PELTIER: ANOTHER FELONY?

To all: Peltier Supporters and Detractors[i]

Re: A shill, PayPal, Celebrity Money and Lawyers.

Everyone is encouraged to carefully review Peltier’s April 9^th  “For Freedom’s Sake,” press release where Peltier and the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (ILPDC), in a desperate last ditch bid for clemency, makes public admissions that not only validate Peltier’s infamous history but once again places him in violation of the law.[ii]

Peltier’s statements to send him more money, for so-called political action, and once again violating IRS regulations and laws shows how distressed and fractured Peltier and the ILPDC have become as they face the hopeless and final chapter of this pathetic saga.

It is important to note that the press release was sent by Co-Directors,

PETER CLARK and KARI ANN BOUSHEE. [iii]

Money Laundering 101; Peltier style:

Kudos to Peltier because this is the first time he actually identifies some of the donations he’s been scamming from the unsuspecting for decades.[iv] $3,000 for card handouts, $5,000 for postcards, an unidentified amount for “other strategies” and still owing $30K for attorney’s fees along with a claim of their overhead of 8%, “the lowest it’s been for a long while.”

Notice the artfully crafted words, lowest…long while, because the truth is that Peltier has not proven to anyone that the overhead may have been up to 100% or where and to whom those funds have really gone over the years. It remains Peltier’s dirty little secret.

And are we making this up? Not at all.

In 2003 one Committee leader called for “Transparency regarding accounting and decisions will be posted on the web.” Of course, that never happened and as we’ve seen over the years those many Committee members who have become disenfranchised with Peltier’s petty personality and bullying and who speak out for some semblance of honesty are shunned and cast aside.[v]

But to bring the issue into focus, during this same period there was an exchange posted on the Internet for all to witness Peltier’s slow-speed train wreck;

“It is very troubling that she (Ms. McCarthy) is suggesting that Leonard himself is directing a Non Profit organization while still incarcerated. This is potentially a legal problem for Leonard and the LPDC.” [vi]

Yes, excellent observations, legal problems for Peltier and the Committee, and it continues. Peltier, still up to the same dirty tricks.

Have any Peltierites ever wondered why for many years Peltier claimed donations were “tax deductable” and then all of a sudden that was dropped from the Peltier lexicon. Why? Because, they weren’t tax-deductible and letters of complaint to the IRS put an end to it, at least for a while. Was it that the IRS did have a legal issue with Peltier’s fund-raising methods? If they did Peltier never admitted this to all those who believed they were providing legitimate tax-deductible donations.

More history:  Peltier had solicited, while claiming tax-deductible donations, that their 501(c)3 was “pending.” Well, if it was “pending,” he didn’t have it to claim. But then went on to advertise that tax-deductible checks be sent to “Global Exchange” claiming that this organization was their “501(c)3 sponsor.” There was no such legal entity (a sponsor) and apparently the IRS had issues with that (to what extent is not known, fines perhaps?), but the tax-deductible claims went away, for a while at least.

Approaching 2013 Peltier tried another failed ploy through Wind Chases the Sun, Inc., DePere, Wisconsin, run by Dorothy Ninham. That too died perhaps due to IRS involvement in the donations-dodge scheme. [vii]

And here we are again, 2016, slithering into the final stretch, begging for clemency and money while publically advertising and lying to everyone, including the President of the United States (whose sympathies he frantically seeks), the Attorney General and USDOJ Pardon Attorney, that funds can now be sent to Peltier:

Donate online at http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/home/donate/ or send your check or money order made payable to the ILPDC to our receiving and distribution office: P.O. Box 24, Hillsboro, OR 97123. The ILPDC headquarters and program office is located in Albuquerque, NM, where our finances are managed by the Indigenous Rights Center, a 501(c)(3) organization and fiscal sponsor. Your donation may be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. (Emphasis added)

Tactics sound familiar, and maybe even legitimate, or just dubious and convoluted?

The smoking gun…

--Should it come as any surprise that Indigenous Rights Center corporate filings lists as Directors; Delaney Bruce (long time Peltier supporter), Peter Clark and Karri A. Boushee (Co-Directors of the ILPDC, mentioned above) and Chauncey Peltier (Peltier’s son)?[viii]

--It’s important to note that the heading of the Press Release clearly lists the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, and more critically at the bottom is the following:

©2016 ILPDC/Indigenous Rights Center LLC, 202 Harvard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

So here Peltier is providing the very proof that he is again attempting to circumvent IRS laws and regulations and making it so blatantly obvious that it doesn’t take any investigation to uncover the fraudulent disguise behind this latest effort to scam funds and hide what’s really happening.

