By Kanook – Tlingit Nation March – 2010 An open account to the people of the world and its Political Prisoners On a bright sunny day in June, 1975, two Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation chasing after a Pine Ridge Reservation Indian who they believed stole a pair of used Cowboy Boots were driving across Indian Country when they were killed. And the Saga of modern day Indian justice was played out with the expected results – some Indian had to pay!

On June 26, 1975, a date that can be compared to that of September 11th, 2001 as when the protected rights of an American citizen were thrown out the window, and the power elite continued their march to world domination, controlling the population of the world through their purchasing of the Judicial and Political systems of the of America. Not to mention their absolute control of the commercial media. What happened on that day, a day noted by some as another nail driven into the rights of the indigenous population of North America, a day that effectively took the life of an innocent man, albeit he is still alive and locked behind steel bars isolating him from the society he loved and embraced with the zeal that many men in other societies do not or cannot. was born on September 12th 1944, and as of today is 65 ½ years old and of those 65 ½ years he has spent 32 years and 10 months in a federal jail. He was born to Leo Peltier and Alvina Robidea, sharing their Anishinabe-Lakota ancestry and spent his youth living with his grandparents on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation which is located in northern North Dakota and is the land-base for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Leonard Peltier became part of the (“AIM”) during its inception during the late 1960s, and it was as one of their leaders that he became involved in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation assaults by the U.S. Government, who, it has been noted has never apologized for its historical treatment of the Indigenous people of the United States…granted they like other nations has offered money to the tribes of various locations, considered bribes by the local populations who in most cases have never accepted the “hand of cash” from the White Father. June 26th, 1975 was not a day that just appeared on the horizon for American Indian’s, it was preceded by events that began on February 27th, 1973 some 849 days earlier when a group of AIM members took part in a 71-day siege at Wounded Knee, in an occupation meant to draw attention to the 1890 massacre of at least 150 Lakota Sioux men, women and children by the United States 7th Calvary at a camp near Wounded Knee Creek. Beginning on February 27th, 1973 American Indians occupied the Sacred Heart Church and the Gildersleeve Trading Post. Albeit there were “periodic” negotiations between the AIM spokespeople and the United States government negotiators, shooting erupted at times between the two entities. On the 27th, AIM members and members of the Lakota (Sioux) of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation who opposed the Oglala tribal chairman “Richard a ‘Dick” Wilson - who sported a colorful background as an individual who was in charge of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, protested against his form of corrupt governing. It should be strongly noted that the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, to this day, is the poorest registered entity in the United State of America as it was on June 27th, 1973. AIM and the local traditional chiefs with their tribal members were making an attempt to demonstrate the intolerable conditions suffered on the Pine Ridge reservation whereas what little employment that was available was controlled by Dick Wilson, the half-breed tribal chairman, who was considered by the government and non-Indians outside of the reservation as an “obedient” authority to all, except to those he represented…the Indians. As seen, Dick Wilson allocated the few jobs and programs on the reservation to his friends and family, who like him were half-breeds (or to be politically correct of mixed-blood heritage). Under the guidance of the , a noted corrupt government agency, originally created under the Department of War – Dick and his BIA supervisors and accountants sold the gazing rights located on Tribal Lands to the non-Indian ranchers bordering the lands at very cheap rates, this procedure increased Dick’s status with the White ranchers as did the inter-marriage between the Indians and the Whites. Supposedly under AIM threats, where evidence has never been forthcoming, Dick and his family were placed under “protective custody” on February 23rd, 1973…four days before AIM and the Pine Ridge Indians began their protest. Which would lead someone to believe that at least 4-days ahead of time, someone knew of the intentions of the local Indian population and the direct participation of the AIM movement, initiating a protest against Dick Wilson’s government? The protest was a direct response to the “marginalization” of the full-blooded Lakota’s on the reservation, whereas over the years most did not bother to participate in the tribal elections because of the corruption in the voting process, and in 1973 decided to act on the inconsistencies in their supposed fair and equal tribal government. On the very same day that the protestors setup shop at Wounded Knee, the United States military and government officers (who were absent without leave on September 11th, 2001) surrounded Wounded Knee. Albeit there is a dispute on whether or not the government forces cordoned the town before or after the takeover, but according to a former South Dakota United States Senator James George Abourezk, “on February 25th, 1973 the United States Department of Justice sent 50- United States Marshals to the Pine Ridge Reservation to be available in the case of a civil disturbance.” Historical records have proven time and time again that the United States government has NEVER done anything “just in case” something might happen to an Indian Population, their NEVER hidden agenda was and is to put down with force if necessary any discord among the Indigenous people that they conquered, stripping their land and depriving them of a way of life. There is no reason to argue this fact, other than a concerted effort by the invading winners, to rewrite history and cover the actual deed committed against the Indians of North America. AIM, on the other hand, argues it came to town for an open meeting with the Dick Wilson government, who by this time was secured in a safe environment by the United States government, within hours the U.S. Marshalls and the military had set up roadblocks, cordoned off the area and started arresting people leaving town… the people who stayed behind the cordoned off area prepared to defend themselves against the organized government aggressions – by the morning of the 28th of February both side were firmly entrenched. Three-weeks previous to all of this, Dick Wilson had survived an impeachment hearing organized by the traditional leaders of Pine Ridge, and