Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee

San Jose: Honoring Leonard Peltier, 26 June Event

2012-06-10T15:38:00.002-05:00

Honoring Leonard Peltier

36 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment - Let's Bring Him Home NOW!

Tuesday 26th June 2012

6:00 pm
Theodore Lenzen Park
corner of Lenzen and Stockton Ave., San Jose, CA
Drumming, singing, and honoring Ohlone land and Leonard Peltier by Wicapiluta Luta Candelaria and other Black Berets

6:30 pm
DeBug
701 Lenzen Ave corner of Stockton Ave. (across the street from Theodore Lenzen park), San Jose, CA
Potluck refreshments and drinks

6:45 pm
DeBug
Update on Leonard
Calls to Action by LPDOC
Watch documentary film "Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier,"
a film by Suzie Baer, Cinnamon Productions

Please join us to honor Leonard Peltier as he enters his 37th year of wrongful imprisonment and discuss what we can do to release him from prison. Bring your friends and family!

For more info, contact Donna: FreeLeonardPeltier@hotmail.com or (h) 408-293-4774 or (cell) 408-569-6608

Sponsored by LPDOC Chapter Silicon Valley
Endorsed by Black Berets Silicon Valley

26 June Vigil in Belgium

2012-06-07T10:29:00.003-05:00

Focus on Leonard Peltier, Black Talk Radio Network broadcast tonight

2012-06-07T10:22:00.002-05:00

http://blacktalkradionetwork.com/events/podcast-political-prisoner-radio-leonard-peltier
TONIGHT, 07 JUNE, 8:00 PM EST

Tune into Black Talk Radio Network Thursday, 6/7 for our 10th in the crucial Political Prisoner radio series, featuring PP Leonard Peltier with special guests David Hill and Peter Clark.

David Hill is a member of the Choctaw Nation from Oklahoma and joined the American Indian Movement in the early 1970's. Over his 40 years of dedication and commitment to Native American Rights he has been involved in numerous protests and demonstrations including the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' main office in Washington D.C. and WOUNDED KNEE in 1973. David has organized communities and created opportunities for people across the Americas and Canada, focusing on health, housing, employment, economic development, and education for all Indian people. He has also worked consistently in various leadership positions within organizations to gain freedom for Leonard Peltier.The philosophy of self-determination upon which David lives by is deeply rooted in traditional spirituality, culture, language and history. Currently he is teaching traditional spirituality and martial arts to youth.

Peter Clark is the International Chapter Coordinator for the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense (LPDOC) Committee.

Leonard Peltier is a citizen of the Anishinabe and Dakota/Lakota Nations who has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976, now having spent over 36 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was a participant in the American Indian Movement, which was targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO program. While assisting the Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation, two undercover FBI agents entered the campground and a tragic shoot-out occurred on June 26, 1975. On February 6, 1976, Peltier was charged with the deaths of the agents and railroaded to trial. Prosecutors and federal agents manufactured evidence against him (including the so-called "murder weapon"); hid proof of his innocence; presented false testimony obtained through torturous interrogation techniques; ignored court orders; and lied to the jury. People are commonly set free due to a single constitutional violation, but Peltier—faced with a staggering number of constitutional violations—has yet to receive equal justice. Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Leonard is a beautiful artist, humanitarian, and author of the powerful memoir, "My Life is a Sun Dance," and has won several human rights awards, including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award, Humanist of the Year Award, and the International Human Rights Prize. For more info on Leonard Peltier and to support his freedom campaign, please visit http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/index1.htm

Summer Sale

2012-06-05T12:47:00.000-05:00

~ For Your Dad or Grad ~

Broken Treaty T-Shirt

Size S, M, L, XL

$5.00 off! Plus 1 Peltier pin and 1 bumper sticker FREE (a $6.00 value). S&H free for domestic orders.

Order Now

Sale ends on June 30.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery.

Occupy National Gathering‏

2012-06-05T12:37:00.000-05:00

For the past few months Occupiers from Sacramento to Boston to Kalamazoo to New York to Philly have been planning a National Gathering in Philadelphia from June 30th to July 4th.

We would ask that you please utilize the tools listed below. Please RSVP to the invite on the facebook event page, invite everyone you know (whether they can attend or not), and forward this information to every network you have developed during your time in the movement and beyond. This event will only be succesful if we, as a movement, work together to make it happen. Today we received word that Occupy Berkeley and Occupy Portand have endorsed the #NATGAT proposal which brings the number of Assemblies standing in solidarity to 57. We ask that you too stand in solidarity with us and help to make this event the foundation shattering and paradigm building exercise that is has been designed to be.

Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/368997049819496/

Twitter: @OccupyNG

Website: occupynationalgathering.com/

Email: info@occupynationalgathering.com

If we have learned anything from this movement, it is that when people committed to love, peace, and democracy come together not only do they build change; they build community. We sincerely hope you all have the oppurtunity to come and build a trulyrevolutionary community with us. If you cannot come we ask that you consider joining us on July 4th for our visioning process in the virtual world (details coming soon) and/or consider donating the time and resources neccesary to make this Gathering as historic as it has the potential to be.

NYC: Save the Date for Leonard Peltier

2012-06-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

Save the Date for Leonard Peltier!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
2 pm to 5 pm
The Brecht Forum, 451 West Street, NYC

Update on Leonard Peltier
Film: Broken Rainbow
Featured Speaker: Firewolf Bizahaloni-Wong

Broken Rainbow is a documentary film that presents a moving account of the forced relocation of 12,000 Navajo Native Americans from their ancestral homes in Arizona by the government. The Navajo were relocated to aid mining speculation in a process that began in the 1970s and continues to this day. The United States government claims that by moving the Navajo off the land, it is settling a long-standing dispute between the Navajo and Hopi Tribes. To the traditional Navajo and Hopi, there is no dispute.

The film is narrated by Martin Sheen. The title song was written by Laura Nyro, the theme music was composed by Paul Apodaca, with other original music by Rick Krizman and Fred Myrow. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

We can see why AIM is so necessary to defend traditional Native Americans. Leonard Peltier and other AIM warriors continue to fight for justice for Native Americans and an end to the theft and rape of the land.

Directions: A, C, E or L to 14th Street & 8th Ave, walk down 8th Ave. to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the River, turn left; 1, 2, 3 or 9 to 14th Street & 7th Ave, get off at south end of station, walk west on 12th Street to 8th Ave. left to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the River, turn left; PATH Train to Christopher Street north on Greenwich St to Bank Street, left to the river; #11 or #20 Bus to Abingdon Square, west on Bethune; #14A or #14D Bus to 8th Ave & 14th Street, walk down 8th Ave. and west on Bethune to the river; #8 Bus to 10th & West Streets.

