By Brenda Norrell
Narco News
http://www.narconews.com/
Ben Carnes, Choctaw, and Rob Fife completed a weeklong fast at the White House, to bring attention to President Obama of the longstanding injustice of the imprisonment of Leonard Peltier. But if you check Google News this morning, you will see that there's only one news article, the one posted by Narco News.
Since the columns here go directly to Google breaking news, mainstream reporters can not claim that they were uninformed. It is obvious that freedom for Leonard Peltier remains one of the most censored issues in the media, even as Amnesty International calls for Peltier's immediate release.
News reporters weren't the only ones ignoring this fast. So far, there's been no word from President Obama, who could see the men fasting from his window.
Today, Wanbli, at the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, released a statement, "Ignoring us out of existence." It is appropriate for these times, when censorship has increased to such an extent that the US media is a mockery of the ethics of journalism.
Read: Wanbli, 'Ignoring us out of existence'
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2009/09/wanbli-ignoring-us-out-of-existence.html
Showing posts with label Leonard Peltier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leonard Peltier. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Censored Radio: Carnes fasting at White House
UPDATE from Ben Carnes: Dehydration
Censored Radio: Ben Carnes live from the White House
By Brenda Norrell
Photo by Kitty Carnes
Ben Carnes is fasting in Lafayette Park across from the White House in solidarity with freedom for Leonard Peltier. Peltier is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians who has been held as a political prisoner of the Government of the United States of America for over 33 years.
Carnes, Choctaw from Oklahoma, speaks on Censored Blog Radio, while fasting for justice for Leonard Peltier outside the White House. Wanbli also joins the show live by phone with more details on Peltier's case and the appeal to Obama for freedom for Peltier. Carnes and Wanbli speak of FBI misconduct, assassination attempts on Peltier, the beating of Peltier in a Pennsylvania prison in 2008 and more than 500 years of genocide for Indian people. Calling for clemency, Wanbli said Obama promised Peltier's release during his campaign. On today's show, the music is by Keith Secola, with poet Cleo Apache, recorded live at the Havasupai Gathering to Halt Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon by Earthcycles.
Wanbli said, "Carnes is standing there in fast and in prayer for 7 days in the hopes of gaining attention of the President of the United States of America to the plight of Leonard. During his fast he will not take food or water and he will remain in a prayerful attitude for the next 7 days. Those who make stands to fight injustice such as Ben is doing should have all of our respect and prayers. There are many who make smoke and kick up dust but few who actually have the will to make a stand such as this."
Wanbli said Obama could see Carnes if he would look out the window. Carnes began his fast Saturday and will continue to fast through Sept. 12. Amnesty International has already called for the immediate release of Peltier.
CW Gayle, Choctaw, thanked Carnes. "Halito! Ben. Many years ago my friend Rocque Duenas was standing vigil for Leonard in the very place you are. Rocque was a tribal fisherman in Washington, this was 1978. You carry the torch," Gayle said in a message.
UPDATE:
I wanted to announce that on Wednesday afternoon, I ceased the liquid portion of my fast due to dehydration. I had taken that as far as I could without endangering my health. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, when I relieved my self, I experienced a burning sensation and around Noon Wednesday, I began to feel as if my kidneys were tightening up. I made an attempt to contact a physician, but after a period of time with receiving a response.
At 2:40 PM (Eastern), I consumed some liquids to hydrate myself. It was a promise I made to Chief Tayac when he visited me at Lafayette Park. He told me that day that I needed to hydrate myself. He said, “You are a Chief! Don’t you dare hit the ground! There are a lot of people depending upon you to be here for them, and if you die what good would that serve them?”
I assured him that when my body told me that I was beginning to have problems, I would take care of myself.
Still, I will continue to fast without food until 8:45 AM Saturday. I can assure you that Leonard would appreciate and respect this decision. He has suffered so much pain and loss of allies and relatives, that it would only grieve him had I continued and possibly caused irreparable harm to my health.