helped by both a local civil rights organization and some urban AIM members – it is noted that Dick had manipulated the results of the investigation into the reason for his impeachment, twisting the arms of the impeachment committee, and the final vote. It is because of his “Tricky Dick” ways that he and the U.S. government expected the next move to be a wild-wild-west gun battle in the streets of Wounded Knee – he and the U.S. Marshalls turned the tribal headquarters in Pine Ridge into an armed encampment, complete with machine gun emplacements on top of the administration buildings – he was ready for those bloody redskins. AIM and the traditional leader realize this would be a battle they’d NEVER win, consequently on the morning of the February 27th, 1973 they truly came to town to powwow – naturally as seen time and time again it is very rare that the United States government will powwow with the redskin unless the White Father informs his redskin brother it will be under Washington D.C. conditions – you know that and so do I…case closed. Five days before the siege, President Richard Nixon in an effort to distance himself from the upcoming confrontation travels to China, a tricky move at best. In the end, a decision was made to make a last-stand at the tiny village of Wounded Knee, the site of the last massacre of the “Indian Wars”, the decision made based on the hope that public sympathy would calm the hand of Wilson’s cadre and the heavily fortified government forces – it worked, somewhat. The location soon became a “media” circus such as it was, being that most of the media except those friendly with Wilson and his gang were stopped at the roadblocks. Albeit the media was present, the location soon became a violent theater of guerilla warfare. It was reported by John Sayer that, "The equipment maintained by the military while in use during the siege included fifteen armored personal carriers, clothing, rifles, grenade launchers, flares, and 133,000 rounds of ammunition, for a total cost, including the use of maintenance personnel from the national guard of five states and pilot and planes for aerial photographs, of over half a million dollars"! The “precise” statistics of the United States government force at “Wounded Knee” vary, but needless to say the force was significantly sufficient to overcome the small band of Indians, a force that included federal marshals, FBI agents, the National Guard (military), armored vehicles, rapid fire machine and helicopter carrying rapid fire weapons, M-16s, and M-79 grenade launchers. One journalist reported, there were numerous incidents of “sniper fire from…federal helicopters, with bullets dancing around in the dirt couple with sporadic shooting all over the town”. Others maintain to this day, that if the media had not been there the AIM members and the local tribal members would have been classified as card carrying Russians and the entire group massacred, under one pretext or the other. As in any other siege, the outside forces in establishing their blockade has a goal of “starving out the inhabitants behind the blockade,” this is not an assumption that Dick Wilson and his government supporters eventually planned – after they realized it wouldn’t look to good by the public if they stormed the place and wiped out the protestors, nobody ever said they liked the idea of letting any of the member of AIM or the traditional government to live – but the $50,000 cameras’ covering the event were pretty unforgiving. In the end it was the Marshals service to wait out the protestors, ruling over the much hotter heads of the military, the FBI leaders and Richard Wilson and his gang of Goons, who loaded for bear where ready to take on a few commercial rifles and a couple of boxes of ammunition and demonstrate to the world that the military and the fearless Federal Bureau of Investigation could not be pushed around by a couple of renegade Indians. On April 17th six members of AIM, were wounded in a gun battle with federal forces, one Frank Clearwater one of the wounded died on April 25th, in a Rapid City hospital as the battle raged on into Thursday and Friday afternoon, when AIM send out an urgent short-wave radio call for a ceasefire, the reason one other member Lawrence “Buddy” Lamont, age 31 an Oglala Sioux had been killed. Previously the Federal government and Oglala Sioux tribal council (Dick Wilson’s boys) denied the burial of Frank Clearwater’s burial at Wounded Knee – but this time Lawrence Lamont’s family demanded he be buried in Wounded Knee. The next day negotiations began in earnest once more. Both sides reached an agreement on May 5th, and the besieged agreed to lay down their arms – the government took control of the village on May 7th, after 71 days of occupation of the protesting Indians. The Federal Government agreed to “address” the grievances - the terms of the agreement, including an investigation into corruption at the BIA and meeting with the White House in regards to broken treaties initiated by the US Government in days gone by, were NEVER met. Over 600 people were arrested in connection with the occupation, not a single one of them were ever convicted of the charges filed by the Federal Government and Dicky Wilson boys. But this was not the end of Wounded Knee and its occupation, over the next three years in what is now known as the “reign of terror”, there were over 60 “unsolved” murders1 of AIM members, traditional members of the tribe and their supporters around Pine Ridge. There were many people of note who participated in the occupation of Wounded Knee. Russel Means, , Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, Pedro Bissonet and Leonard Peltier were some of them, and let us not forget Doug Durham who claimed to be a quarter Chippewa who was exposed as an FBI stooge in 1975…a true-to-the-core FBI plant. It can be said that this author is not being objective in recounting the events of Wounded Knee, whereas in non-Indian accounts the AIM members and Tribal Members of the reservation are labeled highly inflammable activists and disrupters of the Tribal life. This author asks himself, why is it when the minority is always colored as the bad guys, especially in the case of Wounded Knee when previous to the event accusations were made and never addressed when it came to the corruption and deceit within Richard “Dicky” Wilson’s regime of leadership of a people. On his death bed, he said, “I always had my people interests in mind…” This is not a misleading statement, he did, but as it turned out it was not the full- blooded Indians on the reservation – but “his people.” In a nation of over 307 million people here we have a group of less than 2 million today (or 0.65% of the US Population) that are expected to let bygones be bygones and get on with business… when you take a look around your environment keep this in mind when a group of less than 0.25% of the world’s population continually disrupts the peace of the entire world. Which brings us back to the case of Leonard Peltier as reported and demonstrated by the media from the view point of the government.

