The Leonard Peltier Mixtape

Speaker 1: This song is called Freedom.

Speaker 2: Yeah! Come on, y'all! Let's take this to another level! Check this out!

Speaker 1: Yeah! Your anger is a gift.

Speaker 2: Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Speaker 3: Hey!

Speaker 2: Hey!

Speaker 1: Hey! In the early '70s, a group of Native Americans who realized that they were slowly and surely being exterminated by— on behalf of the government of these United States got together To stand up for their basic human rights, their basic constitutional rights, which were being denied for over 500 years. And in 1977, when the American Indian Movement, AIM, set foot onto the Pine Ridge Reservation, they were there to protect a people who were being murdered by the FBI. And on, on fucking June 26th, Yes. In 1975, there was a shootout that took place where 2 FBI agents were murdered, as well as a Native American. And in 1977, a man named Leonard Peltier was convicted on both accounts for a murder that he did not commit. And he has rotted in a jail cell for 17 years, despite the fact that it's been proven in a court of law that he is innocent. And he is in jail right now on a technicality.

Speaker 4: Yeah!

Speaker 1: They coerced witnesses. They falsified affidavits. They falsified ballistic reports. They placed Leonard and several other members of AIM on lists to be neutralized years before he was fucking placed under arrest for these murders. It is a sick fact that this man sits in jail. And there's a lot that everyone in this fucking place can do about it. There's a speaker's tent and a forum located back here behind this main auditorium where this very issue is going to be discussed by lawyers representing the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. Please take the time and go out there and show support for this cause and show support for this man who stood up for his people. This case represents a lot of hope for me and for all of us because it will show us that we don't have to depend on these fucking double-speaking, fucking bullshit liberal Dixiecrats, motherfuckers like Clinton, who refuse to fucking address the issues concerning Native Americans and the fact that they're being abused and violated and perpetrators of genocide against these people. These people's gone on for long enough. Your anger is a gift!

Speaker 2: Freedom!

Speaker 1: Yeah, right!

Speaker 2: Freedom! Yeah, freedom!

Speaker 5: Leonard Peltier is a North American Indian extradited from Canada largely on the basis of fabricated evidence. He was tried in the United States and convicted of the killing of 2 FBI agents in a shootout on a South Dakota reservation 12 years ago. To the American judicial system, Peltier is just a murderer. But big questions remain about FBI tactics during the trial. As a result, a campaign to win Peltier's freedom has involved church and government leaders in many parts of the world. And in the Soviet Union, Leonard Peltier is front-page news, portrayed as an innocent victim of a ruthless political system in the United States.

Speaker 2: To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts.

Speaker 5: A weekly candlelight service at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City. With all the ritual of a high Episcopalian service, the saints' blessings are invoked for what Very Reverend James Martin calls modern-day martyrs.

Speaker 6: So that the experience of being in prison is very much a part of the experience of God's people. And so, when we think of Leonard in prison and think of Nelson Mandela today, 2 men who stand before us as Bearing witness, but bearing witness in chains.

Speaker 5: Nelson Mandela jailed in South Africa. Leonard Peltier doing life in Kansas. It's become a crusade. Free Leonard Peltier. And outside, carved in the stone of a church so large it's second only to St. Peter's in Rome, carved in the very stone is the face of Leonard Peltier. It's a face which, on the other side of the world, in the Soviet Union, is as familiar as Ronald Reagan. It's all over the daily papers. And on television, the Soviets follow Peltier the way Americans keep track of dissidents like Sakharov or Shcharansky. A political prisoner in the heart of America. That's the Soviet message. It's not a propaganda case. It's a real man who is imprisoned, and he is innocent. TASS correspondent in Washington, Igor Ignatiev, covers the story. In my opinion, the case of Leonard Peltier was much more— came very unnoticed here because of reluctance of the American press to write And to look deeply into his case. Nothing but Soviet propaganda, a counter for their own gulags, says Richard Shifter, American Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights.

Speaker 3: In the United States, as in Canada, there are no political prisoners. Now, for example—

Speaker 5: Well, is Peltier in jail because he was an Indian leader, because he was a troublemaker?

Speaker 3: No. He's in jail because he's a murderer.

Speaker 5: He's in jail in Leavenworth, Kansas. Convicted of murder after a shootout with the FBI. Peltier or Peltier, martyr or murderer, he's a 42-year-old Ojibwe Indian who's served 10 years of a double life sentence. People now, a lot of people in the Soviet Union and a lot of people in Canada and the U.S., call you a political prisoner. What does that mean to you?

Leonard Peltier: Well, it's, I believe, somebody that's been imprisoned for their ideology. Somebody that's been convicted falsely.

Speaker 5: On the other hand, shooting cops is frowned upon most places, ideology notwithstanding.

Speaker 3: Right.

Leonard Peltier: I believe it's frowned on all over the world. But we've got to remember, too, now, the agency that we're speaking about right here was not totally innocent of crimes themselves on the reservation.

Speaker 5: The agency was the FBI. The reservation was Pine Ridge in South Dakota. In 1973, at Wounded Knee, members of the radical American Indian Movement took over part of the reservation. It started as a dispute between the AIM Indians and the elected leaders, but soon became an armed confrontation with the American government.

Speaker 3: What are you going to do now?

Speaker 2: I think we're going to prepare ourselves for, for the fight that we expected in the beginning. We have bet our lives that we can make change for the American Indian, whether we live or die.

Speaker 5: 2 months later, when the occupation ended, 2 Indians were dead, 2 FBI men wounded. But the fighting between Indians continued, and the FBI increased its manpower and firepower around the reservation. Terrorist tactics came to Pine Ridge, and over the next 2 years, 60 Indians were killed, most of the murders unsolved. In June 1975, 2 FBI agents drove onto the reservation to arrest someone for stealing a pair of cowboy boots. There was a gunfight with a handful of Indian radicals. The Indians say the agents started it. The FBI says its men were just mowed down. Peltier was blasting away with his high-powered rifle, but doubts he hit anyone. When you get into a gunfight and you're shooting at policemen, whether your bullet actually killed them or not, you're still guilty of murder. You were a part of the gang that killed them.

Leonard Peltier: Well, we weren't a gang, for one thing. And secondly, there's a law in this country where you have a right for self-defense. And people believed that they were under attack and that they were defending themselves.

Speaker 5: It may well have been self-defense.

Speaker 3: Who knows?

Speaker 5: Federal prosecutor Lynn Crooks made the government's case.

Lynn Crooks: Common sense tells you what the FBI was up to. What you're talking about is 2 guys coming in with service revolvers, You stop a vehicle. You get out. You're intending to find out if your subject is in that vehicle. And these guys on this Indian reservation, without knowing what they're up against, are going to start blazing off at 200 yards with those service revolvers? And then you have a response from these people of 100— that leave 125 bullet holes in their cars? And that's somehow or other supposed to be painted as a picture where our agents started this fight?

Speaker 2: Right.

Leonard Peltier: I mean, this—

Lynn Crooks: they never had a chance.

Speaker 3: This is absurd.

Speaker 5: Within minutes, the 2 agents were dead, first wounded, then finished off at close range. Somebody literally blew their heads off.

Lynn Crooks: Yes.

Speaker 5: Did you see that happen?

Leonard Peltier: No, I did not.

Kevin Sharpe: No.

Speaker 5: That's what you're convicted of doing.

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 5: Did you do it?

Leonard Peltier: No. No.

Speaker 5: Somebody did it, and over 250 state troopers, U.S. Marshals, and FBI agents Police poured into the area, searching for the killers. Peltier fled to Canada. 9 months later, he was arrested in Alberta and taken to Vancouver for an extradition hearing.

Speaker 2: Murder!

Speaker 5: The Americans wanted him back. The Indians protested that they wanted him not for murder, but for his politics, and that he would not get a fair trial at home. Nevertheless, Peltier would be extradited, largely on the basis of 2 affidavits from a supposed eyewitness to the shooting. These affidavits were found to be false, but Peltier was sent back anyway. Today, Canada says there was still enough other evidence to order the return.

Speaker 10: This is Mr. Hansen, U.S.

Speaker 6: Marshal's Office in Western Washington.

Speaker 5: Peltier was one of 4 Indians charged. By the time he was flown back, 2 of his co-defendants had already been acquitted on the basis of self-defense. Charges had been dropped against a third. Peltier was the last to come to trial. At the federal courthouse in Fargo, North Dakota, Peltier tried to use politics as a defense, but the judge kept it to murder and went by the book.