My personal prayer will continue on, and I will continue to conduct myself in a honorable and respectful manner befitting my position. I knew that when I decided to publicly announce to that I am a Sun Dance Chief and would be taking this course of action. I would open myself up to criticisms, but that in itself is a sacrifice I willingly accepted. And there has been none, just messages of respect and support. It was never my intention to promote myself, but to show my love and support for my Sun Dance brother.
I had contacted Arvol Looking Horse about the possibility of coming to DC. He could not since he already had an earlier commitment, but he supported what I was doing and that he would support me through his prayers from over there. I am very thankful to have those prayers from the Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe in this way.
I know that there are many more people who have joined in this fast as an act of solidarity for me and for Leonard. This simple course of action has aroused so much supportive action from around the world. It has done so much more than if we had tried to have everyone come to DC.
Many of you are organizing in your communities and creating so much awareness everywhere and that is so important.
The results of this prayer and sacrifice may not be immediately, I feel something is taking place on a larger spiritual level and we will need to keep that in mind in all that we do for Leonard. We know that we will prevail, and it would have been difficult without your support.Send your cards and letters to Leonard.
Let him know how your event went and let him know that we are all here for him and that we will continue to do all we can to bring him home.In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,Ben Carnes
Listen at Censored News Blog Radio
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Brenda-Norrell/2009/09/07/Carnes-fasting-White-House
More information:
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/
Contact:
Ben Carnes:
bencarnes@eaglecouncil.com
Wanbli:
wanbli@gvtc.com
E-mail:
contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
Brenda Norrell, Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Censored Blog Talk Radio
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Brenda-Norrell
Earthcycles
http://www.earthcycles.net/
RADIO STATIONS MAY REBROADCAST
This radio show is available to radio stations around the world at no charge. The mp3 download may be used in whole or part. Please credit Censored News Blog Radio for interviews and Earthcycles for Keith Secola's recording.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Buffy Sainte Marie: Uranium, an interview and a photograph
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
It is amazing what can happen when one finds and publishes a photograph from years ago. The photograph is of Buffy Sainte Marie singing at Dine' College. It was taken the day I interviewed Buffy in 1999. She told me about being censored out of the music business by Lyndon Johnson because of her song "Universal Soldier" during the Vietnam War. She spoke of the personal hardship it brought, but also of what happened to others, including Anna Mae Aquash.
Buffy spoke of the occupation of Wounded Knee and the shoot-out with FBI agents at the Jumping Bull residence at Pine Ridge June 26, 1975.
"That is where Leonard Peltier's troubles began," Buffy said. Buffy said that few people recount the true history of what happened on that day in history.
"Who recalls that on that day one-eighth of the reservation was transferred in secret -- on that day. It was the part containing uranium. That is what never seems to be remembered," Buffy said.
The interview remained censored for seven years by Indian Country Today, where I served as a staff reporter for the majority of those years. When Buffy's interview was finally published by ICT, one portion still remained censored.
It was the portion about Anna Mae Aquash's death in relation to the fact that Pine Ridge was targeted for uranium mining at that time.
Tonight, I received an e-mail message pointing out that on June 26, 1975 Oglala Sioux Chairman and GOON squad leader Dickie Wilson was in Washington signing away one-eighth of Lakota land for uranium mining.
It was the same day that two young FBI agents were sent into the Jumping Bull camp. It is the reason that Leonard Peltier has spent his life in prison.
So, tonight I searched for more about the uranium mining that Pine Ridge was targeted for.
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
It is amazing what can happen when one finds and publishes a photograph from years ago. The photograph is of Buffy Sainte Marie singing at Dine' College. It was taken the day I interviewed Buffy in 1999. She told me about being censored out of the music business by Lyndon Johnson because of her song "Universal Soldier" during the Vietnam War. She spoke of the personal hardship it brought, but also of what happened to others, including Anna Mae Aquash.
