December 1-2, 1999
Statement of Policy on Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier, a leader in the American Indian Movement (AIM),
has spent 23 years in Prison for crimes he did not commit.
On June 26, 1975 FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams entered
the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, allegedly seeking a suspect in the
theft of a pair of boots. Witnesses gave conflicting reports of how a shoot out
began, but at the end the two FBI agents and a young Indian named Joe Stuntz were
dead. The FBI arrested Peltier and three other AIM members, Jimmy Eagle, Darrelle
Butler and Bob Robideau. The death of Stuntz was not investigated; and Butler
and Robideau pled self-defense and were acquitted. The government dropped charges
against Eagle and concentrated all efforts on prosecuting Peltier, who the FBI
had previously targeted with its notorious COINTELPRO program.
The judge, Paul Benson, refused to allow evidence of self-defense
or information from the acquittals of the other AIM members. Peltier was convicted
and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. According to the Eighth Circuit Court
of Appeals, Peltier's trial and previous appeals had been riddled with FBI misconduct
and judicial impropriety, including coercion of witnesses, perjury, fabrication
of evidence, and the suppression of evidence that could have proved his innocence.
The court called the FBI's misconduct “a clear abuse of the investigative process,”
yet it ruled against a new trial because it was “reluctant to impute further improprieties
to the FBI.” Since then documents obtained through the Freedom of Information
Act have revealed that ballistics tests were falsified to prove that the casings
found at the murder scene matched Peltier's gun and the government has admitted
that it cannot prove who killed the FBI agents. Yet Peltier continues to be denied
parole or even proper medical care and nearly died a couple of years ago from
the lack of treatment.
The ILWU joins with Amnesty International and human rights groups
around the world in calling for Peltier’s release and a complete pardon from President
Clinton.