> >http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/20010107/t000001689.html > >Los Angeles Times > >Sunday, January 7, 2001 > >Commentary > >Put a Close to This Sad Chapter > >By Kevin McKiernan <kevinmck@silcom.com> > > SANTA BARBARA -- I don't know which American >Indian killed FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams in a >notorious South Dakota shoot-out 25 years ago. Nor do I know >the identity of the federal lawman who shot and killed Joe >Stuntz, the American Indian Movement (AIM) member, whose >body I photographed afterward. But I was there on June >25, 1975, outside the Jumping Bull ranch on the Pine Ridge >Indian Reservation, when some of the bullets were flying. A >stray round hit my pickup, and my memory is still fresh of >crouching low behind the truck with my portable tape deck, >recording the exchange of gunfire for a National Public >Radio broadcast. > > The government has never produced an eyewitness in >the deaths of the agents, and prosecutors admit they still >don't know who actually killed Coler and Williams. But AIM >leader Leonard Peltier, one of the estimated two dozen >Indians present on the 40-acre reservation that day, has >admitted that he participated in the firefight. A U.S. >appellate court upheld his murder conviction as an aider >and abettor, but the court chastised the FBI for its use of >"fabricated" evidence in securing Peltier's extradition from >Canada and for withholding from the jury an exculpatory >ballistics test conducted on a rifle attributed to Peltier. > > Amnesty International maintains that Peltier, who >is 56 and has been in jail for the last 25 years, did not >get a fair trial. Now, in the waning days of the Clinton >administration, the organization is one of several groups >petitioning the president to commute Peltier's sentence. > > Two other AIM members were acquitted in the case, >on grounds of self-defense, despite testimony that they had >fired in the direction of the agents. The jury also heard >evidence about COINTELPRO, the FBI's counterinsurgency >program used against AIM, and a representative of the >U.S. Civil Rights Commission testified to the "climate >of fear" on the reservation before the 1975 shootings. >Other testimony challenged FBI assertions of neutrality >in the tribal civil war that followed AIM's takeover of >the historic reservation village of Wounded Knee two years >earlier. Two Indians were shot to death at Wounded Knee; a >dozen Indians and two lawmen also received gunshot injuries >during the 10-week takeover. > > There have long been allegations that the FBI >chose sides in the internecine conflict that took place >from 1973-75 between AIM-led traditionalists and a vigilante >group of mostly mixed bloods who called themselves the GOONs >(Guardians of the Oglala Nation). But testimony concerning >FBI activities on the reservation before the 1975 killings >was excluded by the judge in the case of Peltier, who was >tried separately from the other two defendants. > > In fact, the climate of fear back then was all too >real, and it matched anything I have experienced reporting >from war zones like El Salvador and the Middle East. In >those days, the reservation seemed like the Wild West, and >almost everyone was armed. I once was threatened with guns >in my face when I tried to film a GOON squad roadblock; >another time I was slammed up against a wall by GOONs, >who tended to perceive the entire press corps as AIM >sympathizers. The brakes on my car were cut, and, on one >occasion, a high-powered rifle blew a hole in an automobile >in which I was riding. My experiences pale by comparison to >the beatings, fire-bombings and drive-by shootings were >common during the period; at least 25 murders of Indians >still remain unsolved. Former South Dakota state Sen. >James Abourzek said that the near-lawless atmosphere >on the reservation approached "total anarchy." > > District U.S. Judge Fred Nichol, who tried many of >the Wounded Knee cases, once told me in a filmed interview >that "The FBI and the GOON squad worked pretty much together... >because they were against AIM." In a 1984 televised interview, >which I conducted for PBS's "Frontline," a leader of the >GOON squad claimed that FBI agents provided his group with >intelligence on AIM and, in one instance, "armor piercing" >bullets for use against AIM members who, like the GOONs, >were heavily armed at the time. > > A few years ago, Gerald W. Heaney, chief judge of >the U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld Peltier's conviction, >petitioned the White House to commute Peltier's sentence. >Heaney stated in a letter that the FBI shared the blame for >the two agents and one Indian killed in the South Dakota >shoot-out. He said that the government "overreacted" to >the 1973 occupation at Wounded Knee. Instead of "carefully >considering the legitimate grievances of Native Americans," >he said, "the response was essentially a military one that >culminated in a deadly firefight on June 26, 1975. > > Before he leaves office, President Bill Clinton can >provide closure to a difficult and divisive period in Indian >history. As Heaney wrote in his clemency plea, "At some time, >the healing process must begin. We as a nation must recognize >their unique culture and their great contribution to our >nation." >-- >Kevin McKiernan Covered the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation >for National Public Radio From 1973-1976. He was the >co-producer of the PBS "Frontline" Program "The >Spirit of Crazy Horse." > >Copyright (c) 2001 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved. > >Call the White House Comments Line Daily >Demand Justice for Leonard Peltier! 202-456-1111 > >Leonard Peltier Defense Committee >P.O. Box 583 >Lawrence, KS 66044 >785-842-5774 >http://www.freepeltier.org
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