Buffy spoke of the occupation of Wounded Knee and the shoot-out with FBI agents at the Jumping Bull residence at Pine Ridge June 26, 1975.
"That is where Leonard Peltier's troubles began," Buffy said. Buffy said that few people recount the true history of what happened on that day in history.
"Who recalls that on that day one-eighth of the reservation was transferred in secret -- on that day. It was the part containing uranium. That is what never seems to be remembered," Buffy said.
The interview remained censored for seven years by Indian Country Today, where I served as a staff reporter for the majority of those years. When Buffy's interview was finally published by ICT, one portion still remained censored.
It was the portion about Anna Mae Aquash's death in relation to the fact that Pine Ridge was targeted for uranium mining at that time.
Tonight, I received an e-mail message pointing out that on June 26, 1975 Oglala Sioux Chairman and GOON squad leader Dickie Wilson was in Washington signing away one-eighth of Lakota land for uranium mining.
It was the same day that two young FBI agents were sent into the Jumping Bull camp. It is the reason that Leonard Peltier has spent his life in prison.
So, tonight I searched for more about the uranium mining that Pine Ridge was targeted for.
The e-mail came from Jack Cohen-Joppa at Nuclear Resister. "Thanks for posting your interview with Buffy Sainte Marie. I was taken by this comment of hers, particularly: 'Who recalls that on that day one-eighth of the reservation was transferred in secret -- on that day. It was the part containing uranium. That is what never seems to be remembered.' It is my recollection of this fact (learned from reading Akwesasne Notes and Rex Weyler's writing about Peltier, I think) that led us to include Leonard Peltier on the Nuclear Resister's 'Inside & Out' list for nearly the entire time we've been publishing (since issue #3, March 1981.) We wrote '... On that same day, June 26, 1975, Pine Ridge Tribal Chairman Dickie Wilson was in Washington DC, illegally signing away one-eighth of the reservation's lands to the Department of Interior. There is uranium on this land...'" http://nuclearresister.org/
On the web, the John Graham website states: " .. the US had an eye on developing uranium mining on a portion of the sacred Black Hills, an area known as Sheep Mountain. This area has proven to be one of the richest in uranium deposits in the US. The FBI implemented their counterintellegence operation in Pine Ridge, in order to weaken and destroy the urban Indian movement, and to subjugate the traditional Lakotas for once and for all."
http://www.grahamdefense.org/200411investigatethefeds.htm
Posted on Russell Means' Lakotah Republic website: "In 1975, with his control of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota secured by force, Tribal President Wilson set about ceding uranium-rich areas of the sacred Black Hills to the federal government. AIM assisted in protecting Pine Ridge’s traditional families from the constant onslaught of violence, which culminated in the AIM occupation and government siege of Wounded Knee in the Spring of 1973. From 1973 to 1976, the people of Pine Ridge lived under the 'Reign of Terror'—more than 76 Natives, mainly traditional Lakotah and AIM members, were murdered, primarily by Wilson’s goons, a term coined by the elderly women who protested against them. Later, in a perverse play on words, the goons called themselves, 'Guardians of the Oglala Nation' (GOONs)."
On the web, the John Graham website states: " .. the US had an eye on developing uranium mining on a portion of the sacred Black Hills, an area known as Sheep Mountain. This area has proven to be one of the richest in uranium deposits in the US. The FBI implemented their counterintellegence operation in Pine Ridge, in order to weaken and destroy the urban Indian movement, and to subjugate the traditional Lakotas for once and for all."
http://www.grahamdefense.org/200411investigatethefeds.htm
Posted on Russell Means' Lakotah Republic website: "In 1975, with his control of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota secured by force, Tribal President Wilson set about ceding uranium-rich areas of the sacred Black Hills to the federal government. AIM assisted in protecting Pine Ridge’s traditional families from the constant onslaught of violence, which culminated in the AIM occupation and government siege of Wounded Knee in the Spring of 1973. From 1973 to 1976, the people of Pine Ridge lived under the 'Reign of Terror'—more than 76 Natives, mainly traditional Lakotah and AIM members, were murdered, primarily by Wilson’s goons, a term coined by the elderly women who protested against them. Later, in a perverse play on words, the goons called themselves, 'Guardians of the Oglala Nation' (GOONs)."