To make this exceptionally clear even to the most diehard Peltierites (including celebrities), the law is very simple and straightforward:

It remains that Peltier cannot be a 501(c)3 because it is illegal if those funds “are…for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator (Peltier) or the creator’s family (Chauncey Peltier)…” and, that “no part of the net earning of a 501(c)3 organization may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. A private shareholder or individual is a person having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization.” [ix]

In other words, filtering money through the Indigenous Rights Center, to a convicted felon for political purposes “to influence clemency decisions” goes beyond mere suspicion or speculation that Peltier is deliberately trying to circumvent the law.

--How are donor's checks, made out to the ILPDC as Peltier requests and sent to Hillsboro, Oregon, processed, deposited or handled by the Indigenous Rights Center in Albuquerque, without violating the law?

If just one dollar ($1) is funneled through the Indigenous Rights Center for the benefit of one private individual, e.g. Leonard Peltier, for his use, benefit or advantage (“inure”) (or to that of his family), then the I.R.S. would have some serious issues with that. And if it’s more than one dollar, lets suggest into the thousands, like for attorney’s fees that could be encroaching on felony territory.

In the real world, funneling money, trying to disguise its true source and nature, through a third-party shill, is the essence of money laundering and is illegal.[x]

Updated letters of complaint will be sent to the E.O. Examinations offices of the Internal Revenue Service covering Hillsboro, Oregon and Albuquerque, New Mexico pointing out this obvious violation of the law.

PayPal:

In 2004  the NPPA was successful in having Peltier/LPDC removed from PayPal.[xi]

Peltier was violating PayPal’s Acceptable Use policy; 1(f) …financial exploitation of a crime.[xii]  

Peltier changed the Committee name and location and slipped back into the PayPal system.

Perhaps it’s time to write another letter of complaint to PayPal for Peltier’s continuing violation of their Acceptable Use Policy. (Perhaps also, some research into Son of Sam laws would be in order as well.)

Celebrity Donations:

In an obvious reference to the No Parole Peltier Association (celebrating its sixteenth anniversary on April 30^th) Peltier claims:

“There’s a myth about the ILPDC being wealthy. You’ve heard the gossip and false claims of Leonard’s detractors. The Committee is not now and has never been wealthy and, contrary to what some believe, celebrity supporters don’t generally donate to the ILPDC.”

Interesting choice of words: “Myth” (used in its proper context, and a focus of the NPPA for nearly a decade and a half to “Destroying the myth and folklore surrounding Leonard Peltier”), and “generally.” “Generally” being the Peltier way to parse and shade the deeper meaning.

The NPPA never claimed Peltier or the ILPDC (or the former LPDC, LPDOC) were “wealthy,” only that there was never any accounting of exactly how much Peltier has fleeced from supporters, but more importantly where any of that money has gone. At least with this latest release we can account for $8,000 and maybe $30K owed to an attorney.

Looking back there is a detailed history of Peltier bragging about his celebrity supporters, and certainly if they buy into the Peltier Myth, they probably pay into his support as well, even if it’s in the guise of overpaying for marginally acceptable Peltier artwork (albeit that one person’s art is another’s garage sale item). Former first-daughter Chelsea Clinton has a Peltier painting and let’s never forget who Peltier bragged owned a Peltier painting or two and had actually overtly advertised his artwork for sale, Jane Fonda.[xiii]     

And then, aside from the “501(c)3 as a sponsor” front there’s the money that comes in from sources that may have never been acknowledged, or perhaps even reported to the IRS by Peltier and his Committee. Like that 2011 NYC fundraiser concert for example.

In 2007 Peltier had a “buy a stone” website fundraiser that wasn’t all that successful (about $12,000 in two years; what happened to those funds?), but on November 14, 2006 in an email to the NPPA from a European supporter, Elsie Herten, there was this startling admission;

"See, most people just bought one or two stones, because the names on the list were more important than donating money through that website "thingie". The real donations were sent to the LPDC bank account instead. For example: I donated half the donations we received. Vivienne Westwood just sent a huge donation (to the bank account)."

Real and huge donations—to the bank—just doesn’t smell right, does it? [xiv]

But it does provide evidence enabling the fundraising scam.

Even on Peltier’s home page today he brags about support from the likes of Peter Coyote, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Belafonte and Jackson Brown. Certainly these Hollywood fat cats wouldn’t be considered cheapskates and not also put their money where their mouths are and fork over some cash, or perhaps a lot of cash, buying paintings and such.

There’s a little more history when it comes to Peltier support, financial and otherwise.