Leonard Peltier: I did not receive a fair trial. When I— when the government presented evidence that they knew wasn't factual, that's a form of manufacturing evidence. When I was not allowed to properly cross-examine the witnesses, that is another form of not allowing me to defend myself. And that's precisely what happened in that whole trial.

Speaker 5: There was no political case allowed. And some witnesses did admit they had been coerced by the FBI. But on April 15th, 1977, Peltier was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 2 life terms. While Peltier sat in prison, the FBI's conduct was going on trial. Radical lawyer William Kunstler wants a new trial for his client. He says the agency went too far to win this case.

William Kunstler: It's important for a number of reasons. They have 2 dead agents, and they want someone to answer for it. Secondly, there's been a vendetta against the American Indian Movement by the FBI. They've replaced the 7th Cavalry as the prime source of discontent on many of the Western reservations.

Speaker 5: But they had to backtrack so many times, it leads one to believe that either they were trying to set somebody up or they're damned incompetent.

Lynn Crooks: They tripped over their feet. That I'll concede. They had too many agents working on the case. They wound up with more paper than they could control. They wound up with more paper than I could control.

Speaker 5: 5 years ago, the defense got its hands on some of that paper, 12,000 pages of it. One note suggested that Peltier's rifle could not have fired the fatal shots. But the prosecutor disputes that interpretation. And Lynn Crooks says it doesn't matter anyway.

Lynn Crooks: What the law requires us to prove is that this man was a knowing participant in a chain of events which led to 2 dead bodies. We proved that without that bullet even ever being mentioned.

Speaker 5: So far, the courts have agreed. In September, a court of appeal found that while some evidence was wrongfully withheld, the jury probably would have convicted anyway. Still, Peltier maintains that the FBI was just out to get the American Indian Movement.

Leonard Peltier: We did find some documentation where once they had the national leadership tied up, more or less, in the courts and everything, that they were supposed to start concentrating on the people that were below them. And their whole purpose was to destroy the American Indian Movement.

Speaker 5: An important leader of the AIM movement, given Wounded Knee, given the mood of the times?

Lynn Crooks: This man isn't a leader of the Indian movement. He's a thug. He's basically a thug that is there as a bodyguard for some other relatively important Indian leaders. But he himself is a nobody.

Speaker 5: Well, he was a bodyguard. He was hardly an intellectual leader of the movement. Does he deserve martyr status?

William Kunstler: Well, we don't want martyr status. We just want a fair trial. Everyone talks about martyr status. We want him to have a fair trial, where an independent jury would get all of the evidence, not just that which the FBI wants them to get, while withholding that which exonerates.

Speaker 5: No luck with the courts, though. So Peltier's supporters are out hustling world opinion. The Kansas City headquarters for the Leonard Peltier Defense Campaign may be a little shabby, but they've picked up some impressive support.

Speaker 2: There's some precedence on the Commission on Human Rights Council of Exterior Affairs in Spain.

Speaker 10: I believe we should jump on this, uh—

Speaker 5: Peltier's just won an award from the Human Rights Commission of Spain. In England, Amnesty International and even the Archbishop of Canterbury have called for a new trial.

Speaker 4: I want to do a tour report, is what I want to do.

Speaker 5: Right now, they're busy with a tour linking Peltier's plight with Nelson Mandela's. It's being supported by Bishop Desmond Tutu, and the city councils of Detroit, Washington, and San Francisco have passed resolutions calling for the release of both men. The tour is on its way to Canada, and already 60 members of Parliament have signed a petition for a new trial, among them former Solicitor Generals Warren Almond and Robert Kaplan. The information was false. This constitutes a treaty fraud. New Democrat Jim Fulton thinks the original extradition should be looked at, too. What I want to occur is to have Mr. Peltier returned so that the extradition proceeding can take place on correct, accurate, verifiable information. If he's then extradited on that basis, then so be it. In Washington, 55 members of Congress have come out for a new trial, along with Reverend Jesse Jackson and other prominent church leaders. Back in Fargo, none of this impresses Lynn Crooks. Does it frustrate you to see how this cause has developed, this story's developed?

Lynn Crooks: Oh, very much so. Very much so, simply because what I perceive is, for some reason, the disinterest in justice. The point being that we have 2 dead bodies. We have 2 young men, 26 years old, doing their job, mowed down in their prime. And nobody in their cause seems to give a damn about that. I find that sickening.

Stephanie Autumn: I agree somebody did kill the agents.

Speaker 5: Stephanie Autumn was Pelche's common-law wife.

Stephanie Autumn: I've gone over testimony. I've talked to almost everyone that was there that day, and I know that Leonard is innocent.

Speaker 5: Last year, she and two other supporters took their cause to the Soviet Union. The Russians pulled out the red carpet for what they called the American freedom fighters. Autumn's visits with schoolkids, factory workers, even the first woman cosmonaut made television news every night. This Soviet news film reports on Autumn's meetings with the Moscow Young Pioneers. In it, she's telling them how much Leonard loves children. They're telling her how much they love the Soviet Union. But when Autumn asked about the treatment of native people in their country, the comradeship cooled.

Stephanie Autumn: What we said, in terms of translation, did not exactly come out as we had said it.

Speaker 5: What do you mean it didn't exactly come out?

Stephanie Autumn: Verbatim, what— and in terms of a speech that I had given to Soviet women, in terms of their responsibility to environmental pollution and the effect that it has on our children, it was roughly translated that women are lucky to give birth to new men.

Speaker 5: Were you worried about being used to cover up the Soviet judicial system, or lack of it, from what we understand over here?

Stephanie Autumn: No, that was not an issue there. We went to the Soviet Union because Indians going to the Soviet Union gets media attention. And we were hoping that other countries, neutral countries— France, English, non-aligned countries— would pick up the momentum where the Soviet Union would leave off and invite us to their countries and examine the case of Leonard Peltier.

Speaker 5: The Soviets call this a politically motivated persecution. American human rights chief Robert Shifter. Are you embarrassed by this case? Are you embarrassed by your government's performance?

Speaker 3: No, we are certainly not. The fact of the matter is that the Soviets can dream up any case and make an issue of it. And as long as they control all the media that reach their people, they can sell them on anything. There's no question about that. To the extent to which they have influenced people outside the Soviet Union to think that they have a valid point. All I can say is their propaganda department deserves a certain amount of credit for that, because they have been able to turn a lie into something that has been accepted by perhaps a number of well-meaning people in the West.

Speaker 5: Soviet newscasts claim Peltier is simply the most famous of thousands of political prisoners in the United States. Soviet viewers are told about Indian poverty, suicide, and disease, and Peltier is portrayed as leader of the fight against a deliberate government policy of genocide against native peoples. For the last 5 years, regular updates have kept Russians informed on every detail of the Peltier case. And the Russians love anything about Indians. Books on Wounded Knee are bestsellers in Moscow stores. I'm a Russian. Комсомольская Правда, a paper for young Soviets, has had the most coverage. It carries a regular feature on Pelche and has mounted a huge letter campaign. But Elena Ovcharenko denies the government has anything to do with her young readers' response.

Speaker 13: We have their letters, we have the postcards, we have their opinions, and so we have the readers, 15 million readers. And so, the young people, who are very active, who want to be active, who want to be interested in everything— and so, when we have a pile of letters, we are to— well, we are to give a response to the proposals.

Speaker 5: The paper claims it has collected 18 million signatures calling for Peltier's release, and they've been sent on to the White House. Conveniently, many of them were delivered during President Reagan's human rights campaign before the Geneva summit. And so, when the Americans went off to complain about Sakharov, the Soviets were ready to hammer back Peltier.

Speaker 14: Well, during the holidays, the atmosphere of goodwill and mercy traditionally extends all the way to the nation's highest leaders, with presidents typically pardoning more prisoners than any other time of the year. On Friday, actors, musicians and activists are uniting to renew calls for clemency for one of America's most well-known and longest-incarcerated prisoners. Incarcerated prisoners, Leonard Peltier. The Native American activist and former member of the American Indian Movement was convicted of killing 2 FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. The shootout occurred 2 years after the American Indian Movement occupied the village of Wounded Knee for 71 days. The occupation of Wounded Knee is considered the beginning of—

Kevin Sharpe: Of what?