Then, I remembered being at Sheep Mountain. We climbed and watched for helicopters in the night, as Lakotas protected the remains of the Ghost Dancers at the Stronghold in 2002. In the dark night, the sky filled with lightning and thunder. All Creation was there at that moment.
Buffy's lyrics:
"My girlfriend Annie Mae talked about uranium
Her head was filled with bullets and her body dumped
The FBI cut off her hands and told us she'd died of Exposure…
"Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
Deep in the Earth
Cover me with pretty lies
bury my heart at Wounded Knee."
Finally, I do not know who killed Anna Mae Aquash. But I do know that two separate groups of witnesses, all local Lakotas on Pine Ridge, said they were there when it happened at Oglala. Many never came forward out of fear. But they do identify the same person as the killer. That person is not any of the men, including Arlo Looking Cloud now in prison for this crime, who have been charged.
Buffy's lyrics:
"My girlfriend Annie Mae talked about uranium
Her head was filled with bullets and her body dumped
The FBI cut off her hands and told us she'd died of Exposure…
"Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
Deep in the Earth
Cover me with pretty lies
bury my heart at Wounded Knee."
Finally, I do not know who killed Anna Mae Aquash. But I do know that two separate groups of witnesses, all local Lakotas on Pine Ridge, said they were there when it happened at Oglala. Many never came forward out of fear. But they do identify the same person as the killer. That person is not any of the men, including Arlo Looking Cloud now in prison for this crime, who have been charged.
Lakota lands and Indian country are once again targeted for uranium mining.
Buffy has just released a new CD, "Running for the Drum."
The uncensored interview with Buffy Sainte Marie:
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com/id99.html
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com/id99.html
WWII tests exposed Lakotas in Badlands during genocidal studies using uranium
In situ leach uranium mining is the new form of genocide in Indian country:
Updated reference: Uranium on Pine Ridge
"... Meanwhile, on Pine Ridge, South Dakota, a storm was gathering. In 1973, the federally installed regime of tribal president Richard 'Dickie' Wilson was attempting to transfer the barren but uranium-laden northwestern eighth of the reservation -- an area known as the Gunnery Range -- to the Interior Department. As his reward, Wilson anticipated U.S. support in establishing what amounted to his own feudal dynasty.
When traditional Oglalas resisted his attempt to seize their land, Wilson created a goon squad, paid with Bureau of Indian Affairs funds and largely composed of off-duty Bureau cops. The U.S. government dispatched a sixty-member SWAT unit of federal marshals from Washington to reinforce him. When the marshals came in, traditional Oglalas requested direct assistance from the American Indian Movement. This brought about the movement's occupation of Wounded Knee."
When traditional Oglalas resisted his attempt to seize their land, Wilson created a goon squad, paid with Bureau of Indian Affairs funds and largely composed of off-duty Bureau cops. The U.S. government dispatched a sixty-member SWAT unit of federal marshals from Washington to reinforce him. When the marshals came in, traditional Oglalas requested direct assistance from the American Indian Movement. This brought about the movement's occupation of Wounded Knee."
--":Like a Hurricane -- The American Indian Movement: From Alcatraz to Wounded Knee -- a book review," by Ward Churchill, published in The Progressive
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Where are the FBI files concerning Myrtle Poor Bear?
Where are the FBI files concerning Myrtle Poor Bear?
by Michael Kuzma, Esq.