Remember Peltier’s escape from Pine Ridge after the brutal murder of Agents’ Coler and Williams when he was pulled over in a motor home by an Oregon State Trooper? (Let’s not forget that found under the front seat where Peltier sat was a paper bag containing Agent Coler’s service revolver and on the bag, Peltier’s thumbprint: Direct evidence connecting him to the scene of the crimes at Jumping Bull.) The motor home was registered to none other than Hollywood actor Marlon Brando. Little coincidence that Peltier’s (and AIM’s) financial support has deep roots with the Hollywood crowd.[xv]

Remember the armed escape from Lompoc Penitentiary?

Would it be interesting to note that Max Gail, Hal Linden, Danny DeVito, Buffy Ste. Marie and David Soul were seen at Peltier’s trial and that others over the years have voiced their support: David Geffen[xvi], Danny Glover, Melanie Griffith, Whoopie Goldberg, Jesse Jackson, Jude Law, Madonna, Michael Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Redford (and his film, Incident at Oglala[xvii]), Tim Robbins, Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Gloria Steinem, Oliver Stone, Barbara Streisand, Sting, Bono and Cher.[xviii]

Wouldn’t it also be relevant that “One fan in particular tried to create a diversion during Peltier’s prison break by showing up late to give a motivational speech, Max Gail, the (marginal) actor best known for his role as the lovable doofus “Wojohowicz” in the sit com Barney Miller.” [xix]

But it goes deeper than that. According to Peltier co-conspirator Dino Butler and the decades long lie of Mr. X and the infamous red pickup truck, that this false alibi was hatched by Bob Robideau while at the home of Max Gail.[xx]

This is the reality of Peltier’s dirty little secret when it comes to fundraising, alleged charitable activities and celebrity supporters. [xxi]

Attorney’s fees:

According to the federal court of appeals, “Peltier was well-represented at trial and on appeal,”[xxii] meaning that he had some good attorneys (Bruce Ellison notwithstanding [xxiii]) fighting for him, all paid for in the beginning by the largesse of the American taxpayers.

Later attorneys represented Peltier because they believed in him or his cause, many years working pro bono with some expending significant amounts of money and legal time and talent (attorneys Michael Kuzma and Barry Bacharach being among the most notable).[xxiv]

Peltier now claims “Attorney fees are still owed (roughly $30K)” for a clemency application; a six page form that Peltier could fill out with a crayon.[xxv]  So what’s the $30K, or more, actually for? Perhaps an effort to buy favor in Washington D.C., as Peltier said, “to influence a clemency decision.” That would be a typical Peltier ploy but the reality is that the Pardon Attorney, Attorney General and the President are fully aware of the facts of Peltier’s conviction and appeals.

Peltier tells us that “travel” expenses are high, as it was in 2015 and also includes “trips to Coleman, Florida, for meetings with Leonard.” Meetings with Leonard, really? To what benefit; hold his hand; make him feel important, help the time pass with occasional visitors (some of whom are there with billable hours)? Is that necessary? Any competent attorney has full access to the record of Peltier’s conviction and appeals, none of which Peltier can change or validate. The records have been there for decades and even available on the NPPA website.[xxvi]

What would be the likelihood of Peltier actually paying the attorney $30K? With all the whining about money (which will always remain the dirty little secret) and if the attorney isn’t paid for the six page form (no doubt including attachments), perhaps the attorney can use that lost revenue as a tax write-off.

Regardless, it would be more than interesting, compelling really, to see what Peltier’s attorney submitted. Certainly it did not contain the four decades of Peltier’s wholly discredited fabrications.

We would offer, challenge actually, to be able to review that application factually, which would doubtless reduce it to a pile of worthless paper.

            Mr. President, if Peltier’s clemency application should ever reach your desk, please consider it in relation to just two of Peltier’s many public statements regarding the unprovoked attack and brutal murders of two federal agents, “And Really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again because it was the right thing to do (2010),” and, “I don’t regret any of this for a minute (2014).”

Right thing. No Regrets. Leonard Peltier remains an unrepentant and remorseless murderer who, in the interest of justice, should serve the remainder of his consecutive life sentences.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

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[i] April 30, 2016: The No Parole Peltier Association  (NPPA), celebrates its 16^th anniversary continuing its stated goals to honor the memory and sacrifice in the line of duty of FBI Agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams by providing the facts regarding June 26, 1975, dismantling the myth and folklore surrounding Leonard Peltier and exposing the public statements and contradictions of Peltier’s claims of innocence. Peltier is painfully aware that January 20, 2017, his last and only hope, is rapidly approaching and clemency, like parole, will vanish.

[ii] https://gem.godaddy.com/p/464f87?fe=1&pact=67985-130751466-7790603234-de36e81ffd865eca9e5f2650c3a7d8a9888fbca1 (Last accessed 4/24/16)

[iii] Peltier has made it clear in the past that any communications sent on his behalf from the Committee (LPDC, LPDOC, ILPDC, etc.) must first be approved by him, therefore Peltier is responsible for the content and information he places in the public domain, along with the directors of the Committee.