Speaker 14: People refer to as the Reign of Terror. During that time, some 64 local Native Americans were murdered. Most of them had ties to AIM. Their deaths went uninvestigated by the FBI. Leonard Peltier has long maintained his innocence. Amnesty International considers him a political prisoner who was not granted a fair trial. Notable figures, such as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, also say he was wrongly imprisoned. On Friday, singers Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger and others will host a Bring Leonard Peltier Home 2012 concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York City to raise awareness of Peltier's 37-year ordeal and plead for executive clemency from President Obama.

Speaker 13: Back in 2000, many of Peltier's supporters had high hopes that outgoing President Bill Clinton would pardon Peltier before the end of his second term. It was on Election Day, November 7th, 2000, that I got a chance to question President Clinton. He was calling into radio stations around New York. —urging people to get out the vote for Hillary Clinton, who was running for Senate at the time, and for Al Gore, who was running for president. And I asked him if he had any intention of issuing a pardon for Leonard Peltier. What is your position on granting Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist, executive clemency?

Bill Clinton: Well, I don't have a position I can announce yet. I think if— I believe there is a new application. For him in there. And when I have time after the election's over, I'm going to review all the remaining executive clemency applications and, you know, see what the merits dictate. I will try to do what I think the right thing to do is based on the evidence. And I've never had the time actually to sit down myself and review that case. I know it's very important to a lot of people, maybe on both sides of the issue, and I think I owe it to them to —given an honest look-see. So, part of my responsibilities in the last 10 weeks of office after the election will be to review the requests for pardons and executive clemencies and give them a fair hearing. And I pledge to do that.

Speaker 13: And you will give an answer in his case?

Bill Clinton: Oh, yeah. I'll decide one way or the other.

Speaker 13: Of course, President Clinton never did pardon Peltier. Instead, he granted a pardon to fugitive billionaire Marc Rich, who had been living in Switzerland since a 1983 indictment on charges of wire fraud, racketeering, Tax evasion and trading with Iran in violation of a U.S. embargo. Rich's ex-wife, Denise Rich, was a major donor to the campaigns of both President Clinton and his wife, then-New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Peltier said in response, quote, We can see who's granted clemency and why. The big donors to the president's campaign were able to buy justice, something we just couldn't afford. Meanwhile, many political prisoners continue to languish unjustly, proof that this nation's talk about reconciliation is nothing Today, we air video of Peltier never before broadcast from an interview by German journalist Klaus Bieger.

Speaker 14: In this clip, Peltier recites his poetry.

Speaker 2: I would like to read a couple of poems out of my book for you.

Leonard Peltier: In the Shadowed Night. Sometimes, in the shadowed night, I become spirit. The walls, the bars, the gratings dissolve into light, and I can— and I unloosen my soul and fly through the inner darkness of my being. I become transparent. A bright shadow. A bird of dreams singing from the tree of life. The knife of my mind. I have no presence. I have only a past and perhaps a future. The presence has been taken from me. I'm left in an empty space whose darkness I carve. I'm sorry. I must carve at with the knife of my mind. I must carve myself and you out of the razor wire lightness— nothingness. I will know the ecstasy and the pain of freedom. I will be ordinary again. Yes, ordinary, that terrifying condition. Where all is possibility, where the present exists and must be faced.

Speaker 14: Leonard Peltier currently remains incarcerated at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida. His next scheduled parole hearing is in July 2024. Barring appeals or parole, Peltier's projected release date is October 11th, 2040. —when he will be over 95 years old. It remains yet to be seen if President Obama will do what Clinton did not: use his second term to pardon Leonard Peltier. Last month, ProPublica reported that Obama has granted clemency at a lower rate than any president in modern history.

Speaker 13: When we come back, we'll speak with the acclaimed actor, narrator, longtime friend and advocate of Leonard Peltier, Peter Coyote.

Speaker 17: Thank you.

Speaker 13: Thanks so much for watching this report from Democracy Now!, your daily, independent global news hour. We don't accept advertising or corporate funding, but rather rely on donations from viewers like you. Please make your contribution by visiting democracynow.org. We need your support today to keep bringing you this hard-hitting, in-depth reporting. On Saturday, after the Leonard Peltier concert at the Beacon Theatre, I had a chance to speak directly with Leonard Peltier, when he called into a news conference That was organized by Native elders, his lawyers and Pete Seeger. I conducted the interview in the front row of the press conference by telephone, as he spoke to me from the U.S. Penitentiary at Coleman, Florida. Peltier was sentenced to prison in 1977. He's now 68 years old. Leonard, this is Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! I was wondering—

Speaker 2: Hi, Amy! How are you?

Speaker 13: Hi, I'm good. I was wondering if you have a message Concerning what? Your situation, or the situation in the world, or your own situation.

Speaker 2: Stop all the wars, or what? Which kind of message are you talking about?

Speaker 13: You can share several messages.

Speaker 2: OK. Well, I just hope he can, you know, stop the wars that are going on in the world and stop getting —and killing all those people, getting killed, and, you know, give the Black Hills back to my people and turn me loose.

Speaker 13: Can you share with people at the news conference and with President Obama your case for why you should be— your sentence should be commuted, why you want clemency?

Speaker 2: Well, I never got a fair trial, for one. I mean, you know, my case has been fraudled from the moment they had grand jury hearings. They had somebody on the grand jury hearing, testifying against me, I'd never met in my life. And from the extradition from Canada, they violated international laws. And then, at the trial, they had admitted racists— From a federal prison. At the trial, they had admitted racists on the jury. Wouldn't allow me to put up a defense, and manufactured evidence, manufactured witnesses, tortured witnesses. You know, the list just goes on.

Leonard Peltier: Hmm.

Speaker 2: So I think I'm a very good candidate for— after 37 years— for clemency or house arrest, at least.

Speaker 13: What would house arrest mean? And can you describe your conditions in the prison in Florida where you are right now?

Speaker 2: Well, I'm in a United States penitentiary, which is a supermax penitentiary. And that's like all the rest of the penitentiaries. And house arrest would be that I'd be home— I'd be home on house arrest. I'd probably have to wear an anklet or a bracelet on my ankle. That would be a lot better than this. At least I could get some medical treatment then. You know, I've got a real bad prostate right now, and it's just getting worse and worse. It ain't getting any better. It isn't healing itself, so, you know, it just continues to grow worse.

Speaker 13: You were convicted of aiding and abetting the killing of these 2 FBI agents. What is your response to that?

Speaker 2: Actually, I was convicted of first-degree murder, but after their case fell apart, They confirmed the conviction on the most critical evidence against me, the murder weapon. And then we filed a Freedom of Information Act and found 2 documents where they had done scientific tests from their firearms laboratory, and it came out negative. So this was another piece of manufactured evidence, besides Myrtle Poor, Myrtle witnesses, and stuff like this. But so then their case fell apart, and then in '92— in 1985, when And the federal— 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Haney asked the prosecutors, just what was Mr. Peltier convicted of? Because we cannot find no evidence of first-degree murder in the record. The prosecutor, Lynn Crooks, stated that the government doesn't know who killed the agents, nor does he know what participation Leonard Peltier may have had in it. So, in 1992, I filed an appeal again, asking, what am I— what was I imprisoned for, if the government doesn't know what I'm in here for? So they changed it to aiding and abetting, which is illegal, illegal, because I was never indicted for it. I was never prosecuted for it. And it takes a whole different defense in your trial. So I don't know what the hell I'm in here for.

Speaker 13: How is your health? And can you describe the conditions?

Speaker 2: Well, it's a United States penitentiary, you know, and they're getting worse and worse every year. They're not like they were 20, 30 years ago. And I have— well, I have a bad prostate. I mean, you know, the doctor said that one side is— one side looks healthy and the other side is not healthy.

Speaker 6: OK.

Speaker 2: On my prostate, when they gave me that scope test over a year ago. But so far, it hasn't showed any cancer. I mean, you know, that's pretty— this is one of the biggest killers of men. So all they gave me is a pill for it.

Speaker 13: And diabetes?

Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, I got all the other stuff, too— diabetes, high blood pressure. Had a mild heart attack, had a mild stroke at one time. Falling apart.

Speaker 13: Do you have any hope that you will be freed?

Speaker 2: Well, you know, according to the laws, they had the 30-year mandatory release law. After 30 years, I was supposed to be released. Of course, that went by. In February, I'll have 37. But also, when I was sentenced to prison, A life sentence was 7 years. I did not get life without parole. I got a life sentence. So I've done actually about 5, 6 life sentences now. And, you know, that's really— you know, they're violations of their own laws, again, just on that. So, and I don't know. I'm fighting for it. I'm going to try to get out. OK.

Speaker 13: What is your—

Speaker 2: So far, so far, it ain't looking very good, I'll tell you that much.

