Concerning
any review of Leonard Peltier's recent clemency petition on this 41st
anniversary of the unprovoked attack and brutal murder of FBI Agents Jack Coler
and Ronald Williams, we would respectfully offer several crucial details.[i]
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“Just After Noon, June 26, 1975”[ii]
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For nearly twenty years, even captured on film in Incident at Oglala (“This story
is true” said Peltier[iii]), Peltier’s only claimed
alibi was that someone he and the others knew, the phantom Mr. X, was coming to
the AIM camp to deliver dynamite and that he was the one who was
followed by the agents onto the Jumping Bull property. Mr. X was the one who
wounded them at a distance with rifle fire, then shot them both in the face at
point blank range and drove off in the infamous red pickup truck.[iv]
This stood until it was proven a lie by one of his codefendants,
his defense committee, and even one of his key attorneys.[v]
The reality is that Leonard Peltier was the actual killer
and the real Mr. X.
The AR-15 was
recovered on a Wichita turnpike in an exploded station wagon driven by
codefendant Bob Robideau. It was damaged but the bolt mechanism was intact.
Found at the scene of the murders in the trunk of Agent Coler’s vehicle was a .223 shell casing that was matched with extractor marks to Petlier’s AR-15, the murder weapon. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stated, “When all is said and done, however, a few simple but very important facts remain. The casing introduced into evidence had in fact been extracted from the Wichita AR-15. This point was not disputed…” and, “The trial witnesses unanimously testified that there was only one AR-15 in the compound prior to the murders, that this weapon was used exclusively by Peltier and carried out by Peltier after the murders.” [vi]
Found at the scene of the murders in the trunk of Agent Coler’s vehicle was a .223 shell casing that was matched with extractor marks to Petlier’s AR-15, the murder weapon. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stated, “When all is said and done, however, a few simple but very important facts remain. The casing introduced into evidence had in fact been extracted from the Wichita AR-15. This point was not disputed…” and, “The trial witnesses unanimously testified that there was only one AR-15 in the compound prior to the murders, that this weapon was used exclusively by Peltier and carried out by Peltier after the murders.” [vi]
We know from
the crime scene and autopsies that Agents' Coler and Williams were both shot at point-blank
range destroying their faces, yet their bodies were found rolled-over on the
ground. This can only mean that in addition to stealing their weapons, the dead
agents were also manhandled after death.
In addition to trial testimony there was an eyewitness.
We know there were at least five people who knew exactly what happened at the
agents' vehicles after they were initially attacked, severely wounded and then
approached to be slaughtered: Dino Butler (who publically called the Mr. X
alibi a lie, Bob Robideau, who said “they died like worms,” [vii] Leonard Peltier, (believed
by the government, the jury, and courts of appeal to be the killer), and victims;
Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.
Ron Williams was a critical witness because he was able
to tell a number of agents over the FBI radio exactly what was about to happen.
They also heard him get shot at least one of the times as he told them that if
they didn’t get there soon he and Jack Coler would be dead.
There are
countless fabrications, myths and folklore surrounding Peltier as he and his supporters
(who haven’t made the effort to understand all the facts or simply don’t care
to know) have diminished and tainted an otherwise proud Native American culture
into believing that in some tragically perverse way freeing Peltier would atone
for the historic ill treatment of First Americans. Peltier’s criminal acts
contradict that he is worthy of clemency.
Peltier’s latest attempt at any semblance of remorse in
his latest petition can be seen for exactly what it is: the pitiful cry of a
shameful panderer for sympathy. Leonard Peltier’s character and guilt is best
defined by his own public admissions, “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).
These are not the words of someone who has accepted any responsibility for his actions nor paid his debt to society.
These are not the words of someone who has accepted any responsibility for his actions nor paid his debt to society.
There are others who are deserving of clemency
consideration. However, Peltier’s petition should be cast aside as he did with
the lives of two young men who were brutally murdered in the line of duty.
"In the Spirit of Coler and Williams"
Ed Woods [viii]
[i]
Leaders and members of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI held
memorial services at the gravesites of Jack Coler and Ronald Williams in Los Angeles
on June 26, 2016.
Not so ironically, but consistent with his decades-long
fabrications and twisting of facts, Leonard Peltier
NEVER mentioned Mr. X in his autobiography, Prison
Writings. http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#amazon
[v]
http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2012/12/peltier-kuzma-closes-circle-much-more.html
Excerpted from
the below NPPA Editorial Essay, January 20, 2001:
Mr. X and actual guilt: If Peltier was
indeed innocent as he has claimed, his statements of what happened that day at
Pine Ridge should have been simple, straight forward and unchanged over these
years. But instead, he has altered his story as if searching for the scenario
that most would accept, and along with Robert Robideau and others, created the
phantom killer who drove off in the red pickup truck. Now that Peltier and the
LPDC have distanced themselves from this obvious fabrication, all Ms. Harbury
can say is, "Mr. X, has long been a controversial topic, by both
supporters of Leonard Peltier and those who oppose his release." No
kidding, Ms. Harbury?
This is such an obvious
lie, perpetuated for the better part of two decades, that the LPDC cannot sweep
it away or ignore it. It is another glaring example of Peltier's guilt.
[viii]
This Blog was begun on Father’s Day 2016. The NPPA is not in a habit of referring
to, or commenting on Leonard Peltier’s family; this is about him and him alone.
However, Kathy Peltier, described as a “Daughter of Leonard Peltier,” posted an
impassioned letter entitled “Help me free my father.” Although factually
inaccurate and opinionated, she certainly has the right to express her
feelings. A legitimate answer to her pleadings would be to offer a rhetorical
reply: Wouldn’t Jack Coler’s widow, his two sons, and now his grandchildren,
(but thanks to Peltier and other AIM cowards Ron Williams never had the
chance to marry and have children of his own), have wanted to celebrate this
day with their father? But that was stolen from them by Leonard Peltier.