(attorney for Mr. Leonard Peltier)
In 1976, American Indian Movement (AIM) activist, Leonard Peltier, was extradited from Canada to the United States to stand trial for the shooting deaths of FBI Special Agents Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams that occurred at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on June 26, 1975. Peltier was extradited back to the United States based in large part on the affidavits of Myrtle Poor Bear. On October 25, 2000, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Poor Bear testified under oath before former Quebec Court of Appeal Judge Fred Kaufman that she agreed to implicate Peltier in the shooting deaths of the two FBI agents only after she had endured months of unrelenting harassment and threats from other FBI agents. Among other things, FBI agents told Poor Bear that they would take her child away from her and that she would be charged with conspiracy and face 15 years in prison if she did not cooperate. FBI agents coerced Poor Bear into signing affidavits, which indicated that she was Peltier’s girlfriend and that she saw him shoot Agents Coler and Williams. In 1978, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit noted that, “The use of the affidavits of Myrtle Poor Bear in the extradition proceeding was, to say the least, a clear abuse of the investigative process by the FBI. This was conceded by government counsel on the hearing in this court.” See United States v. Peltier, 585 F. 2d 314, 335 fn. 18 (8th Cir. 1978).
Myrtle Poor Bear passed away on September 15, 2005 in Rapid City, South Dakota. On November 14, 2006, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to FBI Headquarters for all records pertaining to Myrtle Poor Bear. By letter dated December 14, 2006, Mr. David M. Hardy, Section Chief, Record/Information Dissemination Section, Records Management Division, FBI, advised me that no records responsive to my FOIA request had been located by a search of the automated and manual indices of the central records system at FBI Headquarters. I treated this response, on the part of the FBI, as a denial of my FOIA request and filed an administrative appeal with the Office of Information and Privacy (OIP), U. S. Department of Justice. By letter dated April 5, 2007, Ms. Janice Galli McLeod, Co-Director, OIP, advised me that there were no responsive FBI Headquarters Office records. Ms. Galli McLeod, however, did inform me that a member of her staff found that the Minneapolis Field Office of the FBI might have records responsive to my FOIA request and that I should submit a new FOIA request to that office if I hadn’t already done so. A FOIA request was submitted to that office on April 20, 2007.
In a letter dated November 21, 2008, Mr. Hardy from the FBI claimed that, “A search of the indices to our central records system at FBI Headquarters reflected there were documents potentially responsive to your request. This office has attempted to obtain this material so that it could be reviewed for responsiveness. We were advised the records were not in their expected location and could not be located. Following a reasonable waiting period, another attempt was made to obtain this material. This also was met with unsuccessful results. Therefore, we are closing your request administratively.” The question now is, where are these FBI files? Who has them? If they are no longer in the possession of the FBI, when and under what authority were they transferred to another agency or individual? Perhaps the records have been destroyed? If so, by whom and under what authority?
The public has a right to know what is in the FBI files relating to Myrtle Poor Bear. It should be noted that this is not the first time that the FBI allegedly has not been able to find records that could prove to be helpful to Leonard Peltier. For example, in November of 2002, I requested all records relating to Leonard Peltier and RESMURS (RESMURS is the name the FBI gave to its investigation of the deaths of agents Coler and Williams) from the New York Field Office of the FBI. The FBI claimed that the material was “unavailable” and it had been placed on “special locate”. To date, these documents have not been found.
The FBI has and continues to vigorously resist efforts to make public all of its files relating to Leonard Peltier and RESMURS. The FBI cites national security concerns and other dubious reasons for refusing to release these documents. Documents, I might add, that should been released to Peltier defense attorneys over three decades ago. Why is there all of this secrecy when it comes to FBI documents pertaining to Leonard Peltier and RESMURS? What is the FBI afraid of? Why does the FBI continue to fight to prevent the full release of documents that are over one third of a century old? Could it be that these documents would reveal how FBI personnel as well as its informants and provocateurs set into motion the events that culminated in the deaths of Joe Stuntz Killsright, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams on that tragic day in June of 1975.
Michael Kuzma, Esq.