Speaker 13: What is your response to the FBI that campaigns against your release?

Speaker 2: Oh, they're full of crap. You know, they're the ones that should be investigated for all the murders they committed on Pine Ridge. They supported that, those killings. Basically, they financed it. They gave intelligence. And armor-piercing ammunition and sophisticated weaponry. This was all done— this was all stated by Dwayne Brewer, who was one of the leaders of the goon squads on the reservation. So, I mean, they're the ones that should be investigated, which, by the way, so I might add now, some of the Indians had won state championships. What federal prison? 8 senators in South Dakota are now calling for an investigation on that. They are going to put it together. And the son of Tim Johnson, who was an attorney— one in the attorney general's office in South Dakota— Tim Johnson's congressman over there, his son is going to lead that investigation.

Speaker 13: And what's the significance of that?

Speaker 2: Well, you can put the murderers in jail, for shit. I mean, that's the way I look at it.

Speaker 13: For people who don't know about your case, especially young people, how would you like to be described? How would you, Leonard Peltier, like to be known to them?

Speaker 2: Well, just somebody that stood up for his people's rights and who tried to stop the Termination Act and all the other crimes committed against my people. That's the only reason I'm here. They ain't got me— they ain't proved nothing about me. They ain't proved I did anything, let alone kill somebody.

Speaker 13: What would you do if you were free?

Speaker 2: Well, I'd probably go home on house arrest. I mean, that's the only thing I can expect, because I don't think Obama's going to give— he's going to do what Bill Clinton did, and he ain't going to give no He's not going to get clemency until his last year. It's just not going to happen. I really don't believe it. So I'm trying to— we're trying to— George Bush signed the Second Chance Act, which is house arrest. And so we're trying to push that so I can get over there, at least maybe get some— if I do get house arrest, I can at least get some medical treatment, you know. But they're not giving it to me.

Speaker 18: Right.

Speaker 2: They're just, you know, they're not going to give it to me. That's all there is to it. And, well, if I did, I'd go home to North Dakota. I got about 10 seconds left. That buzzer just gave me about— well, about a minute, I think, I got left.

Speaker 13: What gives you— what gives you hope, Leonard?

Speaker 2: Huh?

Speaker 13: What gives you hope?

Speaker 2: People like you and all the other supporters out there and people that are Behind me, my people, that's the only hope I got.

Speaker 13: And the meaning of Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger and about 1,000 other people who came out last night to this event in your honor?

Speaker 2: I've got to say this. I've got to say this real quick. I've got 10 seconds. Thank you all very, very much. And I'm sorry I can't— my time is up. I've got to get off this phone.

Speaker 4: I love you, Leonard. Love you, too!

Speaker 2: Love you, Leonard! Stay strong!

Speaker 13: That was Leonard Peltier. I was speaking with him at a news conference on Saturday, on the telephone. He was— he is in prison at the U.S. Penitentiary at Coleman in Florida. He's been in prison for 37 years, is now asking President Obama for clemency. On Friday, a major concert was held here in New York calling for his release. Peltier is one of America's most well-known and Longest incarcerated prisoners. Go to our website at democracynow.org to see him reading his own poetry and to see Peter Coyote describing his case.

Speaker 19: Green Gulf free, and green and above, full the jargon of love. Che Guevara, hooked up and crying to Crazy Horse at Düsseldorf. To Crazy Horse at Düsseldorf, torn in the gusts and buried alive, living apart and silver in air, ashed, faded.

Speaker 4: I'm sorry.

Speaker 19: The Crazy Horse of Dessa. It's just your mouth and then y'all can't do more than the same song. The Crazy Horse of Dessa. It's the feds are coming to get that free anda. The Crazy Horse of Dessa. Crazy Horse, race.

Speaker 2: Thank you.

Speaker 20: Leonard Peltier will be entering his 37th year imprisonment this year. He was arrested in 1975. He's perhaps the longest-serving political prisoner around the world. And it is a crime against humanity that this man should continue to be in jail. He was convicted for something he did not do. People who were co-accused with him were released on the basis that they were involved in self-defense. It was the FBI who invaded their reservation and, in previous years, had been responsible for the deaths of up to 60 people. So Leonard Peltier is a just cause. He's a very honorable man. He has massive support around the world, including from people like Nelson Mandela, Gerry Adams, The European Parliament, the United Nations, many, many people have called for clemency by successive U.S. governments, and all of them have rejected that claim. And indeed, in the case of President Clinton, he granted amnesty to a multimillionaire who had embezzled millions of dollars instead of allowing Leonard Peltier to be released. It is a crime.

Speaker 17: I was here six years ago, and being in this community and listening to the stories of what happened to the people here in Ireland. It was so similar to what happened to us as indigenous people in the United States. And it's sad that so many of our people have had to go to prison. And one of the best friends I've ever had in my life is in prison right now, and he's been there for 36 years. He's been accused and found guilty.

Speaker 21: Guilty.

Speaker 17: Guilty of aiding and abetting the killing of 2 FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. And you talk about an injustice. Even extraditing him from Canada to the United States was on false evidence, affidavits. The trial of Dino Butler and Bob Robbins, That's right. Had already happened. They were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. So what happens? They did a change of venue. They changed the case up to Fargo, North Dakota, in front of a judge who isn't kind to Native people. They lied to the jury, saying we were out to kill him, you've got to watch out Don't work with those AIM people, because they're going to try to kill you. And so, they were already intimidated, not by us, but by the FBI, what they were telling them. And needless to say, he was found guilty of aiding and abetting. And instead of giving them life sentences that they would run concurrently, they gave them 2 life sentences to run consecutively. Should he ever live to be able to be released, his release date is 2049 or '46, something like that. Leonard isn't going to be alive. Well, right now, when we look at what's going on with Obama, we're in election year right now in the United States. There's a very good chance that he'll run again, but there's a chance He may not. He has nothing to lose. On his last day, as he's finishing in the White House, he could sign that paperwork. If he gets reelected, he's got nothing to lose. He's going to be there for another four years. Why keep Leonard in prison for another four years? So the best thing is for him to sign, and that's what we're looking for—is not only support. It's important in the United States, but we need it worldwide now. We need to bring it to the world. And who best to understand what we've been through as indigenous people than the people of Ireland? And that's why I came here. So, right now, we need to get Leonard out of prison. His health is not good. At one time, I told him, you know, Leonard, there's 2 ways of you getting out of here. One, that somebody He signs the paperwork, and you walk on your own 2 feet. The other way is for 6 men to carry you home. I do not want to see 6 men carrying him home. It's time for the president to stand up and sign the paperwork so Leonard can come home. So I ask for your support.

Speaker 2: Thank you.

Speaker 6: And also supporters of them— Bo, June, Lauren Blackout, Lucas Ten Fingers. A lot of our movement members have made their journey. And as I walked today, I remembered that— I remembered my son.

Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sorry.

Speaker 6: 3 years ago, he left me. He was a strong supporter of the movement, but he chose the way that took him. So today I walk for them, for them that went before us. And again, I want to thank everybody that came today, helped.

Speaker 2: Walked.

Speaker 6: It's a struggle every day. We that live on Earth are struggling to survive. Those that have gone on before us, they're, they're in a good world. No pain, no suffering. So I just want to say that much and thank all of you for coming, the young people, the elderly. We appreciate that. My family and friends, I hope you are comfortable and that you are all healthy and happy. For those of you who walked today, I imagine the sun gave you a little more color, and I'm proud of all of you.

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 6: You know, if I were out, I would have been walking with you, leading the charge, of course. In my mind, I am right there with you. I can smell the burning sage and sweetgrass intermingled with the smells from the boxes of fry bread, the big pans of potato salad. The Uncis are sitting on chairs in the shade, probably teasing each other and laughing like only you can. I see all of you sitting on the blankets under the shade on the hard, dry ground, trying to find a way to be comfortable.

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 6: I can look over to where the old campsite was and spot the place where the guys would cut the wood and the place where the gardens were. A sadness comes over me as I see the foundation where the homestead of Grandma and Grandpa Jumping Bull once stood. I remember the kids running around and playing carefree and happy. At times, it seems like it was a long time ago, and other times, it feels like it was yesterday. Sometimes, when I'm alone, I wonder why life has to be so hard for our people. It's puzzling that some of our own people will turn against us. Is it money? Power? Greed? We were here because we were asked to be here.

Speaker 1: Yes.