Sponsors: LPDOC Chapter-NYC, Native Resistance Network, NYC Jericho Movement, ProLibertad.

For more information: 646-429-2059 or nyclpdoc@gmail.com.

10 June, NYC: Readings from "Prison Writings" by Leonard Peltier

2012-06-04T15:20:00.000-05:00

PRISON WRITINGS: MY LIFE IS MY SUNDANCE

edited by Harvey Arden

SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 2012

4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Presented by Red Harlem Readers

Indian Café, Broadway & 108th Street

New York City

Free and Open to the Public

Seating is Limited

List of deaths deemed suspicious by Oglala Sioux

2012-05-25T09:35:00.001-05:00

List of deaths deemed suspicious by Oglala Sioux

Rapid City Journal, May 24, 2012

http://rapidcityjournal.com/article_236b9594-b95c-511c-ad79-f43cf1967ee0.html

Following is a list of people whose deaths are considered suspicious by Oglala Sioux tribal officials. The tribe asked federal authorities on Thursday to reopen investigations into the cases. The names, dates of deaths and locations listed below were provided to the AP by a lawyer working with the tribe. Names marked with an asterisk indicate that someone was charged in connection with the case, but tribal officials believe the suspect was "inadequately charged" or received "insufficient sentences," according to the documents.

_Buddy Lamont (aka Lawrence Dean Lamont). Died April 27, 1973 in Wounded Knee, S.D.
_Clarence Cross. Died July 11, 1973 near Batesland, S.D.
_Jackson Washington Cutt. Died July 11, 1973 in Parmalee, S.D.
_Priscilla White Plume. Date of death unknown; body was found July 14, 1973 near Manderson, S.D.
_Melvin Spider. Died Sept. 21, 1973 between Porcupine and Sharp's Corner on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
_Pedro Bissonette. Died Oct. 17, 1973 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
_Allison Fast Horse. Died Nov. 23, 1973 in Oglala, S.D.
_Robert Reddy. Date of death unknown; body was found Dec. 16, 1974 near Kyle, S.D.
_Jeanette Bissonette. Died March 26, 1975 eight miles north of Pine Ridge, S.D.
_Hilda R. Good Buffalo. Date of death unknown; body was found April 4, 1975 in Pine Ridge, S.D.
_Ben Sitting Up. Died in May 1975. Place of death unknown, but rumored to be in Wanblee, S.D.
_Joseph Stuntz Killsright (aka Joseph Bedell Stuntz). Died June 26, 1975 on Jumping Bull property in South Dakota.
_Andrew Paul Stewart. Died July 26, 1975 on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
_Cleveland Reddest. Died March 26, 1976 18 miles east of Kyle, S.D.
_Richynda Roubideax. Died Sept. 27, 1997, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.
_Wilson Black Elk. Died June 8, 1999 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Whiteclay, Neb.
_Ronald Hard Heart. Died June 8, 1999, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Whiteclay, Neb.
_Delphine Crow Dog. Died Dec. 6, 1972 on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.
_Frank Clearwater. Died April 25, 1973 in Wounded Knee, S.D.
_Edward Means Jr. Died Jan. 7, 1974 in Pine Ridge, S.D.
_Roxeine Roark. Died April 19, 1974 in Porcupine, S.D.
_Elaine Wagner. Died Nov. 30, 1974 in Pine Ridge, S.D.
_John S. Moore. Died Dec. 2, 1974, in Lincoln, Neb.
_James Briggs Yellow. Died July 12, 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
_Lydla Cut Grass. Died Jan. 5, 1976 in Wounded Knee, S.D.
_Lena R. Slow Bear. Died Feb. 2, 1976 in Pine Ridge, S.D.
_Julia Pretty Hips. Died May 9, 1976 in Pine Ridge, S.D.
_Betty Means. Died July 3, 1976 in Pine Ridge, S.D.
_Raymond Yellow Thunder. Died Feb. 13, 1972 in Gordon, Neb.(asterisk)
_Phillip Little Crow. Died Nov. 14, 1973. Place of death unknown.(asterisk)
_Allison Fast Horse. Died Nov. 23, 1973 in Oglala, S.D.(asterisk)
_Leon L. Swift Bird. Died Jan. 5, 1975 in Pine Ridge, S.D.(asterisk)
_Stacy Cotter. Died March 20 or 21, 1975 in Manderson, S.D.(asterisk)
_Leah Spotted Elk. Died June 15, 1975 in Manderson, S.D.(asterisk)
_Howard Blue Bird. Died Sept. 4, 1975 in Wolf Creek, S.D.(asterisk)
_James Little. Died Sept. 10, 1975 in Oglala, S.D.(asterisk)
_Janice Black Bear. Died Oct. 26, 1975 in Manderson, S.D.(asterisk)
_Michelle Tobacco. Died Oct. 27, 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.(asterisk)
_Aloysius Long Soldier. Died Feb. 9, 1977. Place of death unknown.(asterisk)

Upcoming Events

2012-05-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

May 26-27

June 2-3

Run for Freedom

Freedom for Leonard Peltier and All Prisoners of Conscience

From Chief Little Turtle Statue in Covington, KY, to Serpent Mound, Peebles, OH. Walk, run or cycle! Everyone is invited to participate.

Information: Call 513-403-2765 or 513-766-6121; E-mail us at info@footprintsforpeace.org.

Justice for the Living Dead

2012-05-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Tony Platt : Justice for the Living Dead by Tony Platt / The Rag Blog. Over a period of 200 years, as many as a million Native American grave sites were dug up "in the name of science, recreation, and commerce." Tony reports that, "it's not only the unauthorized digging up of ancestors that haunts the memory of native peoples, it's also the blatant double standard that adds indignity to insult." Read the story here.

Featherman the 2012 recipient of the Honorary Peltier Scholarship

2012-05-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

The LPDOC congratulates the 2012 recipient of the Honorary Leonard Peltier Scholarship, Terry Featherman of Kyle, SD.

The annual award is given to an Oglala Lakota Tribal Member who plans to attend the Oglala Lakota College. It is geared toward meeting the financial needs of the non-traditional student. The applicants must have a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) awarded during the current school year and also currently reside in the local geographic area.

This Scholarship was created to honor Leonard Peltier's vision of empowering the Oglala People through education so that they may contribute to the future direction of their Nation and the preservation of their traditional Lakota language, culture and spirituality.

For more information, see www.oglalacommemoration.com.

Sign to Demand Permits for March on Wall St South!