1 Using only documented political deaths, the yearly murder rate on Pine Ridge Reservation between 1, 1973 and March 1, 1976, was 170 per 100,000. By comparison, Detroit, the reputed murder capital of the United States, had a rate of 20.2 per 100,000...An estimated 20,000 persons were murdered in the United States during 1974. In a nation of 200 million persons, a murder rate comparable with that of Pine Ridge between 1973 and 1976 would have left 340,000 persons dead for political reasons alone in one year; 1.32 million in three...The political murder rate at Pine Ridge between March 1, 1973, and March 1, 1976, was almost equivalent to that in Chile during the three years after a military coup supported by the United States deposed and killed President Salvador Allende...Based on Chile's population of 10 million, the estimated fifty thousand persons killed in three years of political repression in Chile (1973-1976) roughly paralleled the murder rate at Pine Ridge. On June 26th, 1975, FBI special agents Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams were searching for a young Pine Ridge Indian Reservation man by the name of Jimmy Eagle, wanted for “questioning” in connection with the recent assault and robbery of two “local” ranch hands – he had been involved in a physical altercation with a friend, during which he had stolen a pair of “cowboy boots”. Williams and Coler, driving two separate un-marked vehicles, one behind the other, observed and followed a “red pick-up truck” which matched the description of the one belonging to Jimmy Eagle. At the time Leonard Peltier was a fugitive (age 30 years, 9 months), with a warrant issued in Milwaukee charging unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer, a charge of which he was later acquitted. Ronald Williams radioed that he and Jack Coler had come under high-powered rifle fire from the occupants of the “red pick-up” and were unable to return fire to any effect with their .38 pistols and shotguns. FBI Special Agent Gary Adams was the 1st to respond to Ronald Williams’ call for assistance, and he also came under “intense” gun fire from “Jumping Bull Ranch.” The FBI, the BIA and other local police officers spent much of the afternoon pinned down on U.S. Route 18, waiting for additional law enforcement officers to launch a “flanking” attack. At 2:30 PM, a BIA rifleman shot one of the shooters, Joe Stuntz, and killed him. At 4:31 PM the pinned down group recovered the bodies of Williams and Coler at their vehicle and at 6 PM laid down a cloud of tear gas and stormed the Jumping Bull Ranch, whereas they found Joe Stuntz’s corpse wearing the green FBI jacket of Jack Coler. During the time after the killing of Joe Stuntz the others had slipped away from the compound to White Clay Creek and hid in a culver beneath the dirt road – while the FBI, BIA and local bulls focused on storming the ranch they beat foot across the southern hills – in the following days they split into smaller groups and scattered across the U.S., initiating a nationwide manhunt that lasted eight-months. The FBI reported that Ronald Williams had received a “defensive wound” from a bullet which passed through his right hand into his head, killing him instantly, while Jack Coler incapacitated from an earlier bullet wound, had been shot twice in the head execution style. They reported that in total 125-bullet holes were found in the agents’ vehicle, with many of them from a .223 (5.56 mm) rifle, the FBI agents concluded that the same rifle was used to shoot the two agents at close range. 71-days later on September 5th, Agent Ronald Williams’ handgun, and shells from both agents’ handguns were found in a vehicle near a residence where Dino Butler was arrested. Four days later Leonard Peltier purchased a Plymouth station wagon in Denver, Colorado. The FBI sent out descriptions of it and a recreational vehicle in which Leonard Peltier and associates were believed to be traveling. An Oregon State Trooper stopped the vehicles and ordered the driver of the RV out – but after a brief exchange of gunfire, the driver escaped on foot. Authorities later indentified the drive as Leonard Peltier. Agent Jack Coler’s handgun was found in a bag under the front seat of the RV, upon which the authorities said they found Leonard Peltier’s thumb print. On December 22nd, 1975 Leonard Peltier became the 335th person placed on the FBI’s Ten most wanted Fugitives list. Now on the 10th of September around the same time as the RV was stopped in Oregon, a station wagon blew up on the Kansas Turnpike near Wichita and a burned-up AR-15 was found, along with Agent Jack Coler’s .38 Special revolver, eventually Agent Jack Coler used two handguns that day he was caught in the gun fight at Jumping Bull Ranch. Among those in the car were Robert Robideau, Norman Charles and Michael Anderson all said to be associates of Leonard Peltier. Based on an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, Peltier after being caught at a friend’s cabin in Hinton, Alberta was extradited from Canada on February 6th 1976. In her affidavit she claimed to have been Leonard Peltier’s girlfriend at the time and to have witnessed the murders. According to Peltier and others at the scene, Myrtle Poor Bear did not know Peltier, nor was she