The Case of Leonard Peltier: Statement of Facts

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"Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier to be a political prisoner whose avenues of redress have long been exhausted... Amnesty International recognizes that a retrial is no longer a feasible option and believes that Leonard Peltier should be immediately and unconditionally released."

— Amnesty International, April 6, 1999

"I have been reading in Leonard Peltier’s book, and about an hour ago I spoke with him… He is a remarkable person and the depth of his spirituality shows… I would hope that the campaign to have him freed will succeed. I certainly support it very passionately… Because it is a blot on the judicial system of this country that ought to be corrected as quickly as possible."

— Archbishop Desmond Tutu, April 18, 1999

[Regarding FBI use of falsified testimony]… I have nothing on my conscience at all.

— U.S. Prosecutor Lynn Crooks

The facts of this case have long been the subject of intensive investigation and documentation. Mr. Peltier has been incarcerated for over 30 years despite clear indications of misconduct, including the falsification of evidence by United States government officials which led to his conviction, as set forth below.

On February 27, 1973, members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), together with a number of local and traditional Native Americans, began their 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota (SD). Their goal was to protest injustices against their tribes, violations of the many treaties with the U.S. government, and current abuses and repression against their people. The U.S. government responded with a military style assault against the protesters. In the end, various officials promised hearings on local conditions and treaty violations. These hearings were never convened. The use of military force by the U.S. government was later ruled unlawful.

Throughout the next three years – long referred to by local Native Americans as the "Reign of Terror" – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) carried out intensive local surveillance, as well as repeated arrests, harassment and bad faith legal proceedings, against AIM leaders and supporters. The FBI also closely collaborated with and supported the local tribal chairperson, Dick Wilson, and his selected vigilantes – the Guardians Of the Oglala Nation (GOONs). Mr. Wilson was notorious for his corruption and abuse of power.

During this "Reign of Terror," some 64 local Native Americans were murdered. Three hundred people were harassed, beaten, or otherwise abused. Virtually all of the victims were either affiliated with AIM or their allies, the traditional tribal members. The FBI had jurisdiction to investigate major crimes, yet these deaths were never adequately investigated or resolved. Nor did the FBI agents take any measures to curb the violence of the GOONs, with whom they closely collaborated.

After Wounded Knee, AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Russell Means were brought to trial. The prosecution presented the testimony of a Mr. Moves Camp. This testimony was shown to be pure fabrication, with serious implications of FBI misconduct. The judge dismissed the case declaring that "… the waters of justice have been polluted" (383 F. Supp., pp. 397-8). The jurors asked the U.S. Attorney General not to appeal the case (New York Times.  26 Sep 1974, pg. 55).

In May of 1975, the FBI began a sizable build up of its agents, mostly elite Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) members, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD. In June 1975, SWAT teams from numerous divisions were designated for special assignment at Pine Ridge.

A June 1975 FBI memo, discovered much later, referred to the potential need for military assault forces to deal with AIM members.

The politically motivated murder rate on the reservation climbed. Tensions ran extremely high on all sides.

On June 26, 1975, two FBI agents – Mr. Jack Coler and Mr. Ron Williams – entered private property on the reservation, the Jumping Bull Ranch. They allegedly sought to arrest a young Indian man they believed they had seen in a red pick up truck. 

A large number of AIM supporters were camping on the property at the time. They had been invited there by the Jumping Bull elders, who sought protection. Many non-AIM persons were present as well. 

For unknown reasons, a shoot-out began. A family with small children was trapped in the cross fire. Throughout the ranch, people screamed that they were under attack and many of the men present hurried to return fire. 

When the skirmish ended, the two FBI agents were dead. The U.S. government claims they had been wounded and shot through their heads at close range. 

A young Native American named Joe Stuntz also lay dead, shot through the head by a sniper bullet. His killing has never been investigated. 

The red pick up truck pursued by the agents was never found or identified.

The more than 30 AIM men, women, and children present on the ranch were then surrounded by over 150 FBI agents, SWAT team members, Bureau of Indian Affairs police, and local vigilantes. They barely escaped through a hail of bullets.