2012-05-24T11:34:00.003-05:00

SIGN ONLINE TODAY TO DEMAND THAT CHARLOTTE, NC AND THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION GRANT PERMITS TO THE COALITION TO MARCH ON WALL ST SOUTH

On May 9, thousands from around the country took the streets in Charlotte, NC to confront the Wall Street of the South during the annual Bank of America Shareholders meeting. This powerful collective action was only the first act, now we must fully turn our sights on building an independent peoples voice at the Wall St South during the Democratic National Convention this September. We must turn thousands of voices in the street into tens of thousands. Sign this petition today and tell the power brokers in Charlotte to stop standing in the way of the People’s right to raise their voice and speak their truth!

CLICK HERE WallStSouth.org/WallStSouthPetition to sign on and send the above petition text and to the Mayor and City Council of Charlotte, the Mecklenburg County Commissioners, President Obama, Attorney General Holder, the Democratic National Convention Committee, and members of the media.

Go to WallStSouth.org to join the coalition, read the call to action, view endorsements, download flyers, sign up for updates, donate, and get involved!

Opinion: Ed Woods and FBI Misconduct

2012-05-24T11:23:00.000-05:00

ED WOODS AND F.B.I MISCONDUCT

"I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.... So help me God."

"After joining up, Kenny became a shooting star: In 2004, he was promoted to sergeant first class with less than 10 years of service – not far outside of normal promotions if Kenny hadn’t been charged in 1996 with providing alcohol to his 11-year-old niece and inappropriately touching and kissing the kid. But he received only an Article 15 nonjudicial punishment for actions that would have led to administrative separation, if not court-martial, for any less-connected soldier. No big surprise, since Leslie Blade says guardian-angel Woods( ED WOODS) is adamant that the sergeant deserves to have his life changed"

Many Peltier supporters are aware of his long time nemesis, self righteous, ex- F.B.I agent, Ed Woods. Woods has created an “anti- Peltier,” website and has made it his life’s mission to see that Leonard Peltier, an innocent man, will never again see the light of freedom. But who is this “Ed Woods,” and what is this organization that he worked/works for really all about? So this piece will be about, “investigating the investigators,” so to say.

Quoted above is the constitutional oath that all F.B.I agents and law enforcement agents swear on upon entering office. While perusing Mr. Woods’ infamous website, I came across an article in which former director of the F.B.I, Louis Freeh, was quoted:

"Mr. Freeh goes on to state, "I believe in the basic truth that lying, cheating or stealing is wholly inconsistent with everything the F.B.I stands for and cannot be tolerated." This is a very ironic statement in that anyone who has studied the true history of the F.B.I would know that, “lying, cheating and stealing,” is the cornerstone of how the F.B.I in reality operates. One need only examine the illegal COINTELPRO policies that were instituted by F.B.I founder, J. Edgar Hoover that targeted almost every single minority group in this country, for a prime example.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/FBI/COINTELPRO_Untold_Story.html

There was recently a conference in Sioux Falls , SD , on the AIM occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Two of the participants were former F.B.I men, Joseph Trimbach and David Price. In the conference these two men were confronted on their personal wrong doings and on F.B.I misconduct in general related to Pine Ridge and the Wounded Knee occupation. Both men were arrogantly defiant regarding their own culpability. Trimbach held to the lie that his committing of Perjury during the Wounded Knee trials by lying about an affidavit that he signed ordering an illegal wire tap and denying knowledge of F.B.I informant, Douglass Durham, was a simple oversight.

Price, when confronted about Myrtle Poor Bear and a letter by 8^th circuit judge, Heaney that stated that the F.B.I agents were, “equally responsible,” for the death of the two agents during the Jumping Bull conflict was equally evasive and defiant. For a little history, Price was one of the agents that while cultivating Louis Moves Camp as a phony witness for the Means/Banks trial took him out on the town and got him liquored up. When he met a young woman they looked the other way when Moves Camp took the woman back to his room and allegedly raped her. The next day Price was hard at work getting the rape charges dropped so they can continue their cultivation of the false witness to put on the stand ( it was later found out that M.C was actually in California and not at Wounded Knee regarding the events he was testifying about). Agent Ron Williams, one of the men that was killed at Jumping Bull along with Joe Stuntz and Jack Coler, assisted Price in the cover up and the manufacturing of the false witness. This does not necessarily justify his fate, but from this you can see that Williams and all the other agents that were in SD at the time were no angels worthy of statues made for them or buildings named after them. Regarding Myrtle Poor Bear, Price was the one that interrogated the mentally fragile woman by showing her pictures of Annie Mae Aquash’s mutilated body while threatening to do worse to her and take her children away if she did not cooperate with them to forge the phony affidavits that were used to extradite Leonard Peltier from Canada . But when Price was asked about his involvement/culpability during this conference he danced around the questions as if he were Muhammad Ali. “Lying, cheating and stealing,” indeed, and remember the oath that these public servants took before GOD on the constitution of the U.S.A?

“Judge Heaney of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, who heard an appeal in Peltier's case (denied on a technicality) wrote in a 1991 letter to Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii: "The United States government overreacted at Wounded Knee . Instead of carefully considering the legitimate grievances of the Native Americans, the response was essentially a military one which culminated in the deadly firefight on June 26, 1975 ... The United States government must share responsibility with the Native Americans for the ... firefight ... the government's role can properly be considered a mitigating circumstance." Judge Heaney, in this letter, recommended clemency/commutation of sentence for Mr. Peltier as part of the healing process.”

But what about “All-American, “ex F.B.I agent,” Ed Woods? Would he engage also in such illegal behavior and break his constitutional oath as well? Research by one of Peltier’s attorney’s has uncovered some startling revelations on Mr. Woods himself to confirm the affirmative. It was uncovered that Woods, while on active duty in Cincinnati , was involved in the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing. During a raid in which a suspect was cornered, Woods had a tape recorder and was recording the proceedings. The suspect, Peter Langon was shot repeatedly and then interrogated/ tortured by Woods himself. When the witness was being interrogated he screamed out to be able to consult with his attorney but was this captured by Woods’ tape recorder? Let’s consult the court records:

“During his testimony, Woods told jurors he turned on a tape recorder in his surveillance car as fellow agents were about to close in on Langon. Five minutes later he shut off the recorder, Woods said.

He never turned the recorder on and off during those five minutes or erased any portion of the recording, Woods testified.

Anthony J. Pellicano, owner of Forensic Audio Lab, disagrees.

His nine-hour analysis of the tape shows that someone turned the recorder on and off NINE TIMES during the 1996 taping, Pellicano told the Dispatch yesterday. Also, someone erased a portion of the tape between the gunfire and Langon's SHOUTED requests for an attorney, he said."