present at the time of shooting – in later questioning she confessed that she was pressured and threatened by FBI agents into giving the statements. At Peltier’s trail, the sitting Judge did not allow her to testify to the fact that she had suffered intimidation at the hands of the FBI on the grounds that she was mentally incompetent. How convenient! Leonard Peltier fought extradition to the United States, even as Robert Robideau and Darell “Dino” Butler, AIM members also present at the Jumping Bull Ranch compound at the time of the shootings, were found not guilty on the ground of “self-defense” by a Federal Jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. By the time Leonard Peltier was returned to the United States, it was too late for him to be tried with Robideau and Butler, consequently he was tried separately under a different set of circumstances and found guilty in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota in Fargo, North Dakota convicted by a jury of the murders of Jack Coler and Ronald Williams Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – the FBI always gets their man in the end. This is the official story which has faded into the colored past of the United States of America, a story that resembles the Official Story of the 9/11 Commission Report the American Public has grown to love and embrace. Is there another story riding behind the conviction of one Leonard Peltier, one that the non-Indian society has grown to love and embrace, one that seems to justify the antics of John Wayne as he rode helter-skelter across the American West protecting the non-Indian invaders as they claimed land and resources that had been on Indian domain for 1000s of years – now I look and try and walk my way through the trail of misconduct and denial the American Justice system has laid at every American’s feet – if it can happen to an American Indian, what makes you believe it cannot happen to you? If you reflect back and remember my reference to the “reign of terror” that gripped the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after the conclusion of the occupation at Wounded Knee, you’ll remember I had mentioned that over 60 Indians were killed in unsolved murders, unsolved hell they weren’t even investigated by the same bureau who has the Federal Authority to investigate crimes committed on Unites States Trust Land, the FBI. Kenneth S Stern, who now works for the American Jewish Committee and one of Dennis Banks (founder of AIM) lawyers wrote a book, “Loud Hawk – The United States Versus the American Indian Movement” within its text you’ll find the mood of the “reign of terror” on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, with interviews with various residents, young and old. In the accounts you’ll find reports of the misconduct and the governmental “vindictiveness” displayed by the United States over-handed way of handling what they perceived as the problems of all American, the indigenous American Indian interfering with the government’s corruption and outright slamming of the few Indians who had enough of the broken treaties and the reservation system in general. First let us take a look at that list of unsolved murders on Pine Ridge:

AIM Casualties on Pine Ridge, 1973-1976 4.17.73-Frank Clearwater-AIM member killed by heavy machine gun round at Wounded Knee. No investigation. 4.23.73-Between eight and twelve individuals (names unknown) packing supplies into wounded Knee were intercepted by Goons [Guardians of the Oglala Nation] and vigilantes. None were ever heard from again. Former Rosebud Tribal President Robert Burnette and U.S. Justice Department Solicitor General Kent Frizzell conducted unsuccessful search for a mass grave after Wounded Knee siege. No further investigation. 4.27.73-Buddy Lamont-AIM member hit by M16 fire at Wounded Knee, Bled to death while pinned down by fire. No investigation. 6.19.73-Clarence Cross-AIM supporter shot to death in ambush by Goons. Although assailants were identified by eyewitnesses, brother Vernal Cross- wounded in ambush-was briefly charged with crime. No further investigation. 4.14.73-Priscilla White Plume-AIM supporter killed at Manderson by Goons. No investigation. 7.30.73-Julius Bad Heart Bull-AIM supporter killed at Oglala AIM supporter killed at Oglala by "person or persons unknown." No investigation. 9.22.73-Melvin Spider-AIM member killed Porcupine, South Dakota. No investigation. 9.23.73-Philip Black Elk-AIM supporter killed when his house exploded. No investigation. 10.5.73-Aloysius Long Soldier-AIM member killed at Kyle, S.D. by Goons. No investigation. 10.10.73-Phillip Little Crow-AIM supporter beaten to death by Goons at Pine Ridge. No investigation. 10.17.73-Pedro Bissonette-Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) organizer and AIM supporter assassinated by BIA Police/Goons. Body removed from Pine Ridge jurisdiction prior to autopsy by government contract coroner. No investigation. 11.20.73-Allison Fast Horse-AIM supporter shot to death near Pine Ridge by "unknown assailants." No investigation. 1.17.74-Edward Means, Jr.-AIM member found dead in Pine Ridge alley, beaten. No investigation. 2.27.74-Edward Standing Soldier-AIM member killed near Pine Ridge by "party r parties unknown." No investigation. 