Buffalo, New York
January 3rd, 2009
Sunday, November 23, 2008
COINTELPRO: They Got Shut Down for Standing Up
COINTELPRO: They Got Shut Down for Standing Up
by Karima Amin
Sent in by Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
From the late 1950's into the 1970's, the F.B.I. conducted a series of actions in a counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) designed to disrupt, discredit, and destroy certain individuals and groups in this country. The Communist Party, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.), the Black Panther Party, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (S.N.C.C.), the Black Liberation Army (B. L. A.), the Socialist Workers Party, La Raza Unida ("the Unified Race"), MOVE, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and others were among the targets. Dedicated activists who fought for justice were arrested for their political beliefs, tried in criminal courts, and incarcerated with exorbitant and punitive sentences. These political prisoners were effectively shut down for standing up. Though some of them still strive for justice behind bars, COINTELPRO has taken a toll on their lives.
During COINTELPRO's heyday, the F.B.I. didn't hesitate to use thuggery, unauthorized wiretapping, warrantless break-ins and searches, harassment, burglaries, manufactured evidence, witness tampering, infiltration, and even murder to neutralize the aforementioned organizations and their individual members. In 1971, F.B.I. agents, convicted for counterintelligence crimes, were pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. Their targets are still in prison, having now spent decades (30-plus years) behind bars. Approximately 100 men and women in the U.S. are political prisoners, for having taken a stance or expressing a view that the government deems objectionable. They dared to stand up, speak out, and struggle for the liberation and self-determination of oppressed people. The U.S. government does not recognize the designation of political prisoner; in the government's view, they are merely dissidents.
In the past, Prisoners Are People Too has presented programs on COINTELPRO, the San Francisco 8, Jalil Abdul Muntaqim, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and MOVE. Several PRP2 members have voiced their support for political prisoners: Lynne Stewart and Robert Seth Hayes. Unfortunately, the names of these individuals are rarely mentioned in the "real world" and their stories are even more rarely told. Most of us can't name five U.S. political prisoners and far too few of us are actively engaged in supporting/defending a political prisoner. Further, we make the mistake of assuming that what happened to them could never happen to us. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Nowadays, "The Patriot Act" and "Homeland Security" make it all the more likely for any one of us to come face-to-face with Amerikkka's ugly side. While alleging "freedom and justice for all", this country ignores the shameful realities of incarceration and rampant injustice for individuals and organizations that participate in the kind of revolutionary direct action that is needed to make changes in government or social conditions. F.B.I. agents who engaged in illegal activity through COINTELPRO, got a proverbial "slap on the wrist" and nothing changed. Political prisoners, their families, and communities have suffered for nearly forty years.
On Monday, November 24, 2008, at 6:30-8:30pm, at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, at 422 Pratt Street in Buffalo, Leonard Peltier's story will be told. Leonard Peltier was a COINTELPRO target because of his involvement with the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.). In 1977, this Native American activist was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two F.B.I. agents who died during a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, near Oglala, South Dakota. Leonard and his supporters believe that he did not receive a fair trial and that his conviction and imprisonment were results of his activism. He is currently imprisoned in a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA. The documentary film, "Murder on a Reservation", from the Arts and Entertainment Channel's "American Justice" series will be screened. In the film, Leonard Peltier, F.B.I. representatives, and witnesses to the incident that led to the agents' death, tell their stories.
Our guest speaker will be Mr. Michael Kuzma, a Buffalo, NY defense attorney who has supported Leonard Peltier for several years. Mr. Kuzma practices in NY as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd, 8th, and 10th Circuits. He is seeking to obtain the release of 140,000 government documents concerning Leonard Peltier. Mr. Kuzma joined the legal profession believing that the law is a tool to bring about social, political, and economic change. He further believes that what happened to Leonard Peltier could happen to any one of us.
This program is sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of BaBa Eng. For more information: 716-834-8438 or karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org.