[iv] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud

[v] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#free (See,  “It’s all about the money,” section)

[vi] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#third

[vii] http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2013/12/peltier-update-breaking-camp-mandela.html (Dorothy Ninham, Wind Chases the Sun, Inc., DePere, Wisconsin)

[viii] It should be noted that the NPPA has never engaged, singled out or criticized anyone in Peltier’s family. This is not about family (except those of Agents’ Coler and Williams), and Betty Ann Peltier-Solano, Chauncey Peltier or any other family members are entitled to advance their efforts to free Peltier. It will remain as such unless family members engage in overt attacks on the NPPA. On 1/12/17 Chauncey Peltier, 42638 NW Cedar Canyon Road, Banks, Oregon 97106 registered a business, Peltier Justice for All, Inc. How PJAI develops, and its mission remains to be seen, and will be addressed as appropriate.

[ix] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise (See Section #19 and related footnotes)

[x] Shill: An accomplice of a hawker, gambler, or swindler who acts as an enthusiastic customer to entice or encourage others, e.g., The Indigenous Rights Center, its founders and directors, at the behest of Leonard Peltier.

[xi] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud (See “PAC Issues” section)

[xii] https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/acceptableuse-full

[xiii] Jane Fonda, aka Hanoi Jane remains an insult to every man and woman, past and present, who served this nation’s military and especially those who died to protect our freedoms and liberty. Fonda is a loathsome and disgusting individual. Further reference;

http://www.noparolepeltier.com/response.html#2

[xiv] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud (See Editorial Essay “Addendum”)

[xv] Peter Matthiessen, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (New York: Penguin Books, 1991)  249

[xvi] Written nine years ago this Editorial Essay predicted where Peltier would be today in 2016 and how Hollywood mogul David Geffen, a former staunch Clinton supporter and fundraiser thought he had bought Peltier’s way out of prison.  To Geffen’s dismay it didn’t happen, resulting in Geffen publicly calling both Clintons’ liars.  http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#dances The denial of Peltier’s clemency by outgoing President Clinton led to the infamous public comment, “These politicians are such sleazebags that you just don’t know.” Wonder if Peltier would like to repeat that comment for President Obama? http://www.noparolepeltier.com/speak.html

[xvii] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/movie.html  Mr. X The Movie. Coincidentally, on April 30^th my bride and I went out for lunch and a later dinner and in between went to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see the Omnimax film, National Parks Adventure and The Art of the Brick art show. I expected the film to be a an elaborate photographic experience exploring a number of America’s incredible natural wonders but from the opening credits was disappointed to see that the film was narrated by Robert Redford. So I had to listen to him, just like in Incident at Oglala and contemplate how Redford could still be so ignorant over the Peltier matter. The film had some spectacular footage but was a down-home trip of three adventurers and was lacking in specifics about the parks and didn’t cover nearly as much as expected. But then there was having to listen to Redford and wondering now that he knows he was taken-in by Peltier, blatantly lied to about the whole fabricated Mr. X and the red pickup alibi, that he was still dense enough and lacking the courage to admit he had backed a murderous, lying loser like Peltier.  But that’s Hollywood. http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2016/03/peltier-and-robert-redford-repost.html

The Art of the Brick, though, was incredible and well worth the price of admission. New York corporate attorney, Nathan Sawaya, turned LEGO artist, brings art to life in painting-like images and incredible 3-D, nearly life size creations, experiencing almost every facet of the human condition. Just an unsolicited recommendation, this is a must-see exhibit. Lunch was at a Cincinnati staple, Skyline Chili, a predominant attraction in the Queen City. Dinner was at arguably the best Italian restaurant in the tri-state, Scotti’s on 9^th Street. A little hole-in-the-wall, like some of New York City’s best off beat eateries. This place, small, with walls lined with a mosaic of disjointed tile work and old family photos must be doing something right, since it’s been in the same family now for 104 years.

[xviii] Joseph Trimbach, American Indian Mafia (Denver: Outskirts Press, 2008), 430

[xix] Trimbach, 387 (The NPPA would argue that these celebrities either don’t have a clue about the facts, relying solely on the folklore, or they just don’t care about justice. Unless, of course, they become victims themselves, then it would be an entirely different story.)