Speaker 6: —to stand as protection to the traditional families who continue to follow the original instructions as handed down to us from generation to generation in the form of our creation stories. I am told there is now an investigation being implemented for the murder of the 60-some people killed during the Reign of Terror. It's an outrage that it took over 40 years to discover that a bullet hole In the back. In the back doesn't sound like death by natural cause. We were there also to protect the land from being raped by the government for uranium. We have evidence of the chemical dumps placed on our land without the knowledge or consent of our members and the leaking of radiation 5 times the safe level, polluting the veins of our Mother Earth And turning our sacred water into a poison that would cause our childbearing women to abort their unborn babies, and cancer replacing natural cause on the death certificates of many of our people. I'm not trying to make this a gloom-and-doom message. I'm only trying to give an understanding to some of our young people that we need to continue to protect all that is sacred to us. Our elders, our women and our children, our culture and way of life, and each other. I am always asked about an update on what is going on with me, and I will try to explain. As my team can tell you, my blood pressure is high. My diabetes is out of control to the point —of causing problems to my sight, and I have a lot of pain in walking. My medication has been withheld for several months, and doctor appointments are a rare occurrence. I have been tested for prostate cancer, and although I was never given any clear answer of whether or not cancer exists, the symptoms indicate there's definitely something wrong. The recent problems with shortness of breath and chest pains are causing me additional stress. I assure you, this is not the place to be sick or to have health problems, because in prison we are just another number. It's just a good thing I don't need to take medication to keep a sense of humor, or I would definitely be screwed.

Speaker 2: Aww.

Speaker 6: Additionally, I was approved by my counselors inside For a transfer to a medium-security prison closer to home, but the transfer was denied from the office in Texas without a reason. Although the denial was appealed, who knows how long that will take to be reviewed. In closing, I want to say pilamaya to all of you for your hard work. I know this is a great undertaking to organize an event. It humbles me to know that you are taking the time to answer not only me, but all of the warriors who are attempting to take the history— to take the his story out of history, by standing up and telling our story. I stand with you in support of recognizing our inherent rights, our true seekers and our sacred way of life.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 6: To those of you preparing to Sundance, I hope you will feel me dancing next to you. In Anepe, I am there taking in the steam and singing with you. But as you can guess, I am getting tired. I just want to be home with my people. I want to wake up to the sound of the birds singing outside my window and the smell of cowboy coffee coming from the kitchen. Instead of hearing the clanging of cell doors and jingling of rings of keys. Please continue to fight for what is right. That is all I can ask. Mitákuye oyasin. Tokša, in the spirit of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier.

Speaker 21: This is a letter that Leonard Peltier Pass it along to Peter. And I'm going to read the first part of a statement, and I'm going to pass it on to the next person to read it, so you get a very good understanding of where he's coming from. So, here we go. Greetings to you, my relatives and friends. This is the first time that my dear sister Rosalyn will not be here— be there for me, but I know she is there in spirit, as she has gone on her journey. I have seen pictures of all the gathering over the years and I can still see her sitting there under the trees with our relatives. I will always miss her and be grateful to her for all she did for me and for our people. This year, I am most concerned with our children and the taking of their own lives. This is very sad to me, as it is to you, and I know there are many reasons for them to feel such despair and hopelessness. But I can only ask and encourage all of us to double our efforts To show them love and support and let them know that we will always look after them and protect them. That includes asking big brothers and sisters to look after the younger ones. They are our future, and they have to be protected and to learn to be protectors. This is not something we can live with. We need to work to change this.

Cathy Peltier: And this year, it is even more urgent that we come together to protect our sovereignty. There are so many issues to face and fight. We continue to fight for our Black Hills and to stop the Keystone XL pipeline from poisoning our water and our land.

Speaker 4: And I stand with the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota nations and all people of like mind in this fight.

Speaker 21: The destruction of our Mother Earth and toxic tar sands oil, fracking, gas and oil drilling, and uranium mining is unacceptable to me and to us. We are supposed to be protecting these things. Even as others try to push us aside, I honor all of our relatives who are on the front lines of this fight. And after all that I've seen in these 40 years behind bars, I was still shocked to see what they are trying to do to the Apache people at Oak Flats. This cannot be tolerated. It is not only a blatant money grab at the expense of a tribe's sacred site, but it is an effort to push us back in the direction of termination by ignoring our rights, This we will not tolerate. Nothing is sacred to these people, and they will continue to try to bulldoze us out of the way without even a single thought to our coming generations if we do not continue to stand up and oppose them.

Speaker 4: We must be ready for anything, or we will lose all that we have gained in the The continued use of racial mascots is not something that we can ever accept as Indigenous peoples, and we need to all continue to push to end that racist practice.

Speaker 21: As for me, time is something I've learned a lot about in these years in prison, and now I can see That time is slipping away from me, and I know that if I do not get out under this president, I'll almost certainly die here in prison. I have been able to survive with the hope you have given to me and your prayers, and I am grateful, grateful for that support from all of you. I continue to pray for the family of my brother, Joe Spotts, and for all I pray for those who paid such a dear price in those bitter times.

Speaker 4: And I pray for the families of all our people who have suffered so much and continue to suffer now. I thank all of you for coming today, and I know how hot it can be there.

Speaker 21: And especially to all the runners and walkers, I offer all of my gratitude. I send my love to the people of the Lakota Nations and to all Native nations. In the spirit of Crazy Horse, Doug Shaw. Doug Shaw. Leonard Peltier.

Harry Belafonte: And as a passing thought— not so passing, but I'll take this opportunity to publicly, once again— for the last few months, passionate appeal has been made to President Barack Obama to use the power of the executive office — to free my friend and our leader, Leonard Peltier—

Speaker 2: Boo! —

Harry Belafonte: with the understanding that if he fails before now and the end of the year to step to the plate and do the right thing, It'll be a long time before we get a chance to think about Leonard being freed. But I think we just have to keep on keeping on.

Speaker 13: The legendary entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte speaking Monday night at a celebration of Democracy Now!'s 20th anniversary at Riverside Church here in New York, the same site where Martin Luther King gave his historic speech against the Vietnam War April 4th, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated.

Speaker 24: Activists are calling for President Biden to grant clemency to America's longest-held Indigenous prisoner. Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist who was convicted of aiding and abetting the murder of 2 FBI agents after a controversial trial. He's currently serving 2 consecutive life imprisonment sentences. Leonard Peltier's attorney, Kevin Sharpe, joins me now for more on the case to grant him clemency. Kevin, welcome. So, the shooting of the FBI agents took place in 1975. You were first introduced to this case in 2000.

Leonard Peltier: Yes.

Kevin Sharpe: I tell you, and it really is want to represent Mr. Peltier. I had just stepped off the federal bench. So, I had been a federal district court judge and had taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution. I stepped down from the bench in 2017, and someone sent me Mr. Peltier's file to take a look. I had actually been working on other clemency applications.

Speaker 2: And I read it, and I said, this is a great case.

Kevin Sharpe: And someone asked me to take a look at the file. And what I saw so shocked me and so disturbed me that I called back and said, let Mr. Peltier know that I'm taking this case on pro bono. The level of misconduct was open and obvious and really bothered me as an officer of the court. You know, one of the things they don't say is that they didn't engage in the misconduct. What they say is the courts upheld The conviction in spite of their misconduct, but it also required them to change their theory. Their theory had been that Mr. Peltier shot these agents. Once it was discovered that they hid exculpatory evidence, which is required to be turned over under the case of United States versus Brady, once that was discovered, it showed it was a ballistics test that showed Leonard Peltier did not shoot the agents. And so they changed their theory to one of aiding and abetting and said, well, he was there, along with about 40 other people. Yes, he was there. And so the standard of review was different at that time. Now, finding that kind of a constitutional violation would never be upheld. There was also a juror who admitted on day 2 that she was prejudiced against Native Americans, allowed to stay on the jury. That would never It's why James Reynolds, who was the U.S. attorney who took over the case, says— agrees that would never be upheld in a court today. This clemency needs to be granted.

Speaker 24: And you do have prominent supporters. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was among them, Amnesty International. They say that they recognize the seriousness —of the crime for which Leonard Peltier was convicted and have the deepest sympathy for the relatives of Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. But they believe that the political factors, they say, at the time, in the context of tense relations between AIM and the FBI, may have influenced the way in which the case was prosecuted.

Stephanie Autumn: Right.

Speaker 24: But, Mr. Sharpe, what is your client's position now on whether or not he had, in fact, shot at the officers, independent of whether he was responsible for killing them?

