red M.A.G.A. hat,” while Peltier’s AIM buddy and comrade “Nate Phillips was singing a religious song.”
Well, not quite.
Peltier rambles on about the “song” (that sounded more like chanting to drum beats) and demonstrates a lack of understanding of Native American history. He ignores that AIM thugs all but destroyed the village of Wounded Knee in 1972 (actually it was February to May 1973) or the destruction of historical Native artifacts and the horrible treatment of the elderly Mrs. Gildersleeve whose family had been serving and supporting Pine Ridge for decades. (Fn. 4) Nor, the AIM related murder of civil rights activist Perry Ray Robinson, and others suspected of being buried in unmarked graves in the hills beyond the village.
No one would dispute that incidents like Wounded Knee and Sand Creek are horrible chapters in American history, but Peltier’s accounting and inaccuracy leave a lot to be challenged compared to the actual historical record. Peltier is unable to even get the date of Wounded Knee correct. “Early that next morning on December 25th[isn’t that their Christens (sic) God Jesus Birthday?]…”Actually Leonard, it was December 29, 1890.
Apparently at USP Coleman Peltier did not see the other nearly two hours of videos beyond the short clip that went viral.
What Peltier is incapable of acknowledging is that the students were being subjected to racist taunts from foul-mouthed militant Black Hebrew Israelites who, along with Phillips, were the ones inciting and attempting to elevate the incident into a six-o’clock news confrontation. The students didn’t give the BHI’s or Phillips that opportunity. And they should be commended and respected for that. (Fn. 5)
Phillips, as it eventually surfaced claimed to be a Viet Nam Marine combat veteran only to have that dispelled by admitting in a video that he was “Sectioned 8”out of the military. The prevailing understanding is that a Section 8 is a service member unfit for duty and is released under less than honorable conditions. (Fn. 6)
The fact remains that Phillips never served outside the continental U.S., was a refrigerator repairman as his military specialty (a duty that is unremarkable but necessary) and left the Marine Corps after fours years, still as a private: Hardly a stunning service.
On the Internet there was more negative information regarding Phillips’ military service but it will not be repeated here because it could not be independently verified.
Phillips, for all his bravado for Native American rights and issues, during some interviews over the D.C. incident, said that the students weren’t telling the truth. Really? Not according to the other now public videos.
When this writer was discharged from the military in 1968 he received two documents, an Honorable Discharge certificate and a DD-214 (discharge and separation document). Among other items noted on the DD-214 were: 11a, Type of Transfer or Discharge; “Relieved from Active Duty,” 13c; Character of Service; “Honorable,” 23a; Specialty Number and Title; “31542, Special Forces,” and 26a; Non-Pay periods Time Lost Preceding two years; “None.”
Here’s the challenge for Phillips: Produce his DD-214 and Honorable Discharge from the Marine Corps and provide answers to those questions, otherwise, he can carry the burden as one who has engaged in Stolen Valor for claims he cannot support. Stolen Valor dishonors all those who served honorably and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in combat. (Fn. 7)
To put a finer point on this issue, we are calling out Nathan Phillips.
On January 21st the ILPDC, under the authority of co-director, Ms. Paulette Dauteuil made a press release covering a few topics:
To keep pushing for Peltier’s transfer to FCI Oxford, Wisconsin by sending emails, letters, facsimiles and phone calls to:
Email: GRA-DSC/PolicyCorrespondence@bop.gov, Phone: 972-352-4400
Fax: 972-352-4395; Or write a letter of support and send to: Designation & Sentence Computation Center, Grand Prairie Office Complex, 346 Marine Forces Drive, Grand Prairie, Texas 75051 (Unfortunately, Ms. Dauteuil omitted the state, but it’s Texas, which was added to the above address.)
NPPA supporters are welcome to offer their own opinions as to whether Peltier is deserving of an accommodation transfer. We believe he is not.
Ms. Dauteuil advised about “wonderful” and “exciting” fundraisers in Austin and Portland “to build the legal support fund, for attorney Larry Hildes, who is representing Leonard in his First Amendment case out of Tacoma, Washington. This case will expose the FBI and retired agents in their continued harassment of Leonard (sic) struggle for justice.” (Emphasis added) (Fn. 8)
It is curious how exposing the ILPDC’s and Peltier’s own actions, words and activities that are at odds with the actual documented court records are considered harassment. It’s actually fact-finding, correcting the falsehoods and challenging questionable activities. It’s hardly harassment to offer the truth.