[xx] Trimbach, 446: See further, Mr. X the Lie, http://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html

[xxi] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud

[xxii] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/585.html

[xxiii] http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2016/02/peltier-bruce-ellison-esq-co.html

[xxiv] If Peltier paid for legal services there is at least one other attorney where he should demand a refund. Honolulu based attorney Eric Seitz, representing Peltier at the 2009 parole hearing, stated (excerpted from the following Editorial Essay link): "…they (the FBI and government) don't have any creativity, they don't come up with anything new. They don't have any greater ability to explain their justification for their position. It's a very wooden position, kill an FBI agent and live the rest of your life in prison. I don't think that's going to impress very many people who aren't already of the same opinion."  A brilliant legal opinion to say the least… http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#paroledenied

[xxv] http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2016/03/peltier-applies-for-clemency.html

[xxvi] (Court decisions and a Concise History of Guilt)  http://www.noparolepeltier.com/court.html, http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#concise

PELTIER: APPLIES FOR CLEMENCY

Dear Supporters:

On March 15, 2016 in a “Media Advisory For Immediate Release” Peltier announced, “Lawyers for Leonard Peltier Request Clemency.”[i]  (As expected, an email message began with “Please make a donation,” furthering the notion that Peltier’s finances 
remain a dirty little secret.[ii] )

(Peltier isn’t alone in writing to the President and the Pardon Attorney.[iii])

Peltier claims that “For the past six months, a team has worked on the final version of the application (which is far more involved than just filling out a form).”

Certainly, it must have been difficult for the “team” to wade through forty years of myth, folklore, lies, and fabrications to spin the actual record of Peltier’s conviction while attempting to transform him into a “victim,” or worse yet, the invention of a “political prisoner.”

We have commented on the “political prisoner” nonsense in the past. If that were even remotely close to the truth the events of June 26, 1975 would take on an entirely different meaning. Instead of an obviously criminal overreaction by Peltier believing that the agents were coming to arrest him for being a fugitive from the Milwaukee warrant, then what happened that day would have instead been the assassination of two federal agents. Cold-blooded murder it was, an assassination, it certainly was not.[iv]

Peltier references a “press release” by Amnesty International (and frankly nobody cares about A.I.), but that doesn’t stop them from perpetuating the folklore. They claim “…a key eyewitness was coerced into stating that Peltier killed the agents after months of FBI harassment and threats. She later retracted her statement, and was subsequently prevented from being called as a defense witness at his trial.” Really, is that so? She, (Myrtle Poor Bear), was prevented from being called as a defense witness? Is A.I. or Peltier capable of telling the truth about why she wasn’t called as a witness? Of course not, because the truth is damning.

Beyond the irony and myth, tucked away in the court record, was Peltier’s own attorney’s opinion of Myrtle Poor Bear:

“Indeed, defense counsel, anticipating that she would be called as a witness for the government, described her in his opening statement as a “witness whose mental imbalance is so gross as to render her testimony unbelievable.” [v]

Strike one for A.I., with regurgitated folklore.

A.I. fails again with  “…the prosecution withholding of evidence that might have assisted his defense.” (Note the critical verb, “might.”) A.I. has never said Peltier was innocent, they know better, but only repeat quotes from the Peltier camp as they conveniently ignore that the evidence in question had undergone intense scrutiny with a three-day hearing and another appeal to the Eighth Circuit that resulted in no changes to Petlier’s conviction and sentence. Remember too, that the appellate court clearly stated, “…the direct and circumstantial evidence of Peltier’s guilt was strong…” [vi]

But let’s leave off by placing any clemency consideration in its proper perspective.[vii]  How does one respond to a convicted double murderer and aider and abettor in murder who would say this about his crimes; a statement lacking even a hint of rehabilitation or remorse:

“I never thought my commitment would mean sacrificing like this, but I was willing to do so nonetheless. And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again, because it was the right thing to do.” [viii]

“Dear President Obama, yes, Leonard Peltier actually said,” “It was the right thing to do.”

This was a telling and wretched public admission of guilt that completely destroys the original lie of self-defense and the other fabricated alibis, especially the decades-long lie that Mr. X killed the agents.[ix]

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

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[i] http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/general/attorneys-seek-clemency-for-leonard-peltier/ (Last accessed 3/17/16: This release contains all the same out-of-context quotes and baseless comments that have been previously addressed by the NPPA and is not a subject of discussion here. A similar notice was also released in an email.)

[ii] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#fraud

Some background regarding Peltier fundraising and alleged charitable activities.

[iii] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#obama

[iv] http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2010/09/peltier-scores.html

[v] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/585.html (See II.B.2.i)

[vi]   http://www.noparolepeltier.com/585.html U.S. v. Peltier, September 14, 1978, Decided. Ibid. I.B.4. ¶2 “Secondly, the direct and circumstantial evidence of Peltier’s guilt was strong and, in our opinion, the admission of these additional exhibits did not prejudice the defendants chances for acquittal.”