Kevin Sharpe: There was shooting back and forth. No one knew who these men were. You have to place that into context. And let me add, there was another person killed that day in addition to the 2 agents, a young Native boy who was 21 named Joe Stuntz. No one ever looked into who shot him. We know it was an agent, but we don't know why and under what circumstances. Nobody cared. But context matters. Right. And that's why, in addition to the violations, the constitutional violations, which ought to make a difference, that ought to be the endgame here. This is over. He should be released. But you have to understand the context. You have to understand the context of general government agent misconduct in the area as it relates to what was called the reign of terror and their backing of a private militia group that there were About 60 murders in that area over a 3-year period, that the victims were all either AIM members or AIM supporters. Nobody was investigating that. And so these indigenous peoples were having to protect themselves. They went to the government asking for help, and they weren't getting it. We now know it's because the government was working with the private militia that was doing this. So That's why they were there. And when 2 people in unmarked cars and plainclothes, one of them wearing moccasins, shows up, a firefight is going to happen. Everybody knows this is a powder keg. And so, it's no surprise that shooting started. It was the 1970s in and around Pine Ridge. And as one of the judges said in one of the court opinions, the government needs to take responsibility for their role And it is— I agree, it is a tragedy that 3 people were killed that day.

Speaker 24: Mr. Sharpe, I understand that your client recently tested positive for COVID. What is— how's he doing, first of all? And then, what are the next steps if clemency is not granted by President Biden?

Kevin Sharpe: Well, he has tested positive for COVID. It was one of our greatest fears, having Someone of his age and his multiple comorbidities and multiple health issues inside a Bureau of Prisons facility, it was kind of a disaster waiting to happen. And it did. So, he tested positive on Friday. It's difficult to get information out of the Bureau of Prisons. I know that he is in medical unit quarantine and under observation. And other than that, I can't tell you much else. OK. About how he's doing. Our push right now is to get clemency from President Biden. This is really Leonard's last hope because of his age, because of his health problems. Clemency is is it. It's just a you know time served sentence reduction. It's what he deserves. It's really the next step in trying to heal. The relationship with the federal government and the Native American community. Context matters. And it's hard to understand what happened on Pine Ridge in '75 without understanding Wounded Knee in '73 and Wounded Knee in the 1890s and all of the misconduct and broken treaties that happened before that. That's what led to this conflict and the FBI's involvement, picking a side in a local tribal dispute. It led to this conflict. And, of course, it happens. And it's the president's sole power, at this point, to fix that.

Speaker 3: All right.

Kevin Sharpe: A lot of times you'll hear executives say, whether it's a governor or the president, I don't want to interfere with the criminal justice system. Well, they are the criminal justice system. They're the last best hope to fix a constitutional problem.

Speaker 24: Kevin Sharpe, thank you very much for coming on.

Kevin Sharpe: Thank you. Thanks for letting me talk about this.

Speaker 25: Let me first say it's an honor to be here today and speak to the original landlords once again. And I do mean landlords.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 25: Let me say to you that, in an introductory about myself, I started fighting civil rights, human rights and police brutality cases in Minnesota in 1966. In 1967, Clyde came to our community, and he wanted to stand up and fight these cases with us. For 42 years after that, Clyde brought me to this community to fight your police brutality cases, your civil and human rights cases, for 42 years straight. The one lesson I learned about this community, different than mine, y'all will march from this neighborhood all the way to the courthouse in the snow.

Bill Clinton: Whoo!

Speaker 25: Did you hear me? I'm a Sun child. Y'all would march from here to the courthouse in the snow every time something was done to Native Americans, following that lead.

Speaker 1: Woo! Woo!

Speaker 25: Clyde, Frank and others would stand up, send that call, and we would come. And here we are again, talking about a great individual that you might not see as a great individual. He was more guilty of fighting for your rights, your decency. Your humanity than anything else. When I speak about this, three things come to my mind: trespassing, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct. Now what's important about that? We watched this year America Caucasian majority.

Lynn Crooks: Hmm.

Speaker 25: Attack their own Capitol. Attack their own government. Attack their own democracy. Hypocrisy. Cross the grass, come up the steps, break in the building, beat up people with badges, threaten to kill— terroristic threat— the vice president, threaten to kill Nancy. The conversation came from all that madness and all that violence and all those people that got hurt, including who got killed. Disturbing the peace, trespassing, disorderly conduct. We're talking about an individual here for less than what they did at that day, never made it back home, never made it back home. So when you see The government works against you, but works for itself. That even in crime, they cannot sentence themselves for the crimes they commit. But he's doing all of our time. Right here is where George Floyd died. You witnessed on television as they tried their best to free all 4 officers. Anytime you get First-degree murder? First-degree murder? You've got to be intentional committing that murder. You saw that filmed. And yet they never got those charges. They got less than a shoplifting charge. And the one that got the time got it in a nice institution at a federal penitentiary. But yet he's doing prison time. My point is, if he is to get justice, It starts right here. If you don't stand up and fight for him to have it, no one here will give it to you.

Lynn Crooks: OK.

Speaker 25: And time is important. And I've been saying this for the last month. It's important, because Trump has white people so stirred up, they're going to have a civil war, and we're going to get lost in the shuffle. We have to move while we can move to do what we want to do. And especially if we lose a brother who stood up for you as long as he stood up for you, your feet should hit the street. So, in closing, let me say, long live the spirit of Peltier! Long live the spirit of Peltier!

Speaker 4: See, Joe Stuntz, see, they have his marker out there. I don't know what that means.

Speaker 2: See over here?

Speaker 4: Adam was buried here somewhere too, but they moved her. See, I'm not sure if they moved him.

Speaker 14: Someone told me they did, but I don't know.

Speaker 10: So why do they run here?

Speaker 4: This is where everyone— well, I think before the run began a few years ago, they always had this circle here. They come here and they pray, and then they walk towards Grandma Jumping Bulls. But because Joe Stunt is buried here, Anna Mae Aquash was buried here, but it looks like they moved both of them. See, this is her marker right there. But I know definitely she was moved.

Speaker 10: So you knew both Joe?

Speaker 4: An enemy? Oh, yeah, yeah. Actually, right before he got killed, I was helping him put a bandage on his arm because he got burned by a muffler. So we were hanging out in the camps when we heard the gunshots. So he took off running, you know, everybody took off, all the guys took off running up to the top, you know, because we were like down in the lower level. We had a camp down there. That was the last time we seen him. But, yeah, so a lot of— well, when I've been here a long time ago, I think there were only just the— this was the Littles, their family cemetery. But they held Joe's burial down there. They had him in a teepee after June 26th. But when they had him sitting in a teepee and they buried him in the teepee that they had down at the camp, we had a teepee. And the feds, you know, knifed it all up, tore all our tents and stuff up. So that's what he was wrapped in, and they buried him the Kolo traditional way.

Speaker 10: You guys had to sneak into the funeral?

Speaker 4: Well, me and my friend, nobody really knew who was what or who was what, you know? So, yeah, we were hiding out in Porcupine, and me and my friend Lena, we walked down to the store and cut right over here. Yeah. I had to make sure we came to see Joe get buried. But, yeah, it's a long time ago. So, yeah, so how many years ago is that?

Speaker 10: 47.

Speaker 4: Yeah, 47 years. Wow. But a lot of people, you know, from the movement have been passed on since then, I think. Bo Leweska is buried here too. A lot of different movement people. I'm almost positive that I heard that Joe's not here no more. I know Anna Mae's been moved.

Speaker 10: Yeah, and that's his marker. Yeah, Chris Packard's.

Speaker 4: Incidental Uglala warrior, American Indian movement patriot, Coeur d'Alene tribe, Spokane, Washington. Died with honor defending his people. So yeah, he barely— like, he got shot like about right here. Like another inch, he wouldn't, you know, got missed. Never know why.

Speaker 10: Did they ever find out who killed him?

Speaker 4: No, his death has never been investigated. He was murdered, and of course they didn't really care. They still don't care. Toy Leonard Peltier is still in prison.

Speaker 10: And what about Anna Mae? Why did they bury Anna Mae here?

Speaker 4: Because the people, the women of the Oglalas got her from— I think she was buried once down in Red Cloud, and they released her body to some women. I'm not sure exactly who. But they had her funeral here and up here at the Jumping Bull Hall. It's no longer there. And they buried her here. I guess, you know, back then there wasn't like real close communication. You couldn't just call on a cell phone. And, you know, I'm not sure why, the reason why. But basically, if you look at hers, too, it says, died with honor defending her people. Woman warrior, the Wounded Knee, 1876.