IPF WEBSITE:
http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
and
www.myspace.com/leonardpeltierisinnocent
IPF e-mail:
ipforum@skynet.be
Also, please visit the website of the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee (LPDOC):
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/
LPDOC e-mail:
contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
by Karima Amin
Sent in by Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
From the late 1950's into the 1970's, the F.B.I. conducted a series of actions in a counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) designed to disrupt, discredit, and destroy certain individuals and groups in this country. The Communist Party, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.), the Black Panther Party, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (S.N.C.C.), the Black Liberation Army (B. L. A.), the Socialist Workers Party, La Raza Unida ("the Unified Race"), MOVE, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and others were among the targets. Dedicated activists who fought for justice were arrested for their political beliefs, tried in criminal courts, and incarcerated with exorbitant and punitive sentences. These political prisoners were effectively shut down for standing up. Though some of them still strive for justice behind bars, COINTELPRO has taken a toll on their lives.
During COINTELPRO's heyday, the F.B.I. didn't hesitate to use thuggery, unauthorized wiretapping, warrantless break-ins and searches, harassment, burglaries, manufactured evidence, witness tampering, infiltration, and even murder to neutralize the aforementioned organizations and their individual members. In 1971, F.B.I. agents, convicted for counterintelligence crimes, were pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. Their targets are still in prison, having now spent decades (30-plus years) behind bars. Approximately 100 men and women in the U.S. are political prisoners, for having taken a stance or expressing a view that the government deems objectionable. They dared to stand up, speak out, and struggle for the liberation and self-determination of oppressed people. The U.S. government does not recognize the designation of political prisoner; in the government's view, they are merely dissidents.
In the past, Prisoners Are People Too has presented programs on COINTELPRO, the San Francisco 8, Jalil Abdul Muntaqim, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and MOVE. Several PRP2 members have voiced their support for political prisoners: Lynne Stewart and Robert Seth Hayes. Unfortunately, the names of these individuals are rarely mentioned in the "real world" and their stories are even more rarely told. Most of us can't name five U.S. political prisoners and far too few of us are actively engaged in supporting/defending a political prisoner. Further, we make the mistake of assuming that what happened to them could never happen to us. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Nowadays, "The Patriot Act" and "Homeland Security" make it all the more likely for any one of us to come face-to-face with Amerikkka's ugly side. While alleging "freedom and justice for all", this country ignores the shameful realities of incarceration and rampant injustice for individuals and organizations that participate in the kind of revolutionary direct action that is needed to make changes in government or social conditions. F.B.I. agents who engaged in illegal activity through COINTELPRO, got a proverbial "slap on the wrist" and nothing changed. Political prisoners, their families, and communities have suffered for nearly forty years.
On Monday, November 24, 2008, at 6:30-8:30pm, at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, at 422 Pratt Street in Buffalo, Leonard Peltier's story will be told. Leonard Peltier was a COINTELPRO target because of his involvement with the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.). In 1977, this Native American activist was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two F.B.I. agents who died during a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, near Oglala, South Dakota. Leonard and his supporters believe that he did not receive a fair trial and that his conviction and imprisonment were results of his activism. He is currently imprisoned in a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA. The documentary film, "Murder on a Reservation", from the Arts and Entertainment Channel's "American Justice" series will be screened. In the film, Leonard Peltier, F.B.I. representatives, and witnesses to the incident that led to the agents' death, tell their stories.
Our guest speaker will be Mr. Michael Kuzma, a Buffalo, NY defense attorney who has supported Leonard Peltier for several years. Mr. Kuzma practices in NY as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd, 8th, and 10th Circuits. He is seeking to obtain the release of 140,000 government documents concerning Leonard Peltier. Mr. Kuzma joined the legal profession believing that the law is a tool to bring about social, political, and economic change. He further believes that what happened to Leonard Peltier could happen to any one of us.
This program is sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of BaBa Eng. For more information: 716-834-8438 or karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org.
IPF WEBSITE:
http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
and
www.myspace.com/leonardpeltierisinnocent
IPF e-mail:
ipforum@skynet.be
Also, please visit the website of the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee (LPDOC):
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/
LPDOC e-mail:
contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
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