[vii] Although not feasible, the NPPA would relish the opportunity to review and factually critique and challenge Peltier’s clemency application. Without a doubt, it rests in the shallow end of a stagnant and putrid pool of decades-long fabrications.

[viii] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#confession

[ix] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html

PELTIER: AND ROBERT REDFORD; Repost

REPOSTED FROM REZINATE:
https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/raising-ones-voice/

"I am very hopeful and will raise my voice in any way." Robert Redford

The above statement by Redford in 2014 related to clemency for Leonard Peltier.

I am an advocate for raising one’s voice, in taking a stand, but I also believe in doing so it should be for valid reasons.

The media characterized this statement along with others made by Redford in an op ed as a renewal of commitment - but I question such a commitment when it fails to acknowledge additional issues surrounding Peltier and incriminating statements made by Peltier himself over the years.

In Redford’s “documentary” titled Incident at Oglala much was made in part of “conspiracies” and the now infamous Mr.X - both presented as fact, and yet the years have shown X was an outright fabrication.

A fabrication perpetuated both by Redford’s unwillingness to address it and Peltier’s historical references to the “truth” of X and what a standup “brother” he was.
If in fact X did exist, which former Peltier attorney Kuzma publicly admitted he did not, the question could only arise how could a stand up brother allow a person who is “innocent” to remain imprisoned and do the time for them?

Then there’s the story about a warrant fthat led to agents Williams and Coler being on the rez that was about the theft of an “old pair of boots” as though the feds have jurisdiction over what would amount to a misdemeanor or low grade felony when they did not.

Indeed a pair of boots was stolen, but the warrant was about much more than that, it was about assault and unlawful detention among other things.

I don’t believe Redford has ever addressed the Peltier at gunpoint interrogation of Annie Mae Pictou Aquash or the high probably of her murder being related to Peltier’s boasting in front of her that he had indeed executed at close range at least one of the agents.

No mention was made either of the arrest Wisconsin warrant for Peltier I am convinced led Peltier to believe when Williams and Coler showed up they were after him and precipitated their murder, certainly such things as mentioned would be germane to character.

Nothing, not a single shred of evidence has ever emerged either they or the feds were aware of Peltier’s presence.

If Redford sees himself as a documentarian an obvious subject would be the murder of Annie, Perry Ray Robinson jr. or the destruction of WK2 - but then such a documentary would seriously devalue his previous effort and raise a lot questions.

It would be one thing if Redford or other Peltier supporters acknowledged the discrepancies in the midst of their support, failing to do so could easily be interpreted as indifference, or an effort to save face.

If the latter, better I think to maintain the distance and silence.

PELTIER: "PUBLIC FIGURE" THE PROOF

Dear Supporters:

The previous blog made a point that the standard for slander and libel is much higher for a public figure. Apparently, we didn't have to go too far to make that case. Again, as many times in the past, Peltier just makes it too easy.

From Peltier's Facebook page we're presented with this:

Enjoy the view from behind bars because parole and clemency isn't in the cards.

"In the Spirit of Coler and Williams"
Ed W.

PELTIER: COWARDICE & THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Dear Supporters:

Felons, like Leonard Peltier, surrender certain rights by virtue of their convictions, as here with double first degree murder and aiding and abetting. Included among those forfeited rights are voting and jury service, being barred from obtaining, receiving, transporting or possessing any firearm or ammunition, serving in the Armed Forces, obtaining certain federal licenses, federal employment and certain benefits. Voting restrictions, however, vary from state to state.

It’s doubtful, though, whether Peltier cares about voting since he does not consider himself an American citizen.[i]  Peltier possessing a firearm is another matter altogether.

A right that a convicted felon does not forfeit is established within the Bill of Rights: the First Amendment, which generally guarantees the right of free assembly and speech.

There are limitations on free speech, of course, that include concepts like fighting words, inciting illegal action or panic (like yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater), obscenity, slander, and libel, among others.

Much depends on the venue one chooses to express certain ideas and speech and arguably the most widely recognized forum today is the Internet.

Publishing ones thoughts, words and statements on an Internet website amounts to offering those statements for a response in the court of public opinion. That action establishes the First Amendment right of anyone reading those statements to comment and respond on its validity, accuracy and truthfulness. That right of free speech is not a one-way country back road but a multi-lane superhighway. If one chooses to make public statements in such a manner, he must accept the concurrent responsibility to defend those statements and rise to the occasion when challenged. It’s really quite simple, it just goes with the territory. That certainly applies to those who challenge as well.