Mr. Leonard Peltier was one of several AIM leaders present during the shoot-out. Murder charges were brought against him, as well as his two friends and colleagues Dino Butler and Bob Robideau, who also had been present throughout the incident. 

Butler and Robideau stood trial separately from Leonard Peltier who, convinced he would never receive a fair trial in the United States, had fled to Canada. 

At the trial of Butler and Robideau a key prosecution witness, Mr. Draper, admitted that he had been threatened by the FBI and as a result had changed his testimony based on agents’ instructions, so as to support the government’s position.

The jury found both defendants in that case not guilty. They found that there was no evidence to link the defendants to the fatal shots. Moreover, the exchange of gun fire from a distance was deemed an act of self defense.

Mr. Leonard Peltier was extradited from Canada on the basis of an affidavit signed by a Myrtle Poor Bear, a local Native American woman known to have serious mental health problems. She claimed to have been Leonard Peltier’s girlfriend at the time of the shootings, and to have been present during the shoot-out and witnessed the murders. Leonard Peltier was extradited from Canada to the U.S.

Today, the government concedes that, in fact, Myrtle Poor Bear did not know Leonard Peltier, nor was she present at the time of the shooting. She later confessed she had given the false statement after being pressured and terrorized by FBI agents, one of whom had also been involved in the falsification of the aforementioned Moves Camp testimony. Myrtle Poor Bear sought to testify in this regard at Leonard Peltier’s trial. However, the judge barred her testimony on the grounds of mental incompetence. 

Nothing was done with regard to the illegal extradition.

No known witnesses exist as to the actual shooting of FBI Agents Coler and Williams. Three adolescents gave inconclusive and vague testimonies, contradicting their own earlier statements as well as each other. All three witnesses admitted they had been seriously threatened and intimidated by FBI agents.

Critical ballistic information reflecting Leonard Peltier’s innocence was withheld from the defense team making a fair trial impossible. Specifically, at the trial, the FBI ballistic expert Evan Hodge testified that he had been unable to perform the best test, a firing pin test, on certain casings found near Agent Coler's car because the rifle in question had been damaged in a fire. Instead, he stated that he had conducted an extractor mark test and found the casing and weapon to match. Years later, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showed that in October 1975, a firing pin ballistic test had indeed been performed on the rifle and that the results were clearly negative. In short, the fatal bullets did not come from Leonard Peltier’s weapon. It should also be made very clear that the AR-15 and FBI-issued M-16 deliver the same .223 caliber round. However, the jury never heard about any of these crucial issues.

Equally disturbing are the numerous discrepancies regarding the key vehicle in the case. Agents Williams and Coler had radioed that they were chasing a "red pick up truck" which they believed was transporting a suspect. The chase led to the Jumping Bull Ranch and the fatal shoot-out. At trial, however, the evidence had changed to describe a "red and white van," quite a different vehicle and which, not coincidentally, was more easily linked to Leonard Peltier.

The court, at Leonard Peltier’s trial, did not permit the jury to learn of the FBI’s pattern and practice of using false affidavits and intimidating witnesses in recent related cases against other AIM leaders where such evidence had been admitted. The jury was thus unable to properly evaluate the credibility of prosecution witnesses’ testimony.

There was no witness testimony that Leonard Peltier actually shot the two FBI agents. There was no witness testimony that placed Leonard Peltier near the crime scene before the murders occurred. Those witnesses placing Peltier, Robideau, and Butler near the crime scene after the killing were coerced and intimidated by the FBI. There was no forensic evidence as to the exact type of rifle used to commit the murders. Several different weapons present in the area during the shoot-out – evidence now shows that there were other AR-15 rifles in the area – could have caused the fatal injuries. In addition, the AR-15 rifle claimed to be Leonard Peltier’s weapon was found to be incompatible with the bullet casing allegedly found near Agent Coler's car. Although other bullets were fired at the crime scene, no other casings or evidence about them were offered by the prosecutor in this case. In short, there was no reasonable evidence that Leonard Peltier committed the murders. 

Instead there is very strong evidence of FBI misconduct.

In addition, today, the U.S. Attorney admits that no one knows who fired the fatal shots.