Bill Clinton: Wow.

Speaker 4: 1993, American Indian Movement patriot, Mi'kmaq tribe. I don't know how to say the next one, but Nova Scotia. But she was definitely part of our circle, you know, when we used to stay here in Abulhawa. A couple times I've seen her here. And after the shootout, she came down to Porcupine. She said, I've been missing you guys, you know, just worried, you know. She was like their bro. She was on a whole other level as a woman, you know. She was kind of like more of a warrior status, you know. She wasn't like— well, she was in the kitchen, too, you know. She did everything. And that's kind of what a warrior is, you know. They don't just stop standing up in front, but they're in the kitchen. They're doing the things that, you know, have to be done. And it didn't really matter what it was. But, yeah, she was— Pretty strong woman. And I feel like a lot of people were jealous of her because of her beauty. And, you know, who knows why she was killed. But I know whoever did it will have to pay someday, you know, because you don't just go and tell somebody. The theory is that some people think first the whole American Indian Movement, or it was a conspiracy, but that's not true. Somebody made a decision upon themself that did it, you know? I know someone can't tell me, go kill somebody.

Speaker 19: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: You know, whoever did it, or the ones that were there, one of them pulled the trigger, but they all pointed fingers at each other. But I think that— I don't know. I think they could have stopped it. She didn't have to die.

Speaker 10: What do you think the biggest misconception about that day is, 1975?

Speaker 4: What, June 26th? I think the misconception is that the FBI actually had a reason to be here. And, you know, under sovereign nations, you know, they have to have a real reason to be here. And the reason they came out was looking for somebody's cowboy boots. To me, that doesn't qualify as one of the top crimes that they're, you know, they put themselves to be able to be here for. So it's questionable. They were unmarked cars. They didn't have uniforms on. And the time period was live by the law of the gun. People were being shot at, run over, killed. So everybody's on the defensive and basically live by the gun. That's why Leonard and them were doing security here in Oglala. They were asked by the grandma and grandpa and the community members to be here. And that's just for the mere reason that we couldn't have a sweat lodge without being shot at or targeted, or if you had long hair, same thing. So, yeah, people need security, especially American Indian Movement. So we have like the tribal government under Dick Wilson that was supplied by the United States government— ammunition, automatic weapons, APCs. They got all that during Wounded Knee, but they continued that reign of terror afterwards. And they were basically vigilantes against their own people. And anybody that had ceremonies, or if you were associated with AIM, if you had long hair, you were a target by the goon squads. So, yeah, it was a pretty scary time, you know?

Speaker 6: I'm sorry.

Speaker 4: And I'm thankful that Leonard and them were there, you know, to protect us. You know, they protected us from, you know, death. You know, my brother was only 11. He had no choice but to turn himself in. You know, we had a choice at the time. Are you going to— you can— you know, I'm sorry. This is what Leonard told us, me and my brother and everybody. Sorry, we— you know, this is going on. You guys all make a decision. I'll go up there on top. I'll go up there. of that hill with your hands up and turn yourself in, you know, stand up there like that. And my brother didn't have a choice, because he was only 11. But they— he went up there. All of us decided to stay. We're all going to go out together. I think there was 11 of us. And so, when my brother went up there, you could hear gunshots. And he was telling me that, you know, they shot at him, and he went into an Outhouse. Outhouse. But he survived, so we're still here today. And it really feels— I feel actually kind of sad, kind of happy, because I survived this long to tell the story. So, you know, there's a lot of people have misconceptions about Why we were here and what we were doing. Basically, the court of law, when Dino Butler and Bob Ralvidu went to court, found them not guilty on the basis of self-defense. And the FBI basically attacked our people, and they've been attacking them, even afterwards. So, that's one of the things that I'm thankful for being here.

Speaker 2: Thank you.

Speaker 4: A lot of people died since then. You know, the American Indian Movement was a spiritual movement, not necessarily an armed movement. But reality did make it that we had to be armed, you know, to protect ourselves. We have a lot of people that have never been— over 60 people that their deaths have never been investigated. And recently, the FBI put a little thing out. Oh. This person, that person. You know, they made like 3 words about their death. You know, it came out in a document not too long ago. One was alcohol-related or, you know, dumb things. But because they know the scrutiny of 47 years later— I'm talking like maybe within the last 5 years this report has come out, because it's obvious they didn't care about our people and they didn't care to investigate. Investigate their deaths when they died under their direction. Basically, when you give people free rein and automatic weapons and ammunition to target their own people, I mean, they're just as guilty. So that's one of the things that the United States government—you know—they're not gonna admit their wrongs or how they've treated all our nations. All our sovereign nations have been treated with disrespect. Our land's been taken. And they don't want to admit, or they don't want to let Leonard out of prison, because there's a lot more for them to acknowledge, with them being wrong. It's the treaties. Everything's interrelated. The boarding schools, they haven't even addressed that. I mean, it's all one circle. And it was an immediate attack on our families.

Leonard Peltier: I'm sorry.

Speaker 4: in our community from first contact. And that's one of the reasons I think that they don't do it. They don't want to put the story in our history books, because the pattern's there, how they've been targeting our people, colonizing, as they do to other countries. We're right here within the territory. This is our land. But they don't acknowledge it. But we know. And we're not going to forget. Thank you. That we're under treaty land, and we have our own laws. We're sovereign. But that's basically some of my thoughts.

Cathy Peltier: Yat e, shee kathy denes bop peltier ye, shee nakai denes klehto turtle mountain do oga lakota. Shma e ambige shija e Leonard Peltier. Good evening, everybody. My name is Cathy Peltier. As Rachel said, I am the youngest daughter of Leonard Peltier. The shootout happened on June 25th, 1975.

Speaker 17: 26th.

Cathy Peltier: I wasn't even born when the whole shootout took place. I was— my mom was in another state. With me when I wasn't born and the shootout took place.

Speaker 6: When was that?

Cathy Peltier: I was born November 2nd, 1975. The first time my dad ever got to see me was when he was on trial, and that was in 1977. He only got to see a glimpse of me as a 2-year-old. I've been speaking about my dad since I could speak. And every time, it gets easier to talk about it, because we know in our heart that our dad is free— I mean, he's innocent.

Speaker 17: Free!

Cathy Peltier: And in that sense, it's easier to talk about him. But to see my dad My dad in prison for over 4 decades, missing his children grow up. My brother Chauncey was 10 years old when the shootout happened. He missed out on having our dad teach him what fathers would normally teach their children. Me, on the other hand, I never got to meet— I never got to know my dad. The last time I saw my dad was 2 years ago, and before that was 20 years ago. And the only reason why is because they kept on moving him from prison to prison. And every time I would fill out the forms to go see him, they would move him. And it was from Coleman, Florida, to Pennsylvania. And you were 2 years old? And it was very emotional when I saw my dad after 20 years, because I remember the bad memories I had seeing him in prison when I was a kid. We had to act straight. We had to behave. We couldn't act out like— A lot of these little kids did. If we did, we were removed. So we had to be on our straight behavior. So sometimes we didn't get to see our dad. And then we had to share time with his lawyers and his paralegals. And that was hard enough, because he only got like 48 hours a month at the Leavenworth Penitentiary. So, I am so glad that when I met— got to meet Rachel 2 years ago, when she approached me and said, I want to do this for your dad, I was all excited, because, you know, it's And I've been telling people it's good, because the new generation needs to know all these movements that are— were out there, that helped them succeed in life.

Speaker 4: Absolutely.

Cathy Peltier: So we need to re-talk about all these political people, the political prisoners. It's just not my dad, but every culture too. So I wanted to say thank you for coming for those, and wanted to say thank you to Rachel for approaching me.

Speaker 4: Thank you.