In regard to Peltier suing Washington State officials where in November 2015 Peltier’s paintings were removed from the Labor and Industries, American Indian Heritage Month exhibit, Peltier concedes he has no private claim for money damages under the Washington constitution; he now seeks a (mandatory) injunction requiring L&I to display his paintings.
A trial has been set for December 23, 2019.
The ILPDC release goes on to state “Please check out our website to donate to Leonard’s Legal fund or shop at our store…”(Emphasis added)
Conspicuously absent from this message was any reference that purchasing merchandise or making donations to Leonard’s legal fund would be “Tax deductible.”
Wonder why the omission? Could it, by chance, have anything to do with Form 1023, the application for Exempt Organization 501(c)3 status they submitted to the I.R.S. that is at odds with the ILPDC and Peltier public pleas for cash for his legal defense fund? (Fn. 9)
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
Footnotes:
1) February 6, 1976 and Peltier history:
In re Lompoc:
Paragraph #13) Lompoc escape: (Note additional footnotes) By early 1979 Peltier was transferred to the U.S Penitentiary in Lompoc, California where he claimed he had learned of a plot by the government to have him assassinated and that he had no choice but plan an escape. One of the inmates was killed during the armed breakout.31 Peltier was captured days later in possession of a semi-automatic rifle that matched spent cartridges at the scene of the escape.32
Peltier received an additional seven-year consecutive sentence.33
Involvement of actor Max Gail in the Lompoc escape:
4) Re Wounded Knee 1973 and Mrs. Gildersleeve; Paragraph 11 and footnote 6:
Susan L. M. Huck, "Renegades, The Second Battle Of Wounded Knee," American Opinion May 1973 (This reference is offered to provide a more timely perspective of the 1973 event) 6 "Hostages were taken and held at gunpoint; residents were robbed at gunpoint. A federal marshal and an F.B.I. man were shot by A.I.M. gunmen. And, for the purpose of "negotiating," one ranking Justice Department official after another has submitted to search and "escort" by hoodlums brandishing their weapons for the cameras." "Mrs. Gildersleeve, the seventy-year-old woman whose family had run the trading post for fifty years, pleading pathetically for help. Mrs. Gildersleeve then became one of A.I.M.'s official hostages!* (*Most hostages were over sixty years old. One was only twelve. They were "freed" when South Dakota Senators McGovern and Abourezk choppered to Wounded Knee and waved magic wands at their fellow radicals of A.I.M.)"
5) Covington Catholic High School students, January 18, 2019, Washington, D.C.
6) Video reference re Phillips’ statements:
https://taskandpurpose.com/nathan-phillips-vietnam(Last accessed 1/29/19)
"I'm a Vietnam vet, you know," Phillips said. "I served in the Marine Corps from '72 to '76. I got discharged May 5, 1976. I got honorable discharge and one of the boxes in there shows if you were peacetime or... what my box says that I was in theater. I don't talk much about my Vietnam times. I usually say 'I don't recollect. I don't recall,' you know, those years."
In the same video, at around the 23:45 mark, Phillips states, "I got a Section 8 home because I'm a veteran, wartime veteran like that. Honorable, in theater, so I have Section 8 home."Phillips did serve in the Marine Corps from May 20, 1972 until May 5, 1976, according to a Corps spokeswoman, but did not serve anywhere near Vietnam or any theater of war. He had zero deployments and his only award was a National Defense Service Medal. He briefly had the military occupational specialty of 0351 Anti-tank missile-man before being assigned as an 1161 refrigerator technician. He also was discharged as a private after four years of service. (NPPA note: In the Phillips’ video he talks about his poor finances and never mentions anything about VA benefits.)
7) Stars and Stripes online (last accessed 1/30/19) https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/what-is-stolen-valor-1.107359 “Stolen Valor” is a term applied to the phenomenon of people falsely claiming military awards or badges they did not earn, service they did not perform, Prisoner of War experiences that never happened, and other tales of military derring-do that exist only in their minds.
8) The Washington State, Peltier paintings civil suit:
9) In re IRS Form 1023:
