Amnesty International & Leonard Peltier; NPPA Response 7/31/13

Dear Supporters:

What follows is a response to an Amnesty International blog post on 7/17/13:

http://blog.amnestyusa.org/americas/5-reasons-president-obama-should-release-leonard-peltier/ (last accessed 7/31/13)

It’s apparent that Zeke Johnson needs to do more research for A.I.; there is much more than just the Peltier folklore-rhetoric-talking points. As for the five reasons, let’s add the following:

1) Poor Bear:  The final word on Peltier’s extradition comes not from Peltier but the Canadian government and the Minister of Justice who stated “…that Mr. Peltier was lawfully extradited to the United States.”  Poor Bear did not testify against Peltier at trial, and for good reason as noted from the trial transcript by the 8^th Circuit; ““Her testimony was at times very vague, and she often responded that she could not remember. Indeed, the defense counsel, anticipating that she would be called as a witness for the government, described her in his opening statement as a “witness whose {F.2^nd 333} mental imbalance is so gross as to render her testimony unbelievable”” Yes, let’s repeat that, “the defense counsel,” Peltier’s attorney, threw her under the proverbial bus when they thought she would be a witness against Peltier. On direct-appeal the 8^th Circuit stated regarding extradition; “Peltier’s claim is, on its face, lacking in substance.” This may be a good time, as well, to review the critical witnesses against Peltier, those who, besides the other evidence, the jury had to consider in their guilty verdict.

http://www.noparolepeltier.com/canadaletter.html

http://www.noparolepeltier.com/585.html

http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#review

http://noparolepeltier.com/585.html

http://noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critical

2) FOIPA: The document was a preliminary FBI Laboratory report that the District Court did not believe was discoverable, however, the 8^th Circuit sent it back to the District Court for a three-day evidentiary/ballistics hearing, something which Peltier and others always fail to mention. At that hearing Peltier had a firearms expert in the courtroom, but did not call him to testify nor did they offer any contrary evidence. The court decision (authored by Judge Heaney, infra) made it fairly clear that, “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; although the defense had its own ballistics expert, it offered no contrary evidence.” And also during the direct appeal the 8^th Circuit stated “The evidence of Peltier’s guilt was strong.”

http://noparolepeltier.com/800.html

http://noparolepeltier.com/585.html

3) Judge Heaney: Understand that he made his decision based on the facts and the law, which was confirmed in his cameo appearance in the film (not documentary), Incident at Oglala, notwithstanding, that he later expressed his own personal feelings about Native rights. Note, however, he never said or implied that his decision was wrong (or denied on a technicality as Peltier professes), nor that Peltier was innocent. Quite the contrary, “…the record persuades me that more than one person was involved in the shooting of the FBI agents. Again, this fact is not a legal justification for Peltier’s actions, but is a mitigating circumstance.”

http://noparolepeltier.com/heaney.html

4) U.S. Parole Commission: If the parole hearings allegedly provide such a powerful inference of Peltier’s innocence, then there is a very simple solution. Have him post on the LPDOC website the transcript of the 2009 hearing. That way, people can judge for themselves the truth and depth of Peltier’s guilt and claims of innocence. But that would never happen because it would divulge much too much and Peltier would never want all that to come out.

5) Coleman: Peltier may have infrequent visits from family members, is approaching age 69, in poor health, suffering from diabetes, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing the folklore.

Besides...how do we get beyond Peltier’s own self-incriminating statements, changing stories and the two decade old fabricated alibi that someone else, the phantom Mr. X. in the infamous red pickup truck was the one who killed the agents? Even his own attorney recently admitted that was a lie.

If A.I. has studied this case as it claims, then why are the specifics of the legal history being ignored in favor of the folklore? Making this an alleged political issue instead of the criminal act it was, weakens a meaningful discourse.

Yes, correctly pointed out, the legal remedies have been exhausted; and Peltier should be given as much humanity as he gave Jack Coler and Ron Williams.  Justice is being served with consecutive life sentences, and which Peltier ignores, the additional seven consecutive years for the armed escape from Lompoc.

In addition to the conviction, Peltier himself has proven his guilt beyond all doubt. How else can reasonably intelligent people get beyond statements like ““I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile,” Leonard remembered. “I didn’t think nothing of it at the time; all I could think of was, we got to get out of here.” (ITSOCH, p.552) (As they were standing over two mutilated bodies of the men they had just shot and killed.) Or, in a public statement on February 6, 2010, “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.”

“Because it was the right thing to do” shows no remorse, no civility, no compassion, no rehabilitation, however, it is an admission of guilt.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

SA Ronald A. Williams; July 30, 1947 - June 26, 1975; Rest in Peace

Dear Supporters:

 

Ron would be turning sixty-six and it is not known how the rest of his life may have turned out; perhaps a long and rewarding career in the Bureau, or as he mentioned to close friends, an interest in law school and maybe a legal career as a prosecutor or Assistant U.S. Attorney. In either instance, based on all we know about his talents, intelligence, dedication and personality, it would have been successful. Perhaps now with grandchildren and looking forward to enjoying his later years, except for his chance encounter with Leonard Peltier and other American Indian Movement prairie dogs

There is no doubt that Jack and Ron were taken by surprise, ambushed, if not deliberately a set up, then an ambush nonetheless.

The kindest words Peltier’s biographer, Peter Matthiessen, could muster in six hundred-plus pages amounted to “in a few wild minutes, Coler had received that shocking wound, and Williams could not or would not desert him – the details, the degree of bravery, the precise order of events are lost.”

In predictable Peltier fashion Matthiessen states,  “Williams could not…,” implying a denigration of Ron’s character that maybe he would have if he had not been caught in a deadly crossfire, which only further validates what happened that June day. Ron’s bravery was unmistakable, severely wounded he made his way to Jack to use his shirt as a tourniquet in an effort to save his life.

Although, and we also know this from Matthiessen’s many interviews of those AIM greasy-grass gangsters involved that day, that Ron first waived his shirt “as a white flag in sign of surrender.” Why else would Matthiessen even write this unless those AIM perpetrators described it for him; perhaps even Peltier himself told the true story that way.

We know how it ended; two brave men, severely wounded, surrounded, and then murdered by a pack of AIM cowards.

But Matthiessen, flawed again, claims, “the details…the precise order of events are lost.” Lost? Not hardly. Those details are precisely known by Peltier and the others.

But the “degree of bravery “ is not up for debate, Jack and Ron fought back as best they could under a barrage of rifle fire from two directions. Ron’s valiant effort to aid and save his mortally wounded partner is unquestioned.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

SELF DEFENSE...

Reposted from Rezinate Blog; July, 21, 2013

1.
the act of defending one’s person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant: the art of self-defense.


2.
a claim or plea that the use of force or injuring or killing another was necessary in defending one’s own person from physical attack: He shot the man who was trying to stab him and pleaded self-defense at the murder trial.


3.
an act or instance of defending or protecting one’s own interests, property, ideas, etc., as by argument or strategy.

This seems pretty clear cut to me, and by definition excludes the events at Jumping Bull.

Nowhere in this accepted definition does it define an act of self defense as including the ability to purposely shoot mortally wounded men offering no threat or resistance at point blank range, who even if a case could be made that at some point they did constitute a threat.

Nowhere in this definition does it allow for the subsequent looting of whatever affects they may of had.

And nowhere does it allow the right to shoot a wounded person waving any kind flag in an act of surrender.

The truth is that after the initial shootout Williams and Coler were finished off to insure a lack of witnesses,to prevent them from identifying their assailants offering any testimony if they had survived-especially on Peltier’s part as he was convinced they had come to arrest for a Wisconsin warrant-the sole motivation for all that transpired and had absolutely nothing to do with self defense.

The fact that Robert Robideau and Dino Butler were able to employ such a defense ably assisted by a presiding judge whose wife and daughter were enamored of AIM, had had AIM members in their home, and engaged in fund raising doesn’t change the legal definition of self defense.

AIM, the Peltierites,and LPDOC shed crocodile tears about the great injustice of Peltier not being able to claim or argue self defense during his trial-yet they never address the reality that no grounds existed for him to do so-and the fact that Robideau and Butler were able to in a rigged court doesn’t set a president.  

To me it would be the same if a rapist murdered a woman who fought back and then attempted to claim he did so  to protect himself.

There isn’t a court in the land that would accept that, and it is a travesty that a court accepted Robideau’s and Butler’s defense.

I suspect that if this case were to be tried today all would have been found guilty and might well have received the death penalty. There was a time when I supported Peltier, but in retrospect I think the page began to turn as I paid more attention to his own words, the ongoing contradictions and obvious lies, the marketing campaign and the revenue being generated.

That led me to reading transcripts and various documents, and that’s when I closed the book on my personal support of him.

In addition I never saw any of the AIM leadership for anything more than what they were and are-thugs,murderers,and con men.

They and Peltier have been in the majority supported by a distant white fan base ignorant of the realities, that knows little or nothing about the rez or indigenous life….some sort of liberalism willing to assume rather than be informed-willing to gloss over or make allowances when it is justice that is called for, not a free pass.

A type of liberalism that has negatively impacted the nations for decades and will continue to do so as long as wannabes and misguided armchair activists are a part of the equation.

I by no stretch of the imagination can be called a conservative, nor likewise a liberal that goes to the extreme of wanting to edit words out of  books because they are “politically incorrect” -to engage in such an act is an attempt to rewrite history, to alter the  historical record, a window into another time and what was acceptable.

We cannot survive as the people we are and have been without our traditions-something AIM has been on a mission to usurp despite whatever for profit rhetoric they may intone.

They have sold everything unique to us as a people and continually strive to sell even more.

Take a look around-more specifically examine your favorite “leader”, take note of what they are offering for sale, then when you talk about the “spirituality” and great respect for our way of life, our beliefs they profess, let me know how you reconcile the differences between what they say and what they do.

What the nations need to do is to rise up in an act of self defense and drive these agents of cultural genocide from our midst.
They are not only apples but the rotten apples that taint the bushel, and I personally wouldn’t give a plug nickel for the whole damn bunch of them.

Rezinate

http://rezinate.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/self-defense/

June 26, 2013 and more....

Pine Ridge, South Dakota: The crushing crowds and vehicle convoys overwhelmed the logistical support provided by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Police. The South Dakota Department of Public Safety dispatched nearly ninety percent of statewide highway patrol units to assist with crowd control, coordinating road closures and alternate routes. Portions of Highway 18 were shut down for hours. Units of the South Dakota National Guard were brought in as well. In an unprecedented move the Mount Rushmore Memorial National Monument and park was closed in recognition of this historic day and recognizing the contribution to Native American rights of political prisoner Leonard Peltier.

Satire and sarcasm obviously. It was a pathetic showing for a convicted murderer who at once claims to be a brave warrior and a victim. Peltier’s support has been reduced to a trickle for those who fail to understand the gravity of his crimes nor the many times his own statements have reinforced his unquestioned guilt.

Peltier has been reduced to a caricature, a T-Shirt of the month. This latest cartoon underscores the long kept dirty-little-secret of Peltier’s and the LPDOC’s finances. They’ll never show any transparency because to do so would only reinforce the myth and folklore and how Peltier has been using his criminal acts to scam the unsuspecting for years.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

JUNE 26. 1975; NPR, PELTIER UPDATE

Dear Supporters:

1) June 26, 1975; 2) “They ain’t proved nothing about me…” Part 1

1) June 26, 2013 marks thirty-eight years since the attack and brutal in-the-line-of-duty murders of Special Agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. Their sacrifice and memory will never be forgotten.

2) On December 19, 2012, Peltier had a rare opportunity to speak publicly, sort of, at a makeshift press conference hosted by federally funded National Public Radio’s, Amy Goodman, after a Peltier benefit concert held in New York City. (The LPDOC has admitted it was a financially lackluster event…and even at that…they never divulge where any of the money really goes.

http://noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#financial

Goodman had to prompt and prod Peltier to provide answers to softball questions, but without the filter provided him by the LPDOC and their ghostwriters, or being prepared with at least intelligent talking-points, Peltier, unscripted, proved yet again how either clueless he his about the details of his own case (selective memory loss), or how far he has slipped into actually believing that people are incapable of vetting some of his outrageous claims. In other words, telling whomever will listen that all the folklore is actually true. Hardly.

When pressed by Goodman, “What is your response to the FBI that campaigns against your release? The best, on the fly, Peltier could come up with was,
“Oh, they’re full, they’re full of crap,” (which ended after a string of incredibly false statements with), “They, they ain’t proved nothing about me, they ain’t proved I did anything, let alone killed somebody,” and, adding in for good measure, “So I don’t know what the hell I’m in here for.”

Let’s help Leonard, Peltierites and the LPDOC understand exactly why he’s doing back-to-back life sentences plus an additional seven consecutive years for an armed escape.

Peltier:

““...they took the court of appeals, Judge Heaney asked the prosecutors “Just what was Mr. Peltier convicted of, because we cannot find no evidence of first degree murder in the record?” The prosecutor Lynn Crooks stated that “the government doesn’t know who killed the agents” nor does he know “what participation Leonard Peltier may have had in it.” So, in nineteen-ninety two I filed an appeal again asking what am I, what, what was I in prison for, if the government doesn’t know what I’m here for. So, they changed it to aiding and abetting. Which is illegal, illegal because I was never indicted for it; I was never prosecuted for it, and taken a whole different defense at your trial. So, I don’t know what the hell I’m in here for.””

Peltier’s  wholly inaccurate account of the questioning before the court aside, Peltier’s counterfeit allegations have been covered countless times before, but let’s give it one more solid dose of fresh air and sunshine:

On this very point the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (of which Judge Heaney was a member and author of the unanimous decision) said:

"Peltier's arguments fail because their underlying premises are fatally flawed. (A) The Government tried the case on the alternative theories; it asserted that Peltier personally killed the agents at point blank range, but that if he had not done so, then he was equally guilty of their murder as an aider and abettor."

So, exactly what part of “fatally flawed,” “equally guilty,” or  “aider and abettor” does Peltier not understand?

Are we missing something here or does Peltier really take his supporters for fools? They can read, and understand, but if they choose not to accept it, that’s their problem.

The entire decision can be read here:
http://www.noparolepeltier.com/997.html

And in case there’s any doubt about how early the “aiding and abetting” issue was an integral part of  Peltier’s prosecution, take a look at Identification Order, I.O #4681, dated 12/3/75, (Peltier’s Wanted poster), which clearly states at the bottom “Federal Warrants were issued…November 25, 1975, at Rapid City, South Dakota, charging Peltier with murder-first degree, killing two Federal Officers while in the performance of their duties and aiding and abetting (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1111, 1114 and 2…)

The wanted poster can be viewed here:

http://www.noparolepeltier.com/images/warrant.gif

(An autographed copy will be sent to USP Coleman.)

So, ignoring all the history of his own case, the legal arguments and record throughout the appellate process, hearings and decisions, Peltier still wants us to believe this fairly tale.

Another nugget of Peltier mythology from the NPR interview was “And then at the trial they had admitted racists, at the trial they had admitted racists on the jury.” Really? Can Peltier tell us who they were and what they said? Of course not. That was just an unscripted random blurt and not an uncommon tactic from the Peltier camp.

(More to follow from the NPR interview.)

This is reminiscent of a brilliant legal comment made four years ago (July 28, 2009 at a small gathering after Peltier’s parole hearing at USP Lewisburg).

Peltier’s then attorney (and he’s had a number of them), Eric Seitz stated, "The FBI did not have anything new to say."

Well, not quite, because the hearing examiner heard sufficient detail concerning Peltier's conviction and denied appeals in addition to sworn testimony from the 2004 Arlo Looking Cloud murder trial where a former AIM member testified that Peltier admitted killing one of the FBI agents while the agent begged for his life.

And, the NPPA presentation was all new material based solely on Peltier's own statements; public admissions that reinforce his actual guilt beyond all reasonable doubt.

Seitz also said that he presented "some additional evidence on Leonard's behalf to the board." Evidence? Hardly. And since Peltier will not release the transcript of the hearing, that claim remains baseless.

Seitz added that,  "…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."

First, and we can overlook that Seitz may have misspoken-it was two agents murdered, not one, but that aside, the government doesn't have to come up with anything "new" and to even suggest as much shows a fundamental lack of insight and legal acumen. All anyone has to do is spend a little time to see just how wrong Seitz and Peltier really are. This case has been under the proverbial microscope for nearly four decades and every aspect has been reviewed, many times, and Peltier's attorney's, with their oftentimes frivolous legal arguments, have lost, not because of some grand conspiracy that Peltier whines about, but because the facts are not supportive of any of Peltier's claims of innocence.

And yes, Mr. Seitz, brutally murdering two wounded FBI agents does warrant spending the rest of one's life in prison.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

PELTIER'S FIRST ESCAPE PLAN; Final, Part 5

Dear Supporters:

“I’m a warrior that’s why I believe I should go out, & keep under-ground.”

Peltier’s first escape plan came to the attention of  Canadian authorities with little pressure on the “mentally disturbed” (according to Peltier), courier. The note, duly transcribed and reported caused the prison authorities to double-up their watchfulness of the American Indian accused of killing two federal agents. They didn’t want or need the embarrassment of losing such a valuable commodity that the U.S. Government and the FBI wanted desperately back in the lower forty-eight to stand trial for his alleged (at the time), crimes.

The extradition to the U.S., fought hard by Peltier and his court appointed and volunteer attorneys, was moving along, so formal charges of an escape plan were not filed, but duly noted.

Peltier was extradited and much has been said about the process, but the final word rests not with the occasional liberal politicians, Peltierites, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (which wasn’t formally created until his trial in March 1977), or Peltier himself, but with the ultimate Canadian law enforcement authority:

A four-page letter dated October 12, 1999 from A. Anne McLellan, Canadian Minister of Justice, to U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno, reviewed the entire Peltier extradition matter and concluded, unambiguously:

"As I indicated above, I have concluded that Mr. Peltier was lawfully extradited to the United States.”

“The record demonstrates that the case was fully considered by the courts and by the then Minister of Justice. There is no evidence that has come to light since then that would justify a conclusion that the decisions of the Canadian courts and Minister of Justice should be interfered with.” http://www.noparolepeltier.com/canadaletter.html

So then, why is this first Escape Plan even relevant?

Because Peltier, perhaps for the very first time, unknown that other eyes would see it, admitted why an escape was necessary; his note contained an element of truth and undermined his later claims for his armed escape from Lompoc in July 1979. Lompoc was a totally fabricated lie of an assassination plot. This also provides the basis for negating all of Peltier’s claims of innocence and the polluted river of folklore that followed.

“I’m a warrior that’s why I believe I should go out, & keep under-ground.”

The alleged “assassination plot” was among the first of a long string of lies, disinformation and diversionary tactics unsupported by any reality or facts:

-He was in tent city when the shooting started.

-He didn’t shoot at the agents initially, but later admitted in a public interview that he did.

-He shot in self-defense, yet knowing that white guys in civilian clothes driving late model vehicles with antennas, were the Feds…no mystery there. Added to the fact that Norman Charles and Wish Draper told Peltier that they were interviewed by the same two agents just the day before, and they were looking, not for him, but Jimmy Eagle.

-“Self defense” translates, in the misshapen LPDOC world, to blasting away two wounded agents with point-blank shots to the face. Peltier’s actions was a hugely consequential act, so lets call it by its real name, murder.

-“This story is true” Peltier claimed in Incident at Oglala about the infamous red pickup truck and the phantom Mr. X. which was proven to be an outright lie by one of his own co-conspirators, Dino Butler, let alone recently from his own attorney, Michael Kuzma.

-He claims he was not provided a fair parole hearing in 2009 but steadfastly and predictably refuses to release the transcript from Lewisburg. (Or the transcript of Agents Williams’ radio transmissions.  Both of which have been repeatedly requested.)

-Another co-conspirator, Bob Robideau (1946-2009) who was there during those fatal moments with Peltier said the agents “died like worms.” It’s difficult for Peltierites to spin that in any other direction. But they try, by ignoring it and hoping it will be forgotten. Not likely.
http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#self

-He claimed that Jumping Bull was a set up, a pre-planned government assault on AIM, yet the infamous “Sanctioned Memo” he relies on proves just the opposite and demonstrates yet another disinformation tactic.  http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critic

-During the escape from Pine Ridge Peltier admitted exactly what happened—to the dire detriment of one listener—Anna Mae Aquash, stating of the wounded agent, (Ron Williams), “the m….. f….. begged for his life but I shot him anyway.”

-How does Peltier’s disinformation tactics get beyond quoted statements like this (thanks to the reporting of Peter Matthiessen p.552); “I seen Joe when he pulled it out of the trunk and I looked at him when he put it on, and he gave me a smile.” (This seamlessly supports to the oft-made NPPA assertion that Peltier wasn’t in Seattle that day.)

Peltier was no AIM leader, just a thug and bodyguard, a tough guy, especially with women, but low enough to attack with others, and then when two mortally wounded agents couldn’t fight back, cowardly enough to shoot them in the face. No disinformation there, just the facts. Yes, we know no one admitted pulling the trigger, Robideau in his hallucinatory state of mind tried to take the blame and credit, Dino Butler, standing there when it happened, has remained mute, and that leaves only the would-be warrior, the incarcerated coward he’s always been.

-The critical witness, even with their faults, provided the jury with what they needed to understand the elements of Peltier’s guilt. http://www.noparolepeltier.com/debate.html#critical

Peltier’s lies and disinformation appeals to the lowest common denominator: Don’t be confused by the facts, but accept Jumping Bull at face value. Believe his lies, don’t ask for proof or push the hard questions…and just send more money.

He begs for mercy now, (unlike the mercy he showed Agents’ Coler and Williams), from the President and asks for a commutation of his sentence. But the President doesn’t have to be reminded that repentance, acceptance of responsibility, is a critical factor in the consideration of clemency

The President will not be dissuaded by these tactics but has been reminded of the most damming statement Peltier has made in nearly four decades after his cowardly act ; “And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again because it was the right thing to do.”

The failed Oakalla first escape plan destroyed yet another element of the myth and folklore of Leonard Peltier. In other words, the alleged assassination attempt at Lompoc was just another fabrication, another deception in a series of frauds to garner sympathy that in some perverse way he has become a fictitious leader of his people while being at once a victim as well. He cannot have it both ways, because to even attempt to do so, the folklore fails on both counts.

“I’m a warrior that’s why I believe I should go out, & keep under-ground.”

A “warrior,” hardly, and only in his own mind, but he is at least keeping, if not under-ground, then permanently under wraps.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

P.S.

1) Peltier makes prime time:

The popular CBS crime show, “Criminal Minds,” gave Peltier an unwanted plug during their May 1, 2013 episode that related to crimes on a Reservation. One of the actors commented, “Peltier did kill two FBI agents looking for a robbery suspect. Hard to forget.” There it is, without the Peltier fable, spin and folklore, just the cold hard basic fact for millions of viewers to hear and understand; Peltier is a murderer and is where he belongs and will remain. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CM3OLXA/?tag=tvguideonli02-20

2) Topic of upcoming NPPA Blogs: 

On December 19, 2012, Peltier engaged in a telephone interview from prison with National Public Radio’s, Amy Goodman. Peltier made a number of implausible statements about his own case that were either patently ignorant (that he actually may believe them) or blatantly deceiving (to continue to ferment the mold that grows on the Peltier folklore). In either case we’ll explore and explain some of them in upcoming No Parole Peltier Association Blogs.

NPPA 13th Anniversary; April 30, 2013

Dear Supporters:

It’s been thirteen years since meeting Jack Coler’s youngest son (April 3, 2000), launching the No Parole Peltier Association and its website on April 30^th, because, as one obsequious and servile Peltier panderer pointed out, “someone had to do it.”

Year twelve revisited many folklore topics, like the perennial ‘dirty-little-secret’ of Peltier’s finances, which was answered with a public NPPA financial disclosure along with a complaint to the I.R.S. for what certainly hinted at (another) money laundering scheme. (NPPA Blog 3/28/13 and 3/25/13)

Last year’s NPPA anniversary was concurrent with the formal ceremony of the FBI Minneapolis’s headquarters’ building dedication which was named in the honor, memory and sacrifice of FBI Agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams, along with some speeches about Peltier and what really happened at Jumping Bull, and subsequently, to fairly large (and admittedly understanding) audiences.  (NPPA Blog 5/6/12, 6/26/12)

There was still haggling over the Wichita AR-15, the family (not) caught in a crossfire, and Peltier’s ongoing attempts to play at once the poor-victim and brave-warrior scam. It’s apparent that whenever new personalities (and it happens often) rise to the LPDOC’s surface, they try to refloat tired fabrications that have been disproved countless times, believing that a new audience will ignore the past. They can’t grasp that recirculating old myths just doesn’t work, at least not for very long. The LPDOC also asked supporters “for something special,” they want them “to hand-write a letter or postcard” because “The electric petition medium has not proven very successful, for Leonard, and in ways easier to ignore.” Really “special?”