Speaker 10: 好么多个阿姨，阿姨，谢谢阿姨，今天我是。 Quite an honor to be out here sharing this stage and this platform with my beautiful sisters, as well as our tribal dignitaries that came up to stand with Leonard Peltier. Leonard Peltier was incarcerated before I was born. There has not been a day on this earth that I've drawn breath That's right. That Leonard Peltier hasn't been freed. And I think about that as a young Indigenous man, but also somebody who looks to the past, especially the Red Power Movement and the things that it's done for our people, and how that history and remembering that past sits in that jail cell. In Coleman, Florida, with one of our elders. And I think about back in 2016, when I left the Standing Rock camps here in North Dakota, I went almost immediately to Washington, D.C., because I knew the fight wasn't over, that Obama was leaving and that we had to advocate Thank you. For one last push for Peltier's clemency. And it was a very difficult time for many reasons. But I think one of the most difficult things to remember is the impact that it's had on our people. His son, Leonard Peltier's son, passed away while we were in Washington, D.C., and he was the same age. He was 47 years old this year. He was the same age in years, years that his father had spent in prison. And he died advocating for his freedom. How many more people have to die? How many more generations have to have their history taken from them and incarcerated? And we said it in 2016. That none of us are free as Indigenous people if Leonard Peltier isn't free, and that the Standing Rock movement, the water protector movement that began at Standing Rock— of course, we've all protected water throughout history, but there's something special about that moment in time. And we're living in this, in that moment in time. Like my sister said, these are prophetic times.

Speaker 6: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 10: Leonard Peltier was living in prophetic times, when the sleeping red giant awoke and brought this country to truth, to understand and confront its history of genocide against indigenous people, against the enslavement and the continued apartheid that our Black relatives Yes. And like my sister said, this movement isn't just ours. Leonard Peltier didn't stop being an activist for his people once he was put on the inside. He continued to organize with prisoners of all races, getting them sober, bringing them into the sweat lodge, Yes. Connecting for the first time to their spiritual— their spirituality, as well as their ceremonies and culture. Because it's important to remember that the American Indian Movement, whatever you may think, that movement began in prison. The founders of that movement, Eddie Benton-Bennett, Dennis Banks, Clyde Belcourt, began running sweat lodge ceremonies Yes. When they were locked up. And there's a lot that we can say about those figures, but we should judge them for the depths from which they've come and have risen, first and foremost. And the same goes for our brother Leonard Peltier. And we know that he is in a COVID isolation unit right now as we speak, alone. He's not in a medical facility. He's not in a hospital. How many of you know somebody who has died of COVID-19? We all know somebody who's been affected by this pandemic and by this virus. And we know that those with preexisting health conditions, those who are elderly, Those who have poor nutrition are paying the heaviest toll. And think about the generations that we have lost, not as just Indigenous people, but this entire planet. In this country alone, over 900,000 people have died from this virus. Over 95% of those people were elders.

Speaker 6: Completely erased.

Speaker 10: That is a huge toll. And we have to ask ourselves, when is enough enough? When are we going to allow people to continue suffering? And we can look at the facts of this case. We can remove our— remove the emotion. We should be angry about it, but let's look at the facts first and foremost. The federal prosecutor Who put Leonard Peltier behind bars, James Reynolds, came out during Obama's presidency pushing for clemency. And he's come out during Biden's presidency with the exact same arguments. And what he has said is he said that the evidence that was used to put Leonard Peltier behind prison— behind bars Bars would not hold up in the court of law today, and it shouldn't have held up in the court of law in 1977. And he attributed the conviction of 2 consecutive life sentences of Leonard Peltier to the racist attitudes of people who comprised the jury and the court system here in this city.

Speaker 2: That's right.

Speaker 10: Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo, North Dakota. His 2 co-defendants, Dino Butler and Bob Rubidoux, who were charged with the exact same crime, got off— or were found not guilty by reason of self-defense prior to Leonard Peltier's conviction. And it was because it was a different venue, and the federal prosecutors knew that. And they knew that they couldn't convict him based on the evidence, based on the theory that they did with his 2 co-defendants. And to this day, James Reynolds, the former federal prosecutor, did something that is rare for federal prosecutors. He said that not only should Leonard Peltier be granted clemency, but that he should be But the focus should be on the conditions that were created in Pine Ridge at the time that led to his conviction, not by the American Indian Movement, but by the paramilitaries that were supported by the FBI that created a climate of terror. This is a federal prosecutor who's saying this. And so when we make these arguments about COVID release, that Leonard Peltier qualifies for COVID release, that's a DOJ argument, Department of Justice, William Barr, President Trump's former attorney general, made that argument. And in Coleman, nobody has qualified in Leonard Peltier's unit, prison unit, for COVID release.

Kevin Sharpe: Right.

Speaker 25: Yes.

Speaker 10: And so we know that it's not just his struggle. It's not just getting out Leonard Peltier. It's looking at why are prisoners, people who are incarcerated, being sacrificed to something that is completely preventable. They didn't get death sentences to be in there. Prison shouldn't be a death sentence. And then the second argument is That if there's a lack of evidence, and if this evidence was manufactured and created, and by all accounts each side said that day in 1976 was a tragedy— excuse me, 1975 was a tragedy at the John Bull property in Oglala— and we want to get to the answer, we want to get to the bottom of this. But why is it that one man is paying the price for something that was completely out of his hands? And why is it that there was no investigation of the young Native man, Joseph Stuntz, who was also killed, most likely by law enforcement that day? Why is there no investigation? Where was the FBI? With the 50-plus cases of AIM supporters and AIM members who died on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation following the Wounded Knee occupation. We can only conclude at the end of this that this continued incarceration of our elder, robbing us of this history, of one of our relatives, Thank you. This is simply a cruel act of revenge. It's punishment for Indigenous people everywhere and our allies for saying that we should have clean drinking water. We should have dignity when we walk down the streets of Fargo, North Dakota. That these struggles are everybody's struggles. They're not just ours. It's not just an Indigenous issue. If you went to Standing Rock, You saw there's non-Native people who became water protectors. They stood with us, grounded in Indigenous values. This isn't just an Indigenous issue. This just isn't Leonard Peltier's issue. This is everybody's issue. This is an issue for the Department of Justice. And who can make the final decision on this issue? President Biden can make the final decision.

Speaker 4: Thank you.

Speaker 10: We may not have gotten the promises to uphold treaty law in 2016 with the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the trespass through Oceti Sakowin Treaty territory. We may not have gotten the Manoomin protected in the precious rice beds of northern Minnesota in Anishinaabe territory, which are also protected Under treaty law. But we can begin to reverse the course of justice, to begin addressing these things, and it begins with releasing Leonard Peltier from prison. And all we're asking, whether it's treaty rights, whether it's the release of Leonard Peltier, is for this country and this government to simply follow its own laws. That's the basic ask. That's not radical. That's where we're at, though, in this country, is to say that treaty law is the supreme law of the land, Article 6 of the Constitution, and that COVID protocols mandate that this man be released from prison. And they also mandate that he shouldn't be in prison, first and foremost, because of the things that he was convicted of. And so I just want to say thank you all Thank you. For coming out from the bottom of my heart, for putting your hearts and your spirits here today to stand with our relative Leonard Peltier. And it's important to remember that this is a long struggle. This is a long fight. He spent 47 years in prison as of today. But we have to say, not one more day, not one more relative, and not one more life No life should be lost senselessly as revenge and punishment for Indigenous people wanting to live dignified lives. Ee'chii'tl wela.

Speaker 18: For those of you that don't know, Leonard contracted COVID in the end of January of this year. Leonard has quite a few comorbidities, which means he has things that he is eventually going to die from.

Speaker 25: Right?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 18: And with COVID what we've learned is that when you have these comorbidities, your risk of dying from them increases exponentially because of COVID So, everybody, every elder, anybody that has these comorbidities, should be tested, right? Leonard went into an isolation unit for 10 days, 10 days by himself, no doctor, no medical. It was dirty. He didn't have a cup to drink water. He was given peanut butter pouches and bread to eat. And Leonard doesn't have any teeth. He couldn't even get the peanut butter pouches open. He's lost 75— at least 75 pounds in the last 3 years, because they put him on a diabetic diet, which, in the Bureau of Prisons, means you take half their food away.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 18: Because we're not going to give him a special diet. We're just going to take it away so he loses some weight. So, the congressmen that we've had reach out and advocate for him have gotten letters back like, well, he's doing real well. He's lost weight. His A1C is down. But they don't talk about anything else. So, Leonard got COVID, and we don't know where he's at medically right now. We know it's not good. We know it's not. Clinically, these things, like I said, exacerbate, and they make things— they make these comorbidities come to fruition a lot faster.

Speaker 17: I'm sorry.

Speaker 18: Yeah.

Speaker 17: He made it through COVID.

Speaker 18: He got his last booster now, so we're hoping and we're praying. But this has become an emergent situation, and that's the way we take it. And so, we started this year with good energy and good— just a good way of walking around and to have a good year. To help identify and bring awareness to people that don't know about Leonard, to educate people, to educate the youth.

Speaker 1: Way on, way on, way on, way on. Unity song.

Speaker 4: All my relations are home.