Leonard Peltier

[Zeke]

First, how do you spell, "conspiracy?" Has anyone ever looked at the spelling of this category of threads?

Second -- I am pretty active on another board -- I'm wondering what anyone thinks.

Leonard Peltier and the American Indian Movement

Every once in a while, I go off the deep end...

[Fast_Eddie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqcM5lVoteQ

[Boreas]

The subject of Leonard Peltier is the only area of agreement I have with that idiot Ward Churchill. All this happened back in the '70s so it has been a long time since I boned up on AIM, Pine Ridge and Peltier but there's no doubt in my mind that he's a political prisoner who was railroaded by the government. I believe Amnesty International feels that way too.

Funny how that other Ridge (Ruby) is etched into the consciousness of Americans, especially those on the right, but nobody thinks or says much about the Pine Ridge massacre.

John

[merrylander]

I recall the case as well and yes I believe he was railroaded by a kangaroo court.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Boreas

there's no doubt in my mind that he's a political prisoner who was railroaded by the government.

So, you bought the line? I mean, the extradition smells, but the trial was fine: GUILTY.

Originally Posted by Boreas

Funny how that other Ridge (Ruby) is etched into the consciousness of Americans, especially those on the right, but nobody thinks or says much about the Pine Ridge massacre.

That's probably because, under scrutiny, the Natives and the American Indian Movement were at fault, not the FBI.

Wounded Knee II started as a power struggle between Russell Means and AIM against the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council and its duly elected chairman, Richard Wilson. The FBI had to restrain Wilson from taking care of AIM insurgents on his own terms in order to prevent bloodshed. In sum, the FBI actually protected AIM insurgents from Native Americans who, justifiably, wanted to take back their reservation.

Peltier isn't a political prisoner, he's a thug who hides behind his own bullshit.

You realize the other Natives there, that day, copped to what they did and were found "Not Guilty by Reason of Self-Defense?" All Peltier -- ever -- had to do was man up: then or now. But he's so behind the 8-ball on the myth of innocence that a cell is more attractive.

He's a brutish thug who can rot.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by Zeke

First, how do you spell, "conspiracy?" Has anyone ever looked at the spelling of this category of threads?

Language is the art of communication and since I always understood what was meant with that spelling it was never necessary to comment on, for me.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Zeke

So, you bought the line? I mean, the extradition smells, but the trial was fine: GUILTY.



That's probably because, under scrutiny, the Natives and the American Indian Movement were at fault, not the FBI.

Wounded Knee II started as a power struggle between Russell Means and AIM against the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council and its duly elected chairman, Richard Wilson. The FBI had to restrain Wilson from taking care of AIM insurgents on his own terms in order to prevent bloodshed. In sum, the FBI actually protected AIM insurgents from Native Americans who, justifiably, wanted to take back their reservation.

Peltier isn't a political prisoner, he's a thug who hides behind his own bullshit.

You realize the other Natives there, that day, copped to what they did and were found "Not Guilty by Reason of Self-Defense?" All Peltier -- ever -- had to do was man up: then or now. But he's so behind the 8-ball on the myth of innocence that a cell is more attractive.

He's a brutish thug who can rot.

As I said, this is thirty odd years out of mind for me so I freely admit that I, along with Amnesty International, could be wrong. I do, however, remember a somewhat different interpretation from yours: that, far from trying to protect AIM, the FBI and BIA were actually helping Wilson rid himself of his rivals.

John

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I do, however, remember a somewhat different interpretation from yours: that, far from trying to protect AIM, the FBI and BIA were actually helping Wilson rid himself of his rivals.

Respectfully, that they were "rivals" is AIM spin.

AIM were foreign outsiders and white folks -- I'd bet there were <20 Pine Ridge Lakota, then or now, amongst their members -- who got up-in-arms torqued when, for their own protection, the FBI suggested they should leave and cease making trouble.

Eventually, in support of the rightful government, more forceful Federal techniques had to be used.

That's, still, the fault of AIM: who had it coming.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Respectfully, that they were "rivals" is AIM spin.

I don't know what else you'd call them. They were trying to wrest control of the Tribal Council from Wilson.

AIM were foreign outsiders and white folks -- I'd bet there were <20 Pine Ridge Lakota, then or now, amongst their members -- who got up-in-arms torqued when, for their own protection, the FBI suggested they should leave and cease making trouble.

There may not have been many Oglala in AIM but Russell Means is full blood Oglala, born on Pine Ridge. Peltier was part Lakota, part Anishinaabe. He grew up on the Turtle Mountain Reservation (Chippewa). Lakota were pretty well represented in AIM at Pine Ridge but you do have a point in that AIM wasn't a Lakota organization. It was more or less a "pan-tribal" group that sought to empower native peoples as a whole.

Eventually, in support of the rightful government, more forceful Federal techniques had to be used.

The BIA had it in for AIM. The year before Pine Ridge AIM had occupied the BIA headquarters in Washington. It was a real embarrassment. Pine Ridge gave them a chance for revenge.

That's, still, the fault of AIM: who had it coming.

AIM was a threat to the existence of Wilson's increasingly unpopular council and a thorn in the side of the BIA. AIM's real problem was that it made powerful enemies.

John

[Zeke]

1. "Rivals," implies standing. AIM had -- and has -- none.

2. AIM sought to empower AIM, as a whole.

3. FBI action at Pine Ridge, in general, wasn't revenge. It was justice, in support of rightful leadership.

4. AIM's most significant problem was only acting in support of self.