ABOUT Leonard Peltier
September 12th is Leonard Peltiers Birthday... our gift to him is helping the community to understand his phlight and tell you about him.
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Who is he?:
Leonard is a great-grandfather, artist, writer, & indigenous rights activist -- is a citizen of the Anishinabe and Dakota/Lakota Nations who has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976.
What Happened?:
He was A participant in the American Indian Movement, he went to assist the Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the mid-70s where a tragic shoot-out occurred on June 26, 1975. Accused of the murder of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Peltier fled to Canada believing he would never receive a fair trial in the United States.
On February 6, 1976, Peltier was apprehended. The FBI knowingly presented the Canadian court with fraudulent affidavits, and Peltier was returned to the U.S. for trial.
Key witnesses were banned from testifying about FBI misconduct & testimony about the conditions and atmosphere on the Pine Ridge Reservation at the time of the shoot-out was severely restricted. Important evidence, such as conflicting ballistics reports, was ruled inadmissible. Still, the U.S. Prosecutor failed to produce a single witness who could identify Peltier as the shooter. Instead, the government tied a bullet casing found near the bodies of their agents to the alleged murder weapon, arguing that this gun had been the only one of its kind used during the shootout, and that it had belonged to Peltier.
Later, Mr. Peltier’s attorneys uncovered, in the FBI’s own documents, that more than one weapon of the type attributed to Peltier had been present at the scene and the FBI had intentionally concealed a ballistics report that showed the shell casing could not have come from the alleged murder weapon. Other troubling information emerged: the agents undoubtedly followed a red pickup truck onto the land where the shoot-out took place, not the red and white van driven by Peltier; and compelling evidence against several other suspects existed and was concealed.
At the time, however, the jury was unaware of these facts. Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He is currently imprisoned at the U.S. Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
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Freedom could be the most wonderful gift:
Won't you please consider helping this man To Freedom???
Here is how...
Write people... your newspapers,call your radio stations...Write Your Officals.. Write Washington... write and write and don't give up!
Here are ADDRESSES TO WRITE AND ASK THEM TO HELP!!!!
Contact your officials using your ZIP code or the official's last name
http://capwiz.com/washtimes/home/
...
And you can Sign the online petition to George Bush at
http://users.skynet.be/kola//ppet.htm
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*Also... Please write to Leonard himself.. He needs your encouragement and support to keep him strong! Here is where to send a card or letter...(make sure you put your address on everything to make sure it gets to him.. Leonard can only receive letters, cards, postcards, photos (not polaroid), and postal money orders for his commissary account.
Write to Leonard at:
Leonard Peltier # 89637-132
USP Lewisburg
PO BOX 1000
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837