Strike 1. Woods commits Perjury, lying to GOD under oath. But what was Woods trying to cover up by lying about the tape recorder? Did it have something to do with illegal TORTURE and interrogation? Let’s consult Langon’s own testimony:

23) On Jan. 18th, 1996, I was arrested in Columbus , Ohio , while leaving Guthrie's house. During my arrest, I never fired or even pointed a weapon at anyone. Nevertheless, despite being an informant for the Secret Service, a SWAT Team comprised of FBI agents, Deputy U.S Marshals and other law enforcement personnel fired 48 rounds at me that day. They never offered me an opportunity to surrender prior to shooting me.

24) After being stomped and kicked by arresting officers and undergoing surgery for gun shot wounds in the hospital emergency room, I was chained to a wall in a police station and questioned by FBI Special Agent, ED WOOD'S. I did not want this interrogation. I wanted a lawyer, and I asked for one repeatedly. My requests for an attorney, however, were refused.

25) Instead of obtaining an attorney for me, Agent Woods insisted on playing phone messages from Guthrie's answering machine on a tape recorder. When Agent Woods TAUNTED ME with the inference that my associates had betrayed me, and would testify against me, I had had enough. I told him: "You're going to have problems with your witnesses, because they have the blood of Oklahoma City on their hands." Agent Woods definitely took note. "You certainly have my attention now" he said. This turn of events put an end to the interrogation soon thereafter.

STRIKE 2. Illegal Interrogation, Torture and denying the suspect the right to consult an attorney.

So the investigation continues and Woods/ the F.B.I, like Douglass Durham in AIM, are in need of an informant/snitch to rat out the others. So who does Woods turn to? None other then convicted felon, Neo Nazi, White Supremacist, Wife beater, and child molester, Shawn Kenny. But it’s not enough for Woods to use this monster as an informant. He takes it a step further by taking on the role of ,”personal savior,” for Kenny by helping him to get illegally instated into the army and then by making sure that he’s, ‘taken care of,” once he’s in there:

“Why? Because Somebody Up There, probably FBI agent Ed Woods, now retired, has been watching over Kenny, at least since he turned snitch when caught red-handed – literally – passing dye-stained bills related to a bank robbery. Tabatha says: “Thank God my husband was never charged. God was looking out for him.”

God and the U.S. government.

For example, when the Secret Service searched Kenny’s trailer back in the bad ol’ days and found unauthorized weapons, Kenny got a pass even though it’s a serious violation of the law for convicted felons to possess firearms.

And Kenny’s buddies ranged from the neo-Nazi bank robbers to Timothy McVeigh. But while they all got their due, Kenny got the Army – and the Army apparently got the Snitch Promotion Program.

After joining up, Kenny became a shooting star: In 2004, he was promoted to sergeant first class with less than 10 years of service – not far outside of normal promotions if Kenny hadn’t been charged in 1996 with providing alcohol to his 11-year-old niece and inappropriately touching and kissing the kid. But he received only an Article 15 nonjudicial punishment for actions that would have led to administrative separation, if not court-martial, for any less-connected soldier.

No big surprise, since Leslie Blade says guardian-angel Woods is adamant that the sergeant deserves to have his life changed.”

STRIKE 3. Fronting for a Neo-Nazi monster.

So let’s stop and digest this for a moment. Woods is intent on keeping Peltier, an innocent man that got convicted in a farce of a trial that was overflowing with F.B.I misconduct similar to what has been illustrated above, for the rest of his life yet he’s willing to front for this Nazi monster and believes, “he deserves to have his life changed?” Does anyone else besides me see the blatant moral inconsistency? Is Woods a racist and does he have direct ties to the Neo- Nazi’s himself? It wouldn’t surprise me considering the Bureau’s well documented past ties to Hitler and the Nazi party:

“J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI (and virulently anti-communist) was a great admirer of the Nazis and was a pen pal of Heinrich Himmler (Reichsfuhrer of the Nazi SS, head of the... Gestapo, and second most powerful leader of the ...Nazi party). Hoover sent Himmler a personal invitation to attend the 1937 World Police Conference in Montreal , and in 1938 welcomed one of Himmler's top aids to the U.S. In June 1939, when the Nazi SS was conducting savage attacks against Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals throughout Germany , Hoover personally autographed a photo of himself and sent it in response to a request, to KRIPO, the Nazi criminal police agency. He continued communication with Nazi police until December 4, 1941 (three days before Pearl Harbor ).”

http://youtu.be/KPEXoW05qYk

And then there is Mr. Woods’ own email conversation that he had with former F.B.I agent, Wesley Swearingen, that’s documented on Woods’ website that sheds some more light on the racist history of the Bureau:

"Many friends have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention FBI abuses. I myself could NOT BELIEVE what I was seeing
when I worked on the Racial Squad in Los Angelous.
Although only about a dozen agents were die hard racists, urged on by J.Edgar Hoover and his Sycophants on the Racial Desk
at the Bureau, just a handful of bad apples are enough to spoil the whole bushel. In fact, the whole LA office was nothing like Memphis , Chicago , Louisville or New York City ." Swearingen F.B.I

" I began to help Geronimo Pratt's attorney's in 1979. The FBI claimed from 1979 to 1997 in several court hearings, that Pratt was guilty of murder. I attended

a court hearing in L.A in 1984 and heard my fellow agents testify that Pratt was guilty of murder. The FBI denied that they had paid Oakland police to operate an illegal wiretap, having received information from that tap that placed Pratt in Oakland at the time of the murder. This all came out in a hearing in 1997, when an honest Judge ordered the FBI to produce the original documents. Some of the same agents who framed Pratt worked on AIM cases. Pratt was released in 1998, pending a new trial. The L.A district attorney did not retry Pratt, because the FBI informant perjured himself during the 1972 trial. Pratt sued the L.A.P.D and the FBI, and in 2000 he won a settlement of 4.5 million." Swearingen F.B.I

So what can be concluded from all this? Is Ed Woods a credible voice that can be trusted to comment impartially on Leonard Peltier’s case or is he just another lying, crooked law enforcement agent with an agenda that has violated his oath to defend the constitution of the U.S.A. ? I believe the answer, based on what has been shared thus far, is obvious. So, in my opinion, Mr. Woods can go on whining about Peltier as long as he wants but more and more it’s becoming apparent that his assertions are dubious and it’s F.B.I misconduct, not a fair trial, that lead to Peltier’s false conviction. To quote the moniker of the promising young film maker, Preston Randolph’s, upcoming film, the heart of Leonard Peltier’s case represents, “The imprisonment of an innocent man by the lies of a guilty government.” And for a taste of irony, Woods in his most recent babbling on his website, attacked the young filmmaker and compared him to a well known Nazi film maker/ propagandist. Was this filmmaker also a friend and associate of Mr. Hoover’s, I’m wondering? Hoover himself engaged in, “Nazi-like,” propaganda when he inserted informants into the media to manipulate how the Bureau was portrayed. In fact, Mr. Woods website itself can be considered a remnant from this same mold of old F.B.I propaganda.