Peltier lamely tried to equate the tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut to Manifest Destiny and the horrible treatment of Native Americans and the First Nations in the 19^th century. Although, correctly, a homicidal coward was present at both Newtown and Jumping Bull.

And then there was the growth of other Blogs (Rezinate for one) that further lay waste to the social disaster called the ‘American Indian Movement’ while holding Peltier’s feet to the campfire.

We spent some time digging into a significant event that Peltier kept secret for many years, his first escape attempt. The cat’s out of the bag (no pun intended) and the final chapter will be concluding soon.

A major development, but coming as no surprise to either Peltier detractors nor supporters, was Peltier attorney Michael Kuzma, who proverbially really stepped in it big time, and admitted, publically, on the record, and forever emblazoned in the lexicon of Peltier mythology that...and here it is again...Mr. X, was a lie. Shocking, an alibi that never existed. Thanks Michael for clearing that up for everyone. (NPPA Blogs 12/5/12, 12/15/12)

And on April 11^th the LPDOC started hawking a sideshow art sale to raise money (that they never account for) of “White Tiger,” Peltier’s latest creation. The Giclee reproductions will “help to contribute to many exciting projects we have going on currently as well as future events, but only those who purchase this will be eligible for the next offer we will have on another of Leonard’s amazing paintings.” The costs range from $75 for a tiny 8x10 to $175 for a large 16x20.

Of course these are unframed, shipped in a tube, and guess what, they’re not numbered or autographed by the artist. Would it be great though if Coleman authorities allowed him to actually sign these prints, who knows how much they could garner from avid collectors? Does anyone hear the calliope from the merry-go-round or the carnival barker yelling, “Hey folks, get ‘em while they’re hot, you don’t want to lose out on this great opportunity to line the pockets of…Well, I don’t’ know who’s pockets are getting lined because Peltier ain’t talkin’ about that stuff.” 

This brings to mind one of Peltier’s statements. “Dreamer that I was, I wrote to an art school I’d heard of in Santa Fe and tried to get a scholarship. They said no but try again. I tried again a while later. Same reply: no. I often wonder what my life would have been like if I’d have just gotten that scholarship.” (Prison Writings p. 85)

Perhaps so, maybe Peltier could have become an accomplished Native American artist, which would likely have removed him from a life of incarceration and Jack and Ron would be enjoying retirement about now.

“White Tiger.” The black and white blend goes well enough although the background is not balanced. Its face is distorted, out of proportion, head too small, a snout shaped more like a canine than a feline, with unrealistically drooping whiskers. Cat’s eyes (big cats down to domestics) are probably their most intriguing feature, but White Tiger’s are too small and lifeless. (Yes, everyone’s a critic.) Although, with plenty of practice behind him, perhaps Peltier would have done better with some formal art education.  Which brings to mind a take on the old saw: One man’s art is another man’s garage sale item.

Of the many thousands of statements made by Peltier a few stand out and will haunt him forever, perhaps the most significant at this point being “And Really, if necessary, I’d do it all over again, because it was the right thing to do.” (2/6/10)

A public statement that the parole board, prosecuting attorney, Pardon Attorney, Attorney General, and most of all, the President, are aware of. This is the final nail in the clemency-coffin if Peltier thinks for a moment that he should be shown any more mercy than he showed Jack Coler and Ron Williams.

“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”

Ed Woods

P.S.

The NPPA is fortunate have many loyal supporters who not only support the cause to honor the memory and sacrifice of Agents’ Coler and Williams but go further. On the walk at the legendary motorcycle museum, Sturgis, South Dakota is a brick inscribed

“In Memory of FBI Agents Coler and Williams 6-26-75.” Thanks, Dan.