Peltier maintains the right to free speech, however, has added one more critical element to that equation. He has consistently promoted himself as a public figure, trying to garner both sympathy and financial support by thrusting himself to the forefront of a particular controversy in order to influence a resolution and affect public opinion of himself. The legal standard for libel of a public figure is much higher than for the average citizen. For example, Peltier has proclaimed, “My autobiography is the story of my people.” [ii] That alone places him in the public arena.

What if some concerned person or association was to call Peltier a coward?

Standing on its own would that amount to slander or libel, or just an opinion? Asked another way, can someone even slander, defame, or libel a convicted double murderer?  Yet another way: can someone slander a convicted double murderer without making knowingly false statements of fact? Or, can someone slander or libel a double convicted murderer by providing the truth from public documents and Peltier himself?

Was Peltier a coward during his brief involvement with the American Indian Movement or during any other time in his life? With Peltier, his actions speak louder than his words.

Would it be cowardly (as suspected by AIM that Anna Mae Aquash was a government informant), for Peltier—on orders from AIM hierarchy, to put a gun in her mouth to make her confess? Imagine how she felt during those terrifying moments. Peltier glaring into her frightened eyes, putting the filthy barrel of a gun into her throat, accusing her of betraying AIM. Imagine the panic and horror she must have felt. (She didn’t confess because there was nothing to confess to; she wasn’t, but that mattered little, because as everyone knows, she was kidnapped, murdered and her lifeless body dumped in a ravine.) [iii]  

Would doing that to a young woman and mother make Peltier a coward?

Hold that thought for a moment.

What about Peltier’s respect for women in general?

"When I was younger," Leonard says, "I thought it was a lot of fun running around like that, shaking off all those wives. Now I'm older, I realize I hurt a lot of those women, and I feel very bad about it, I really do. I think about them all the time now, especially the ones that had my kids.[iv]  Now that the fun is over, at least he supposedly “thinks” about it.

On June 26, 1975 Peltier tells us he acted bravely that day, as a warrior he claims, saving women and children, but, and here again we can rely on Peltier’s own public proclamations, namely in the Redford film, Incident at Oglala.[v]

“And I heard crying and everything. We gotta get those women and children out of that place, man. Cause there were babies there. There was a…I thought the old folks were there. I said we gotta get those people out of there man, what the hell is going on.”

(Sounds good, but there were no babies as Peltier claims, some children yes, like Angie Long Visitor, with her husband and two children who made their way from Jumping Bull to Highway 18.[vi]) 

But for all Petlier’s feigned bravado on film, let’s dig a little deeper and uncover a compelling little detail. More publically available facts to consider:

Meanwhile, Nilak (Butler) and the children were making their way back up the creek. “We hooked up with the guys about that point—we were just crossing this little river, going across this bog, and I lost my moccasins…And we got growled out because they said, We didn’t know where you guys were, and we were worried about you.” [vii] 

A brave woman, with children, making her way to escape the carnage of two murdered Agents, and where is Peltier and the other brave warriors? Hightailing it to the hills as fast as he could leaving at least Nilak and her children and Angie Long Visitor and her children to fend for themselves.

A responsible and decent person would consider that a cowardly act. Since it was Peltier who started the shooting and as a result placed all the others in jeopardy, bravado aside, he was only worried about one person. Himself.

But hold that thought for a moment.

Going back to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Jumping Bull property, June 26, 1975, one of the participants in the attack on the agents, Norman Brown:

“From the green house in the compound, looking downhill to the west, Norman Brown saw two cars and two white men well over a hundred yards away; a gold and white car was parked behind a green one, both aimed in the general direction of the camp. The trunk of the gold-white car was open, and its driver was behind it, a rifle or shotgun at his shoulder; the other man, using a handgun was crouching and shooting next to the green car. Brown recalls seeing Leonard Peltier lying down by a row of junked cars near the woods, rising up to fire, lying prone again.” [viii]  

Pinning down two Agents in an open field, firing down upon them with rifles until they are wounded and can’t defend themselves is pretty much what a civilized person would consider a cowardly act by Peltier and all the AIM members involved.

On November 14, 1975, while the fugitives from Jumping Bull were making their way north, Peltier was travelling in a motor home when stopped by an Oregon State Trooper. The individual in the front passenger seat, later identified as Peltier, was ordered to the ground. A shot was fired and distracted the trooper as Peltier “…sprang up and took off on the run toward the right-of-way fence along the highway” escaping into the woods, but not before the trooper swung his shotgun, fired, wounding Peltier in the shoulder. Peltier eventually made it to Canada.