So what can be asserted from this? Instead of being given the privilege and being “puffed up” to look like someone important by being granted the permission to testify against Leonard at his parole hearing, this twisted, sycophant low life, Ed Woods, should rather be in prison himself. Why? To quote one of the most notorious of J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO victims, Martin Luther King JR., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere.”

And let’s end up with some quotes from Ed Woods himself from his fabled website:

“But an important question to be asked is why are we even discussing these Agents at this juncture? The answer is simple, because FBI Agents are held to a higher standard; higher than the average citizen, and by most accounts, above that of other law enforcement. And so they should be. They reach a standard that many would not care to maintain for themselves or others. Regrettably, only a handful have damaged the reputation of many loyal, dedicated and professional public servants. It can easily be proven that the record of the approximately eleven thousand current Agents, and the tens of thousands of former and retired agents who have served honorably over the past ninety-four years, exceed the performance of any other organization; in law enforcement or not. The percentage of those who have not met this extraordinarily high standard is almost too small to measure and is barely a fraction of the total. But the actions of a very few who cannot conform to the highest standards demanded does not condemn the entire organization. The standards for entering the Bureau are arguably the highest of all public or private sector jobs. If there is any doubt about that claim; pick up an application. Yet, there is no shortage of those who are willing to join.

The Media

There are those who would like nothing better than to dismantle the FBI. They smell blood in the water and are in a frenzy for headlines. But with all the negative press, what is lost in the process are the countless accomplishments and thousands of successful investigations and prosecutions every year that the public is not reminded about. There are far too many to even begin listing here. And even through all this turmoil, the FBI is still doing its job, and doing it very well.

A paramount example is the Oklahoma City Bombing case itself. This investigation, arguably the most significant domestic case ever, was handled professionally from beginning to end as revealed by the massive amounts of evidence and thousands of leads and interviews that were handled properly and expeditiously resulting in swift justice for America's most notable mass-murderer. On this point, ICT and the NPPA, as well as the vast majority of Americans from all corners, are in full agreement; categorizing McVeigh for what he was, "the most horrific of terrorists." Although, as with Peltier, we must ensure that due process is followed to the letter, even as we all agree unequivocally on one point, McVeigh is guilty. ED WOODS

* There is more irony in this in that based on what has been presented, Woods himself strayed far from, “playing it straight,” in the Oklahoma City Bombing investigations and he himself has fallen way bellow the high standards that he has set for the Bureau. Another blow to his own, already questionable, credibility. One Neo- Nazi monster is given the chair while another one is granted an illegal pass into the army with privileges and someone somewhere calls this, “justice?”

“How Kenny got into the Army in spite of his criminal history -- and his white supremacist tattoos -- is something of a puzzle. So is his promotion just months after the Army convicted him on morals charges involving an 11-year-old girl.

But what really distinguishes Kenny is his alleged relationship with the man who killed 168 people by blowing up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. A new book based on death row interviews with McVeigh mentions Kenny five times.

Kenny couldn't be reached for comment, of course. His wife, Tabatha Kenny of Cheviot, told a reporter she'd ask him to contact CityBeat. She also said the Army has greatly benefited her family. She means the U.S. Army. It was Kenny's membership in the other army, the Aryan Republican Army (ARA), that ties him to McVeigh.

Kenny and other ARA members met with McVeigh in Elohim City , a right-wing militia center in Oklahoma , before the Oklahoma City bombing, according to Secrets Worth Dying For: Timothy James McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing. But the book isn't the first to raise questions about a Cincinnati link to the Oklahoma City bombing. A CityBeat investigation shows that, within days of the massacre, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service were asking the same thing.

But perhaps most troubling of all is Kenny's own account of his mission before joining the military. In 1996 he gave secret testimony to a federal grand jury in Philadelphia detailing the ARA's violent intentions. CityBeat obtained a transcript of the testimony.

"We had planned on robbing banks and armored cars," he testified. "Proceeds were to fund the cause, the movement or whatever. Buy guns, ammo, distribute out to other people, like-mindedness groups, to further their cause."

Contributed by Mark Holtzman

Sources:

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-8818-cover_story_queen_city_terror.html

http://www.wnd.com/2005/04/29919/

Cover Story: Queen City Terror

http://www.kennethtrentadue.com/pdf/declaration2.pdf

13th Annual Awareness Event for Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier

2012-05-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

Oglala Commemoration Committee
Web: www.oglalacommemoration.com
Email: oglala_commemoration@yahoo.com

13th ANNUAL AWARENESS EVENT FOR POLITICIAL PRISONER LEONARD PELTIER SCHEDULED FOR JUNE ON THE PINE RIDGE RESERVATION.

Oglala, SD: The 13th Annual Oglala Commemoration will be held on June 26th, 2012 in Oglala, South Dakota.

This annual event is to honor and remember the lives lost during the 1970s Civil War on the Reservation and to also raise awareness toward the unjust imprisonment of AIM member Leonard Peltier whose incarceration resulted from a Shootout incident between AIM members and Federal police agents in Oglala 37 years ago. It is also an event which promotes reconciliation and healing for the 1970s events with emphasis on alternatives or restorative justice.

Activities begin with a Spiritual Ceremony conducted at the Little Family Cemetery. Gravesite of Joe Stuntz, at Noon.

A Memorial walk ends at the Jumping Bull Property; as we Honor our Warriors. We share words and silence, tears and laughter, as we remember those who have left us. Ending with a meal, memorial cakes and a give-away. In Memory of Joe KillsRight Stuntz. In Remembrance of Leonard Peltier and all those who gave the Ultimate Sacrifice to protect their culture, a memorial marker will be placed at the Jumping Bull Property this year.

The Annual Youth Awareness Concert for Healthy Life Styles and Choices, will be held at the Lakota Dome (Prairie Wind Casino).

We are very pleased to announce a major lineup for this year’s event . Join us for this “Free” concert , as we present “Grammy and NAMA winner, Guitar God” Micki Free. We welcome back the local greats: Scatter Their Own, SpyderZback, Brett Hamilton, with Elk Nation Drum and our own JD Nash.

Host Hotel & Campground : Prairie Wind Casino – 1-800-705-WIND

This is a Leonard Peltier Empowerment Event for healty life style and choices.
Absolutely No Drugs, Alcohol or Violence. No filming without prior permission.
RESPECT Lakota Traditions and Culture.

Why Is Peltier Still in Prison?

