Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Official Response to the "No Parole Peltier Association" Website:
Tue, 23 May 2000
It comes as no surprise that a new organization named the "No Parole Peltier Association" or NPPA is in fact another guise for the FBI to continue their campaign of disinformation against Leonard Peltier. The NPPA consists of a website sponsored by an FBI agent, asking people to sign a petition against Leonard Peltier’s parole release. Once again the FBI are going beyond their jurisdiction as law enforcement officials to defame Leonard Peltier, while further misinforming the public about the case. In doing this, the FBI is further obstructing justice in the Peltier case and interfering in his right to due process under the law.
The NPPA’s position as to why they do not support Leonard Peltier’s parole release is unclear. They make no mention of why Leonard Peltier should be held in prison far longer than the laws and guidelines of the Parole Commission require. Most everything mentioned on their website is irrelevant, and makes no case against Leonard Peltier’s parole release. Instead, they attack Leonard Peltier’s character, Mr. X, and the trial of Robert Robideau and Dino Butler. To see the site for yourself go to: www.noparolepeltier.com
However futile it may seem, we would like to respond to some of the allegations made on the NPPA site because we feel it is important to strongly reinstate our reasons for supporting Leonard Peltier’s release.
CORRECTING WRONGS OF THE PAST The "PURPOSE" section of the NPPA site contains a paragraph titled "Correcting Wrongs of the Past." It is here the NPPA implies that supporters of Leonard Peltier are simply blinded by their sorrow for the US government’s brutal past with Native Americans. They go as far as to say "history cannot be altered. Nothing can change the broken promises and treaties and subjugation of the first peoples to inhabit this continent."
However, the Peltier case has long underlined the CURRENT attitudes and continuing racism against Indigenous Peoples by the US government. Leonard Peltier was accused of killing two FBI agents during a time when the FBI themselves were illegally seeking to destroy AIM. In the years surrounding the shoot-out over 60 members and supporters of the American Indian Movement were murdered on Pine Ridge. Despite an overwhelming FBI presence, virtually no prosecutions were brought. Former GOON leader, Duane Brewer, has told us that the FBI helped to arm the GOONs and they intentionally looked the other way when crimes against AIM members and supporters were committed. In short, the GOONs were given the green light to murder and beat people with impunity. Hardly is this ancient history and surely the FBI should be held accountable for their participation in the violence. The double standard that allows an innocent man to pay for the deaths of two FBI agents while the murders of AIM members and supporters are given no priority whatsoever is what most of Leonard Peltier’s supporters find disturbing and unacceptable.
AGENTS SHOT IN SELF-DEFENSE Secondly, the NPPA state throughout their web site that the agents only shot 5 times before they were killed, that there was no gun battle between the Jumping Bull residents, and that the agents merely shot in self defense. They say that "agent Coler had fired one shot from a service revolver, one shot from a 12-gauge shotgun and one shot from a .308 rifle . . . Agent Williams had fired two shots from his service revolver. . ." However, there is no evidence to support this contention and it contradicts the testimony of all of those who were at the scene, including the testimony of Angie Long Visitor, who said the agents repeatedly fired their guns. It would be hard to imagine agent Coler picking up three different guns, and firing each one once within a ten minute period, as the NPPA claims.
Further, the NPPA claim that though Robideau and Butler were acquitted on grounds of self-defense, it does not mean they were actually innocent. The LPDC, they say, fails to consider the "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" standard. However, we contend that the NPPA fails to recognize the "innocent until proven guilty" standard, meaning they cannot continue to accuse Butler and Robideau of being guilty, and Leonard Peltier of aiding and abetting them, when in fact no evidence of this exists.
Mr. X They also question the morality and validity of Mr. X, the person who came forward incognito, and admitted to shooting the agents at point blank range in self-defense. Mr. X has long been a controversial topic, by both supporters of Leonard Peltier and those who oppose his release. Whether we agree with Mr. X’s tactics or not is irrelevant. The LPDC’s arguments are based on the legal record of the Peltier case. If the FBI is so confidant that Leonard Peltier is guilty, we must ask them why they felt it necessary to obtain falsified affidavits from Myrtle Poor Bear, to withhold critical ballistics evidence, to "develop evidence to lock Peltier into the case" and why they now admit that they do not know who killed the agents.
THE BALLISTICS The NPPA attempts to minimalize the formerly withheld ballistic evidence, which forced the government to admit that they did not know who shot the agents. In doing so, they point to the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals decision which affirmed Peltier’s conviction and stated: "When all is said and done, however, a few simple but very important facts remain. The casing introduced into evidence in fact had been extracted from the Wichita AR-15. This point was not disputed." However, an extractor test is much less conclusive than a firing pin test. What the newly discovered documents revealed was that the firing pin test was done, and in fact, THE CASING DID NOT MATCH. The jury was never allowed to hear this evidence. Moreover, the Eighth circuit said if the casing did not match, it would mean the FBI had planted it. In response to this they said, "we recognize that there is evidence in this record of improper conduct on the part of some FBI agents, but we are reluctant to impute even further improprieties to them." They concluded the following:
There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case. Yet, we are bound by the Bagley test requiring that we be convinced, from a review of the entire record, that had the data and records withheld been made available, the jury probably would have reached a different result. We have not been so convinced.
The judge who wrote the decision also admitted that he was uncomfortable with it. He would later write a letter recommending Peltier be released through Executive Clemency saying that "the FBI used improper tactics in securing Peltier’s extradition from Canada and in otherwise investigating and trying the Peltier case." We would also like to point out that we find the Bagley standard to be unjust, in that it requires the judge to replace himself with a jury in deciding whether or not certain evidence would have conclusively overturned a conviction. If the new evidence forced the prosecution to say they could not prove Leonard Peltier shot the agents, then surely the jury would have concluded the same.
Lastly, the NPPA attempts to demoralize Leonard Peltier’s character, pointing to perceived flaws in his lifestyle. However, Leonard Peltier is not being held in prison for imperfections in his personality, and we do not feel it is necessary to respond to such allegations.
In conclusion, we insist that the complete lack of evidence against Leonard Peltier combined with his excellent conduct in prison and his continued advocacy for human rights from behind bars, make him a perfect candidate for parole. We find that the FBI’s continued attempts to obstruct justice in the Peltier case in order to protect their own reputation to be a disgrace. We urge those who view the site to express their concerns on its message board.
Call the White House Comments Line Today
Demand Justice for Leonard Peltier! 202-456-1111
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
www.freepeltier.org