4.19.74-Roxeine Roark-AIM supporter killed at Porcupine by "unknown assailants." Investigation open, still "pending." 9.7.74-Dennis LeCompte-AIM member killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 9.11.74-Jackson Washinton Cutt-AIM member killed at Parmalee by "unknown individuals." Investigation still "ongoing." 9.16.74-Robert Reddy-AIM member killed at Kyle by gunshot. No investigation. 11.16.74-Delphine Crow Dog-sister of AIM spiritual leader . Beaten by BIA police and left lying in a field. Died from "exposure." No investigation. 11.20.74-Elaine Wagner-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by "person or persons unknown." No investigation. 12.25.75-Floyd S. Binais-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 12.28.74-Yvette Loraine Lone Hill-AIM supporter killed at Kyle by "unknown party or parties." No investigation. 1.5.75-Leon L. Swift Bird-AIM member killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. Investigation still "ongoing." 3.1.75-Martin Montileaux-killed in a Scenic, S.D. bar. AIM leader Richard Marshall later framed for his murder. also charged and acquitted. 3.20.75-Stacy Cotter-shot to death in an ambush at Manderson. No investigation. 3.21.75-Edith Eagle Hawk and her two children-AIM supporter killed in an automobile accident after being run off the run by a white vigilante, Albert Coomes. Coomes was also killed in the accident. Goon Mark Clifford identified as having also been in the Coomes car, escaped. Investigation closed without questioning Clifford. 3.27.75-Jeanette Bissonette-AIM supporter killed by sniper at Pine Ridge. Unsuccessful attempt to link AIM members to murder; no other investigation. 3.30.75-Richard Eagle-grandson of AIM supporter Gladys Bissonette killed while playing with loaded gun kept in the house as protection from Goon attacks. 4.4.75-Hilda R. Good Buffalo-AIM supporter stabbed to death at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 4.4.75-Jancita Eagle Deer-AIM member beaten and run over with automobile. Last seen in the company of provocateur Douglass Durham. No investigation. 5.20.75-Ben Sitting Up-AIM member killed at Wanblee by "unknown assailants." No investigation. 6.1.75-Kenneth Little-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. Investigation still "pending." 6.15.75-Leah Spotted Elk-AIM supporter at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 6.26.75-Joseph Stuntz Killsright-AIM member killed by FBI sniper during Oglala firefight. No investigation. 7.12.75-James Briggs Yellow-heart attack caused by FBI air assault on his home. No investigation. 7.25.75-Andrew Paul Stewart-nephew of AIM spiritual leader Leonard Crow Dog, killed by Goons on Pine Ridge. No investigation. 8.25.75-Randy Hunter-AIM supporter killed at Kyle by "party or parties unknown." Investigation still "ongoing." 9.9.75-Howard Blue Bird-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 9.10.75-Jim Little-AIM stomped to death by Goons in Oglala. No investigation. 10.26.75-Olivia Binais-AIM supporter killed in Porcupine by "person or persons unknown." Investigation still "open." 10.26.75-Janice Black Bear-AIM supporter killed at Manderson by Goons. No investigation. 10.27.75-Michelle Tobacco-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by "unknown persons." No investigation. 12.6.75-Carl Plenty Arrows,Sr.-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by "unknown persons." No investigation. 12.6.75-Frank LaPointe-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 2.76-Anna Mae Pictou Aquash-AIM organizer assassinated on Pine Ridge.. FBI involved in attempt to conceal cause of death. Ongoing attempt to establish "AIM involvement" in murder. Key FBI personnel never deposed. Coroner never deposed. [depose-to remove from power...to testify or bear witness, especially on oath in court] 1.5.76-Lydia Cut Grass-AIM member killed at Wounded Knee by Goons. No investigation. 1.30.76-Byron DeSersa-OSCRO organizer and AIM supporter assassinated by Goons in Wanblee. Arrests by local authorities resulted in two Goons-Dale Janis and Charlie Winters-serving two years of five year sentences for "manslaughter." Charges dropped against two Goon leaders, Manny Wilson and Chuck Richards, on the basis of "self-defense" despite DeSersa having been unarmed when shot to death. 2.6.76-Lena R. Slow Bear-AIM supporter killed at Oglala by Goons. No investigation. 3.1.76-Hobart Horse-AIM member beaten, shot, and repeatedly run over with automobile at Sharp's Corners. No investigation. 3.26.76-Cleveland Reddest-AIM member killed at Kyle by "person or persons unknown." No investigation. 4.28.76-Betty Jo Dubray-AIM supporter beaten to death at Martin, S.D. No investigation. 5.6.76-Marvin Two Two-Aim supporter shot to death at Pine Ridge. No investigation. 5.9.76-Juia Pretty Hips-AIM supporter killed at Pine Ridge by "unknown assailants." No investigation. 5.24.76-Sam Afraid of Bear-AIM supporter shot to death at Pine Ridge. Investigation "ongoing." 6.4.76-Kevin Hill-AIM supporter killed at Oglala by "party or parties unknown." Investigation "still open." 7.3.76-Betty Means-AIM member killed at Pine Ridge by Goons. No investigation. 7.31.76-Sandra Wounded Foot-AIM supporter killed at Sharp's Corners by "unknown assailants." No investigation.