2012-05-23T12:37:00.001-05:00

Leonard Peltier walk coming to Cherokee

2012-05-08T13:31:00.000-05:00

Peltier walk coming to Cherokee

May 7, 2012

http://theonefeather.com/2012/05/peltier-walk-coming-to-cherokee/

The Leonard Peltier Walk for Human Rights is coming to Cherokee (NC) on Friday, May 11. The group, comprised of American Indians from several tribes, will make its way into town and will walk from the Casino Mart to the Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds at around 12noon on Friday.

“Our mission is to bring awareness of Leonard Peltier and Leonard Peltier’s case and all of the human rights issues,” said a walk organizer.

The walkers, numbering around 10, started their journey on Dec. 18, 2011 at Alcatraz Island near San Francisco, Cali. They plan to end their walk in Washington, DC on Friday, May 18 culminating in a three-day pow wow.

A free concert featuring Bill Miller will be held at the Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 12 at 6pm. Everyone is invited to the concert and to walk with the group on Friday.

UN's correspondent on indigenous peoples urges government to act to combat 'racial discrimination' felt by Native Americans

2012-05-07T14:02:00.000-05:00

UN's correspondent on indigenous peoples urges government to act to combat 'racial discrimination' felt by Native Americans
Chris McGreal in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 May 2012 18.46 EDT

A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination.

James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said no member of the US Congress would meet him as he investigated the part played by the government in the considerable difficulties faced by Indian tribes.

Anaya said that in nearly two weeks of visiting Indian reservations, indigenous communities in Alaska and Hawaii, and Native Americans now living in cities, he encountered people who suffered a history of dispossession of their lands and resources, the breakdown of their societies and "numerous instances of outright brutality, all grounded on racial discrimination".

"It's a racial discrimination that they feel is both systemic and also specific instances of ongoing discrimination that is felt at the individual level," he said.Anaya said racism extended from the broad relationship between federal or state governments and tribes down to local issues such as education.

"For example, with the treatment of children in schools both by their peers and by teachers as well as the educational system itself; the way native Americans and indigenous peoples are reflected in the school curriculum and teaching," he said.

"And discrimination in the sense of the invisibility of Native Americans in the country overall that often is reflected in the popular media. The idea that is often projected through the mainstream media and among public figures that indigenous peoples are either gone or as a group are insignificant or that they're out to get benefits in terms of handouts, or their communities and cultures are reduced to casinos, which are just flatly wrong."

Close to a million people live on the US's 310 Native American reservations. Some tribes have done well from a boom in casinos on reservations but most have not.

Anaya visited an Oglala Sioux reservation where the per capita income is around $7,000 a year, less than one-sixth of the national average, and life expectancy is about 50 years.

The two Sioux reservations in South Dakota – Rosebud and Pine Ridge – have some of the country's poorest living conditions, including mass unemployment and the highest suicide rate in the western hemisphere with an epidemic of teenagers killing themselves.

"You can see they're in a somewhat precarious situation in terms of their basic existence and the stability of their communities given that precarious land tenure situation. It's not like they have large fisheries as a resource base to sustain them. In basic economic terms it's a very difficult situation. You have upwards of 70% unemployment on the reservation and all kinds of social ills accompanying that. Very tough conditions," he said.

Anaya said Rosebud is an example where returning land taken by the US government could improve a tribe's fortunes as well as contribute to a "process of reconciliation".

"At Rosebud, that's a situation where indigenous people have seen over time encroachment on to their land and they've lost vast territories and there have been clear instances of broken treaty promises. It's undisputed that the Black Hills was guaranteed them by treaty and that treaty was just outright violated by the United States in the 1900s. That has been recognised by the United States supreme court," he said.

Anaya said he would reserve detailed recommendations on a plan for land restoration until he presents his final report to the UN human rights council in September.

"I'm talking about restoring to indigenous peoples what obviously they're entitled to and they have a legitimate claim to in a way that is not devisive but restorative. That's the idea behind reconciliation," he said.

But any such proposal is likely to meet stiff resistance in Congress similar to that which has previously greeted calls for the US government to pay reparations for slavery to African-American communities.

Anaya said he had received "exemplary cooperation" from the Obama administration but he declined to speculate on why no members of Congress would meet him.

"I typically meet with members of the national legislature on my country visits and I don't know the reason," he said.

Last month, the US justice and interior departments announced a $1 billion settlement over nearly 56 million acres of Indian land held in trust by Washington but exploited by commercial interests for timber, farming, mining and other uses with little benefit to the tribes.

The attorney general, Eric Holder, said the settlement "fairly and honourably resolves historical grievances over the accounting and management of tribal trust funds, trust lands and other non-monetary trust resources that, for far too long, have been a source of conflict between Indian tribes and the United States."

But Anaya said that was only a step in the right direction.

"These are important steps but we're talking about mismanagement by the government of assets that were left to indigenous peoples," he said. "This money for the insults on top of the injury. It's not money for the initial problem itself, which is the taking of vast territories. This is very important and I think the administration should be commended for moving forward to settle these claims but there are these deeper issues that need to be addressed."
----
See also:

Clark, Peter. "Constitutional and Human Rights Violations in the Case of Leonard Peltier." The Significance of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A Conference and Consultation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya. Tucson, Arizona: 26-27 April 2012

Foster, Len. "American Indian Religious and Spiritual Practices in the United States Prison System." The Significance of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A Conference and Consultation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya. Tucson, Arizona: 26-27 April 2012

06 May, SF: Book Reading and Leonard Peltier Benefit

2012-05-04T15:37:00.000-05:00

May Day Actions on Behalf of Leonard Peltier

2012-05-04T15:34:00.002-05:00

Ireland, 01 May 2012

In solidarity with labor and other movements, Peltier supporters marched on May Day in Oakland, Atlanta, New York City, and Ireland.

Raffle of Leonard Peltier Art Ends 09 June

2012-05-03T13:56:00.001-05:00

On the Border (2010)

Buy a reproduction of "On the Border". This and other fine art reproductions are of the highest quality. Images of paintings by the artist Leonard Peltier are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto your choice of canvas or paper (fine art or photo-base). Order your reproduction today! Visit Leonard Peltier Art at http://www.leonardpeltierart.com.

Questions? Please send an e-mail to monica7621@msn.com or call 719-687-8750.

Special !!!
Enter to Win a Framed 18"x24" Reproduction
of a Peltier Painting

Buy a raffle ticket for $5.00 before June 9. Buy five entries for $20.00. There is no limit on the number of raffle tickets you can buy.

Send your name, e-mail address, shipping address, and your check or money order to Leonard Peltier Art, PO Box 7621, Woodland Park, CO 80863.