Under the seat where Peltier sat in the motor home was a paper bag. Inside the paper bag was Agent Coler’s revolver. Found on the bag was a latent thumbprint of Leonard Peltier. This was part of the government’s strong circumstantial evidence connecting Peltier to Jumping Bull and the brutal slaying of Agents’ Coler and Williams, as well as evidence of his guilt and flight from justice.[ix]   

Also travelling in the motor home was AIM leader Dennis Banks, Anna Mae Aquash, a pregnant Kamook (Darlene) Nichols, and Nichols’ little girl, Tasina Wanblee.[x]

It’s important to note that during their flight north, Peltier confessed to the murders of Coler and Williams, punctuating it by holding up his hand in a defensive gesture stating, “The M….. F…. was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway.” This was very dangerous knowledge for the already suspected and threatened Anna Mae to learn, and in 2004, at the trial of Arlo Looking Cloud for the murder of Anna Mae, Nichols testified under oath about Peltier’s admission.[xi]  

It’s more than reasonable to believe that any decent and honest person would disagree that shooting two severely wounded human beings in the face at point-blank range with a high powered rifle makes Peltier a coward. [xii]

Back to the motor home:

So Peltier is nearly caught, lying on the ground while two women, one pregnant, and a child are again placed in jeopardy because of his actions. And what does he do? What he does best: he got up, concerned only about himself, and ran away like a frightened little girl.

No brave warrior here. None of that “…we gotta get those people out of here, man.”

Everyone is invited to add up all that Peltier has said about his own contrived bravery and compare it to his actions. Most reasonable people, considering the actual facts, not the folklore, would see his actions as cowardly. And they would be right.

There is more, but we’ll leave it here for the moment, except to comment that a recent Native American publication contained an article about various gatherings on February 6^th to recognize Peltier’s forty-year incarceration and demands for clemency. By most accounts the gatherings were small; there certainly weren’t thousands attending. What was notable, however, as it rehashed some Peltier myths: it never mentioned that he was allegedly innocent. That was likely not an inadvertent oversight.[xiii]

* * *

The clock and clemency:

Peltier is painfully aware that the clock is ticking and will stop dead sometime around noon on January 20^th. Parole is a distant hope; his next parole hearing is eight years away, leaving clemency or commutation as the last resort.[xiv]

The President likely would care less whether Peltier is or was a coward. The President has made it clear that his clemency efforts are directed toward long sentences for minor drug offenses and exclude crimes of violence. And that leaves Peltier out in the cold.

Clemency is no more viable than parole and Peltier will continue to serve the remainder of his consecutive life sentences for the brutal slaying of Jack Coler and Ron Williams. The myth and folklore surrounding Peltier are irrelevant, but the facts his supporters conveniently ignore, most certainly are.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

---

[i] Leonard Peltier, Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance, (New York: St. Martin’s, 1999) 63.  “I would like to say with all sincerity—and with no disrespect—that I don’t consider myself and American citizen.”

[ii] Peltier, 43

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pm1Ic9A4aU (last accessed 3/4/16)

[iv] Peter Matthiessen, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse; The story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI’s war on the American Indian Movement. (New York: Penguin Books, 1991) 533.

[v] Incident at Oglala, The Leonard Peltier Story, (Carolco films 1988), Miramax Films release, 1992

[vi] http://noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critical; http://noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#13; see both re

Angie Long Visitor.

[vii] Matthiessen, 161

[viii] Matthiessen, 156

[ix]  http://noparolepeltier.com/585.html  8^th Circuit Court decision: 2.Ontario, Oregon, A. Evidence of flight: “We hold that there was a sufficient number of such evidentiary manifestations to make evidence of flight and of resistance to arrest highly probative of consciousness of guilt, and hence guilt itself in this instance. First, Peltier fled the scene of the crime immediately after its commission. His actions in Oregon were a continuation of that immediate flight. Second, the motor home and station wagon were travelling arsenals linked by communication devices and code words designed for avoidance of arrest was significant of Peltier’s state of mind. Finally, and most important, evidence linking Peltier to the murders was discovered upon a search of the vehicle from which he fled. The presence in the motor home of Agent Coler’s revolver, in a bag having Peltier’s thumbprint on it, was one of the key pieces of evidence against Peltier.” (Emphasis added)

[x] Matthiessen, 249-251

[xi] http://www.noparolepeltier.com/usapressrelease.pdf  U.S. Department of Justice press release 8/21/09

[xii] http://noparolepeltier.com/585.html  8^th Circuit Court of Appeals, Direct Appeal. http://www.noparolepeltier.com/noon.html Image of the crime scene.

[xiii] http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/enewsletters/ictweeklymarch022016-163608

Indian Country Today Newsletter, March 2, 2016, page 8 (last accessed 3/4/16)

[xiv] http://noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#paroledenied 2009 Lewisburg parole hearing.