Candy Hamilton (legal worker for the Wounded Knee Legal Defense Fund), at the time in her 30s and had been living on the reservation in the mid-1970 said, “Shit, everyone was armed back then, you’d be nuts to be. The Goons (Guardians of the Oglala Nation) were getting people right and left. Even the kids were getting shot. And the FBI was just as bad. They didn’t do shit to stop the Goons. Especially after the two FBI agents were got killed, they just went ape shit.” The American Indian Movement had killed the two FBI agents in what clearly was a firefight, as in this vein a July in Iowa had ruled self-defense, what would be the defense is someone had blown up Dick Wilson and his family – it had be planned by a few of the tribal members at one time, they were plenty upset with him and his Goons. Candy and Stern later visited “Charlene” a woman in her 40s, living in a post- Wounded Knee prefab, a decomposing unit that hadn’t been painted in at least 10- years, inside they found a shoddy floor covered with broken white linoleum squares, with most of them missing exposing the graying plywood under them. She greeted Candy and Stern warily as they pounded the snow off their boots at the door; removing them they walked inside and walked up a half-dozen stairs to the living room. Sitting at her cracked formica kitchen table, on her collection of four usable, mismatched, metal and wooden chairs she owned – she served Indian coffee, thick as usual, in old stained blue plastic cups. Smiling now and then, she never looked directly at them, mainly directing her conversation at Candy, who gently prodded her from time-to-time to keep the words flowing – slipping a question in once in awhile about the old days with ones about a friend and their children. Candy had briefed Stern before the meeting explaining that Charlene was not AIM. Charlene was simply an Indian who wanted to live in the tradition of the old-ways as fully as the demands of the new allowed…she was quiet, religious, and respectful. Two weeks previous to their visit, Candy had called Charlene and asked her if she’d sign an affidavit, whereas Charlene said yes with a yes than meant yes! But when Candy returned with the typewritten draft, Charlene said yes with a yes than mean NO! Like the others Candy and Stern interviewed Charlene’s old fears surfaced. “The FBI’s will come!” Candy told her, “We can give you a piece of paper, like in the old days, telling them that you insist on your rights and that unless they have a warrant to search or arrest, they have to leave!” Charlene looked down and said, apologetically, “But that won’t stop them from coming.” She looked over at Candy, after opening up a bit and said, “Are you sure these guys aren’t FBIs?” Candy chuckled, “If they were, we’d have found out a long time ago. They’re okay, Charlene.” Charlene started again, “Well, you know what it was like, them FBIs was every place, and they never come alone. Always three, four, five cars of’em, all dressed like soldiers, carrying guns, running around like they owned the place. I got shoved around by them many times. Many times they come here, asking questions about people, pushing, threatening, pointing guns. Even at the kids. Four, five and six years old had guns pointed at them. One time I was in a ‘sweat’, and them FBIs come, ripped open the lodge in the middle of a ceremony! It was cold. All we had were towels. They pointed their big guns into the sweat lodge and ordered everybody out. I don’t know if they were looking for someone or just wanted to be mean. But they had no respect for out ceremonies. They come in, pointed their guns, laughed. If they wanted to freeze a naked women in the snow, at least they should have waited until we finished praying.” This was not the only incident of religious harassment the author heard, nor was it the only story of the FBI’s fondness for cold as a weapon. Oscar Bear Runners son had been forced to take off his T-shirt and stand, rigid, in ten degree below zero weather until he was frostbitten. Other stories surfaced such as the “Goons” shooting at old people driving down the road, and how the FBI continued to invade Oglala as if it were a battle front in Vietnam…for many years after the “reign of terror” young adults would pull up their shirts and pant legs, showing the wounds they received as children…from bullets that scarred their arms, legs, and chests… People as exhibits crowd the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Excerpt end from Indians Are Us ?