NW Regional Leonard Peltier Human Rights March

2012-05-01T11:47:00.000-05:00

NORTHWEST REGIONAL LEONARD PELTIER HUMAN RIGHTS MARCH
IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE LEONARD PELTIER HUMAN RIGHTS WALK
As it reaches Washington, D.C.

MAY 19, 2012, OLYMPIA, WA

MARCH: 12 NOON; Gather at Heritage Park, 5th and Water St. Across from Traditions Fair Trade. (This was the Occupy Olympia site)

RALLY: WASHINGTON STATE CAPITAL: 1:00 pm.

Flier and statement on web site:
http://zinelibrary.info/leonard-peltier-human-rights-march-flier-olympia-may-19th

March flier for down load: http://zinelibrary.info/files/Peltier_Olympia.pdf

Subscribe to: Northwest Peltier Support at: nwpeltiersupport-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

Face Book events page (please share and invite your friends): http://www.facebook.com/events/355125197861595/

Occupy DOJ: Statement by Leonard Peltier

2012-04-24T12:36:00.000-05:00

Greetings and Hoka Hey! to my brother Mumia Abu Jamal, his family, friends, and supporters. Happy Fifty Eighth birthday, my friend. To you people of conscience I extend to you my support and enthusiasm for your efforts as you Occupy the Department of Justice on this day. As a person likewise denied justice and living in an iron cage purely for defending my own people, I want to thank you for taking ownership of the very concept of justice. They may call themselves the department of justice, but what they dispense is anything but. If you are black or brown or red what you get is obstruction, oppression, suppression, depression, and the INjustice of a system still afraid to acknowledge what it has historically done to minorities, and finds itself unable to change its destructive behavior.

What is justice? Is it a system where an overwhelming number of those arrested, tried, and convicted all look very similar? NO. Is it a system where one man or woman pays more for a similar crime than another because of what they look like? NO. Is it a pattern of historically violating the human rights of those who do not descend from Europeans? NO. Is it the quashing of the voices of those who stand up and heroically work to change the world for the better? NO. No it is not justice but it is injustice in the name of racism, and social and political deconstruction of communities already ravaged by the scoundrels of history.

And today I cry out to you my righteous brother and sisters, take ownership of this word justice. Explore the true meaning of the word not in some dictionary, but in your hearts, your homes, your neighborhoods, your cities, and finally in this country we live in. Express justice in every hall, and courthouse and capitol from California to Maine, from Texas to Montana and all points in between. Stand up together as one and show the authorities that justice is NOT based on fear, it is NOT based on marginalization, it is NOT based on holding down one to raise another, it is NOT about being afraid of our differences. Justice, TRUE justice is about being my brother’s keeper. It is about forging a common existence in the sight of the Creator as men and women living together, toiling together, playing together, worshipping together, and governing together without fear of being trampled on because of age old fears and deceptions.

You carry forth for those of us who cannot. Do not be afraid and do not grow weary. Our spirits are with you in every word you speak and every step you take. Carry on in the face of despair and sorrow and all that history has shown us. You are the face of change this country and this world must have if we are to know real justice and real harmony. I thank you. Thank you so much for your time, your faith, your energy, and your voice. And please, save me a piece of birthday cake for the day justice is served, and we are all free.

Mitakuye Oyasin (We are all related).

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse and Geronimo,

Leonard Peltier

Failures at the FBI crime lab

2012-04-24T09:58:00.003-05:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fbi-lab-failures-should-lead-to-reform/2012/04/20/gIQAe6lYWT_story.html

Failures at the FBI crime lab

By Washington Post Editorial Board, Published: April 20

KIRK L. ODOM was incarcerated for 20 years and Donald E. Gates for nearly 30 for crimes they did not commit. Santae A. Tribble spent 28 years behind bars, even though DNA evidence now shows he almost undoubtedly was not the culprit.

All of the men were erroneously convicted in the District, in part, on the basis of forensic evidence analyzed by the FBI. Problems within the FBI lab, particularly with hair-sample analysis, were well known to the agency and the Justice Department; a task force spent some nine years reviewing cases after a whistleblower revealed possible shortcomings.

In a series of articles, The Post’s Spencer S. Hsu and a team of reporters documented how the Justice Department failed to notify lawyers representing prisoners whose fate hinged on the FBI analysis. Some prisoners spent years behind bars before becoming aware of the lab issues.

The problem continues to this day. The full results of the Justice Department task force’s investigation have not been made public. Even when the task force discovered flaws in a case, the information was turned over only to prosecutors, who were then left to decide whether the results needed to be brought to the attention of defense lawyers. In addition, the task force reviewed only cases involving one FBI analyst whose work was called into question; The Post identified cases where other analysts’ work resulted in convictions of innocent defendants.

The FBI argues that hair-sample analysis — in which samples from a suspect are analyzed microscopically and compared with samples found on a victim or crime scene — is a vital and legitimate tool. Advances in DNA testing, which allows for genetic analysis of evidence, “should not be perceived as diminishing the value of prior practices and testimonies,” according to an FBI statement. Administration law enforcement officials say that all hair samples collected after 1996 have been subjected to DNA testing, when possible; they point out that such testing is sometimes off limits because of the size or condition of the sample. “In cases where microscopic hair exams conducted by the FBI resulted in a conviction, the FBI is evaluating whether additional review is warranted,” the statement said.

This does not go far enough. The agency should not be considering “whether additional review is warranted” but how such a review should be conducted; members of the defense bar should be part of these discussions. Any review should, as a start, include DNA testing of hair samples in all cases that ended in conviction — regardless of which analyst performed the work — for which the defendant is still imprisoned or on parole. The Justice Department should make its task force results public; if such broad disclosure presents privacy or security problems, the department should at least make all FBI forensic analysis and task force material available to defense lawyers.

The failings documented by The Post point to the need for better scientific standards in forensic testing and a more open process for the disclosure of evidence and information in criminal proceedings. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is weighing legislation to expand the role of the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to set such standards.

Congress also should change the law regarding discovery. Prosecutors should not be deciding which pieces of evidence seem exculpatory and must be turned over to the defense. They should be required to open their files to defense lawyers, with exceptions for witness protection or national security.

Occupy The Justice Department Implicates Obama Administration Integrity

2012-04-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

Occupy The Justice Department Implicates Obama Administration Integrity
Created 04/23/2012 - 13:55
by Linn Washington Jr.

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1136
One of the issues driving protesters participating in the April 24, 2012 Occupy The Justice Department demonstration is an issue that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder knows well – prosecutorial misconduct.

Holder knows this misconduct issue well because he has criticized it during congressional testimony, as recently as March 2012 when commenting on a special prosecutor’s report castigating the wrongdoing of federal prosecutors.