The only evidence against Mr. Peltier was the fact that he was present at the Jumping Bull ranch during the fatal shoot-out. There were more than 30 other individuals there on the day of the shooting, but Leonard Peltier is the only one who was ever sentenced and imprisoned. 

At the Peltier trial, the prosecutor claimed in summation that "… we proved that he went down to the bodies and executed those two young men at point blank range..." At the appellate hearing, however, the government attorney conceded, "We had a murder, we had numerous shooters, we do not know who specifically fired what killing shots... we do not know, quote-unquote, who shot the agents."

At the murder trial the prosecutor, referring to the murder weapon, stated that, "There is only one AR-15 in the group. There is no testimony concerning any other AR-15 at Tent City or at the crime scene or anywhere else in the area…" Leonard Peltier’s lawyers later filed a Habeas Corpus petition claiming that the government had misled the jury by concealing evidence of the presence of other AR-15 rifles, and thus other potential murder weapons, at the crime scene. The same prosecuting attorney, before the Eighth Circuit Court in 1992, claimed that "... I think it’s simply a misstatement of the trial that there was no evidence presented and it was suppressed as to other AR-15s at the scene..."

Clearly the killings of Mr. Stuntz and the two agents represent a tragedy for all three men and their families. However, it is equally clear that an unfair trial and the decades-long imprisonment of an innocent man are also tragic.

As noted by Judge Heaney of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, in his 1991 letter to U.S. Senator Inouye in support of a grant of Executive Clemency to Peltier:  "The United States government overreacted at Wounded Knee. Instead of carefully considering the legitimate grievances of the Native Americans, the response was essentially a military one which culminated in the deadly firefight on June 26, 1975... The United States government must share responsibility with the Native Americans for the... firefight... the government’s role can properly be considered a mitigating circumstance."

As compared to similar cases, Mr. Peltier has served a significantly longer period of imprisonment than is normal before a grant of parole is made. Yet, the U.S. Parole Commission has made it clear that parole will not even be considered until the year 2008, when Leonard Peltier will have served twice the normal time in prison according to the Commission's own congressionally mandated guidelines. No adequate reason has been given for such arbitrary and discriminatory treatment. Instead, the Parole Commission stated at one hearing that the denial of parole was based upon Leonard Peltier’s participation in the "premeditated and cold blooded execution of these two officers." Yet, as noted, there is no evidence that Leonard Peltier ever fired the fatal shots. his has been admitted by the government attorneys themselves.  

Despite these realities, various FBI agents and U.S. Attorney Crooks have been present during parole hearings to personally oppose Leonard Peltier’s release.

More recently, it also has been made clear that Leonard Peltier will not receive parole until he "recognizes his crime" or, in short, confesses to a crime he did not commit.

Government officials have not only interfered with Leonard Peltier's due process rights with regard to fair consideration for parole, but for fair consideration for Executive Clemency by misinforming congressional leaders and the public with regard to Leonard Peltier's character and background, as well as the critical aspects of this case.

In addition, during trial, the FBI produced approximately 3,500 documents and claimed that these were all the documents in existence. Through a FOIA request, the Peltier attorneys discovered that some 12,000 documents had been withheld. Six thousand documents were released. More recently, despite the FBI's claim that only 6,000 full documents related to this case remain undisclosed – and that these are merely "administrative" documents, of no use to the defense team – Leonard Peltier's attorneys have discovered that the government continues to withhold tens of thousands of documents concerning Leonard Peltier's case.

In recent years, Mr. Peltier’s attorneys have filed FOIA requests with FBI Headquarters and various FBI field offices in an attempt to secure the release of these additional documents concerning Leonard Peltier. Similar FOIA requests also have been submitted to the Central Intelligence Agency. 

Although the FBI has engaged in a number of dilatory tactics to avoid the processing of these requests – claiming "national security" or "ongoing investigation" reasons – thousands of FOIA documents have been released in 2002-2005. But not nearly enough documents have been released to Peltier's Legal Team. Based on the critical nature of those documents that have been disclosed over the years, such as the ballistic test reports, it is reasonable to conclude that the remaining files would contain evidence that may help to establish Leonard Peltier’s innocence. Three decades after the shootings, there is clearly no current reason to fear national security risks or the disruption of ongoing investigations.