That wrongdoing, Holder acknowledged, unlawfully tainted the corruption investigation and 2008 trial of the late U.S. Senator Ted Stevens –convicted of corruption in his home state of Alaska.

Protesters, including fiery Philadelphia activist Pam Africa, want Holder to take action against the prosecutorial misconduct evident in scores of unjust convictions improperly imprisoning political prisoners across America, most of them jailed for two or more decades.

Those political prisoners – ignored domestically while exalted abroad –include Native American activist Leonard Peltier, Puerto Rican Nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera, the Cuban 5, author/activist Mumia Abu-Jamal and other former Black Panther Party members like the Omaha Two (Ed Poindexter and Mondo W. Langa).

Demands of the Occupy The Justice Department protesters include the immediate release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, freeing all political prisoners, ending the racist death penalty and ending solitary confinement and torture.

Individuals and incidents underlying those demands are within the purview of USAG Holder to investigate and/or to act immediately to resolve.

April 24th is the birthday of Mumia Abu-Jamal, perhaps the most recognized U.S. political prisoner worldwide.

Abu-Jamal, for example, was the subject of two demonstrations held recently outside the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany, one of which included extending a 2,200-foot banner around that embassy building.

Pam Africa is the head of International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal – the Philadelphia-based organization at the center of the international movement seeking Abu-Jamal’s release.

Africa is the dynamo who most Philadelphia police, prosecutors, politicians and many pastors love to hate because of her strident advocacy on behalf of imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal and MOVE members sentenced for a fatal 1978 shootout.

The advocacy of Pam Africa on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal – helping construct support networks while confronting incessant opposition –contributed to the climate where U.S. federal courts late last year finally killed the death sentence Abu-Jamal received following his controversial 1982 conviction for killing a policeman.

Abu-Jamal is now fighting against a life-without-parole sentence.

That elimination of Abu-Jamal’s government-endorsed death chagrined powerful figures across Pennsylvania and around America who had shamefully bent-&-broken laws (deliberately sabotaging court proceedings) in their various efforts to execute Abu-Jamal, known as the Voice-of-the-Voiceless.

While winning freedom for Abu-Jamal and the MOVE 9 is a definitive focus of Pam Africa’s advocacy she is frequently found on ‘front-lines’nationwide fighting for ending mistreatment of people regardless of their color and creed.

“Pam Africa is in each and every struggle for social justice in Philadelphia, the U.S. and abroad. It’s not just Mumia,” said Latino activist/writer Berta Joubert-Ceci while chairing a recent program featuring former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in West Philadelphia.

Dr. Claude Guillaumaud, a professor in France whose known Africa for 20-years, said she's “had time to appreciate her warm personality and total commitment to the cause of Mumia and the fight against racial discrimination and the barbarian death penalty.”

Temple University African-American history professor Dr. Tony Monteiro first met Pam Africa during an ugly June 1979 incident in South Philadelphia where local police beat Africa. Philadelphia police pummeled Africa with nightsticks with one stick-strike knocking out some of her teeth.

The scholar in Dr. Monteiro sees Pam Africa as a unique figure whose contributions locally, nationally and internationally merit both examination and recognition.

“She’s made history but she didn’t set out to make history. She started initially just to do the right thing,” Monteiro said during a recent interview.

“I see her as one of the most significant rights leaders in the past forty-years. Where other black leaders have sought acceptance from ‘the system’ she never left the battlefield. She never retreated. She was never broken.”

Monteiro is a force behind two recent events honoring Pam Africa’s accomplishments. He has initiated a process for what he envisions as a study of Africa’s life works.

Prosecutorial misconduct is a core element in the Abu-Jamal case albeit a festering injustice ignored by state and federal courts that have refused to grant legal relief to Abu-Jamal despite granting new trials to others citing evidence of prosecutorial misconduct far less grievous than that evident in the Abu-Jamal case.

One example of prosecutorial misconduct in the Abu-Jamal case occurred during his 1982 murder trial when the prosecutor perverted a comment Abu-Jamal made over a decade earlier when responding to a reporter’s question about the December 1969 murder of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton.

The Chicago police assassination of Hampton, later linked to the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO outraged many at the time including leaders as diverse as the then head of the NAACP, Roy Wilkins and former U.S. United Nations Ambassador Arthur Goldberg.

Hampton’s assassination, later documented by congressional and other investigations, was a part of a police-FBI campaign to slay BPP members –28 BPP deaths between January 1968 and December 1969.

A teenaged BBP member Abu-Jamal told that reporter that Hampton’s murder proved that “power” comes from the barrel of a gun.

But the 1982 trial prosecutor shifted the context of Abu-Jamal’s comment from applying it to police killing Black Panthers to proclaiming Abu-Jamal’s intent to kill police – one of many factual mischaracterizations that millions worldwide constantly cite when charging Abu-Jamal received an unfair trial.

That improper perversion of Abu-Jamal’s comment helped sway jurors to send the award-winning journalist with no criminal record to death row. That prosecutor had improperly excluded blacks from Abu-Jamal’s trial jury.

Not only was the prosecutor twisting Abu-Jamal’s comment an improper tactic it violated associational rights granted under the First Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave new hearings in the early 1990s to two convicted murderers – a white racist prisoner gang member in Delaware and a white devil worshipper in Nevada – while denying comparable relief to former BPP member Abu-Jamal three times.

USAG Eric Holder, shortly after taking office in January 2009, went to court successfully requesting dismissal of Sen. Stevens’ conviction after finding that federal prosecutor withheld evidence of innocence from Stevens’ defense team plus tampered with witnesses and documents.

The recent release of the special prosecutor’s report in the Stevens case confirmed that prosecutorial misconduct – wrongdoing also abundant in the case of Abu-Jamal and other U.S. political prisoners.

The Occupy The Justice Department demonstrators are raising the issue of Holder’s credibility and the ethical integrity of the Obama Administration in acting to dismiss the wrongful conviction of ex-Senator Stevens while ignoring the continued imprisonment of U.S. political prisoners that involves misconduct by police and prosecutors.

On December 9, 2011 – one day before the U.N. annual Human Rights Day –Noble Peace Prize winning anti-apartheid activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked America to “rise to the challenge of reconciliation, human rights and justice” in calling for the “immediate release” of Abu-Jamal.
Source URL:http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1136

Freedom for Leonard Peltier and All Prisoners of Conscience

2012-04-24T09:46:00.001-05:00

June 2-3, 2012

Run for Freedom

Freedom for Leonard Peltier and All Prisoners of Conscience

From Chief Little Turtle Statue in Covington, KY, to Serpent Mound, Peebles, OH.

Walk, run or cycle! Everyone is invited to participate.

Information: Call 513-403-2765 or 513-766-6121; E-mail us at info@footprintsforpeace.org.