Ellison had come to Indian Country right after Wounded Knee and never left. Although Jewish, his dark hair had grown out long and straight, and he kept it in a ponytail, the fashion of the Lakota male. He represented AIM members in South Dakota, although when they wandered, so did he. He had represented Dino Butler (one of the two AIM members acquitted of killing two FBI agents) on another murder case in Oregon. He continued to represent Leonard Peltier, now serving two consecutive life sentences in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Steenson and I had arrived in early afternoon. "I have a lot to show you," Ellison said. He handed each of us a beer, pointed to his living room couch, and turned on his VCR. One tape feature stories about Peltier from Canadian television. Another had interviews after the June 26, 1975, firefight. But most impressive was one with raw NBC News film footage of the FBI occupation of Pine Ridge in the summer of 1975. I had to get this before a jury. It was Vietnam, just as I remembered on television growing up, except that the combat soldiers were FBI agents and the Vietnamese were Sioux. The footage was not cut, not edited for television, not in any order, not all focused. It captured rather than presented. FBI Special Agent Joseph Trimbach, in combat gear, speaks to the press, saying, "Two of our agents...ran into some gunfire...I don't know if they were alive when they were shot in the head." "What's your total force?" a reporter asks. "We have between 125 and 150 agents," Trimbaugh answers. Cut to nighttime. A road. A dark green bus, huge, with ARMY NATIONAL GUARD stenciled in small white letters near the front door, license plate US ARMY 1M5153. "Stack 'em up!" someone hollers. "Stack 'em up over there somewhere." Through the bus door, sliding onto the concrete, come gun cases. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, on and on, endless. The camera catches the sound of the Samonsonite-like cases, black with little metal balls underneath, dropped on the ground and then a crackling, running sound as the agents slide them along the roadway. Out come boxes of ammo. More boxes. One agent in a blue blazer with a khaki shirt underneath it instead of a dress shirt and tie, carried more ordnance. More boxes. One large one is labeled "MEAL COMBAT INDIVIDUAL C." Did they plan to stay a while? Two agents strain, each carrying a strap of a heavy duffel bag. Another gingerly transfers a cardboard box to another vehicle. This box has been taped shut. Large letters say "DO NOT DROP." Another such box, handled with equal care, follows. More ammo boxes. Another heavy duffel bag. And another. Footsteps of agents marching on the roadway, two at a time, crunch in rhythm. Cut: Agents, dressed for battle in flack jackets, carry rifles. It is almost dawn. They check out their rifles, M-16s, hold them up, look at them, then walk to trucks and cars. "Okay, are we ready?" one asks. Cut: An agent peers over a hill, careful not to expose his head. Another joins him and squints through a rifle scope. "Hi," the new arrival says, "what're we going to do, make a sweep.?" "Yeah," the other agent replies. More green-clad figures run on the edges of a field, making a sweep, ready to attack. Birds chirp. Someone screams something unintelligible but frantic in the background. Diesel trucks drown out the birds. A helicopter overhead drowns out the diesel trucks. The militarized FBI is at war. Cut: A sunny, windy day, in a shaded structure made of tree trunks. An Indian man reads the beginning of a proclamation: "We the undersigned members and supporters of the White Clay District, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, do hereby request the removal of all alien law enforcement personnel..." Cut: An older Indian woman, crying, picks up the corner of an orange tent as though it had been her only worldly possession. "They ripped down the tents and everything!" she sobs. Cut: A news conference. "I haven't heard of the petition," an FBI agent says. "We certainly don't plan on leaving the area until we have completed our assigned job here." Cut: A young Indian man speaks to a reporter. "About fifty of 'em," he says. "They surrounded our house! They were all armed with M-16s, battle fatigues. There was nobody at the house except women and kids. They came down and were all flashing around and everybody got scared. What would have happened if I hadn't gone down there to talk to them? My grandfather, he was pretty scared. They came without a warrant. When they ask to search the house, there's not much you can say with fifty guns pointing at you." Cut: An older Indian woman dressed in black stands in front of her house, with her family. An FBI agent stands to the side. The camera focuses on the woman, her face wrinkled, her anger fired with a rage that does not fit her age or her grandmotherly stature. She is under five feet tall. The camera looks down at her. "He come in!" she yells. "He come to the front door. He accused me of killing two FBI men..." The agent interrupts. "As a matter of fact, Ma'am, no one said anything about that." She tugs at her shirt as she spoke, in quick jerks, in rhythm with her words, as if in mourning. "I've got plenty of witnesses!" she yells. "Your lying days are over! Don't push no more lies down my throat! My people! My people are being slaughtered...-beaten and killed every day! Don't you have any conscience?" The agent walks away, his back to the camera. Watching the tape, I wondered [Stern wondering]. How do I get this in front of a jury? How many of these witnesses are now dead or no longer compelling, their attractiveness to a white jury ruined by the effects of poverty and time? "I don't know how to sort all this," I said to Steenson, who also seemed overwhelmed. "We'd better collect all we can and figure out what we can use later." Ellison nodded, turned off the VCR, and popped an audio cassette into his tape recorder. "A reporter named Kevin McKiernan was actually there the day of the shootout and recorded it," Ellison said. He pushed the play button. Feet marching. Metal clanging, in step. Foot. Foot. Foot. Foot. Foot. Foot. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop pop pop pop. Pop. An excited, rapid voice, "Now you can hear the fire. The BIA agents are going to their trucks." Pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop. "High caliber bullets." Pop pop pop pop. "There it is again!" Pop. Pop. Pop pop pop. "Ricochet. Automatic fire!" Vrrrrrm! An automobile accelerated, hard, as if in a drag race. "There goes a car with an Indian family in the area, temporarily leaving it. A very heavy volley of shots just before that." Pop pop pop pop..." "There they go again!...Federal cars continue to race up and down the roads, over the ridges, rolling plains. Yet, from where I am I can see little Indian children playing by these tarpaper shacks, and horses contuinued to play in the meadows all around. The FBI plane has moved out of gunshot range, There's some firing now!" Pop. Pop pop pop... "Some of the shots sound like firecrackers. There are a couple now! Those are more than firecrackers." An unidentified white male voice: "It was up to me to make a final decision. I made the decision that we would assault." An elderly Indian woman, speaking over the sound of a baby coughing in the background: "It looks like they're trying to kill all us Indians. Some girls were sitting there, and some marshalls or FBIs turned around and said, "We're going to kill some more Indians before we leave." Pop pop pop... A voice that I recognize as 's: "FBI agents that grew up watching John Wayne and cowboys and Indians come out here and want to play cowboys and Indians, then they gotta suffer the consequences, just as we do. They are the aggressors. We will make no apologies for the deaths of two pigs who did not belong there in the first place." John Trudell, one of AIMs most articulate spokesmen, led a protest for Peltier on the steps of the Supreme Court Building (1979). As a symbol, he burned an American flag. Hours later, [on Feb. 12] his wife, Tina, Tina's mother, and their three young children were incinerated when their house burned, on Nevada's Duck Valley reservation. The FBI, according to Trudell, would not investigate.

Consider a few judicial facts concerning Leonard Peltier: 1) Leonard Peltier was extradited from Canada to the United States. Today, the government concedes that, in fact, Myrtle Poor Bear did not know Leonard Peltier, nor was she present at the time of the shooting. She later confessed she had given false statements after being pressured and terrorized by FBI agents. Myrtle Poor Bear sought to testify in this regard at Leonard Peltier’s trial. However, the judge barred her testimony on the grounds of mental incompetence. In addition to being a violation of Leonard Peltier's rights, the United States government committed fraud on the court during the extradition proceedings and violated the sovereignty of Canada. The U.S. government has made no attempt to correct this wrong and, to date, the illegal extradition has not been corrected by the Canadian Court.

2) In March 1977, Leonard Peltier stood trial in Fargo, North Dakota. According to the government, the case was originally assigned to the federal district court in Sioux Falls, where Judge Nichol (see Wounded Knee) would have presided. When Nichol excused himself, the case was assigned to Judge Paul Benson who removed the trial to Fargo. 3) It should be noted that, in December 1982, attorney William Kunstler discovered in a telephone conversation with Judge Edward McManus (who had presided over the Butler/Robideau trial) that McManus, not Benson, had been scheduled to try the Peltier case. He had been astonished, he said, to find himself arbitrarily removed in favor of Judge Benson. To this day, it is not clear how McManus' removal was accomplished or by whom specifically. There appears to have been a concerted effort, however, to prevent the involvement of judges in Peltier's trial who had previously made rulings in favor of defendants in the government's prosecutions of other members of the American Indian Movement (AIM). 4) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as it had done during the Butler/Robideau trial, spread rumors about anticipated "terrorist" attacks by AIM members that built tensions in an already anti-Indian environment. 5) It was later discovered that the FBI met secretly with Judge Benson prior to trial. There are no notes of these meetings but, not surprisingly, Judge Benson's subsequent rulings were made almost always in favor of the prosecution. 6) Documents discovered after the trial also revealed that the FBI had informants in the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee at or about the time of Leonard’s capture (a critical time, i.e., while a defense was being mounted). The government has refused to divulge the identities of the informants. Infiltration of the defense team would have meant that the prosecution received first-hand information concerning the defense, a clear violation of Leonard's constitutional rights. 7) Jury selection, completed in only one day, resulted in an all white jury of ten women and four men, two of whom were alternates. They were sequestered for the duration of the trial. Never in any danger, they nevertheless were made to feel vulnerable to attack. They were transported to the court house in a bus where the windows had been taped over and escorted by Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team members at all times. 8) The government presented fifteen days of evidence to the jury after which the defense presented six days of evidence. However, due to frequent rulings in the prosecution's favor, the jury actually heard only two and one-half days of the defense case. 9) On April 19, 1977, after 11 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. 10) What became evident much later is that the government committed fraud on the court and violated Leonard's constitutional right to a fair trial by withholding evidence, presenting false evidence, and intimidating witnesses into committing perjury. 11) Critical ballistics evidence that reflected Leonard Peltier’s innocence was withheld during his trial. Specifically, the ballistics expert for the FBI, Evan Hodge, testified that he had been unable to perform the best test, a firing pin test, on certain casings found near Agent Coler's car because the rifle in question had been damaged in a fire. Instead, he stated that he had conducted an extractor mark test and found the casing and weapon to match. 12) Years later, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showed that, in October 1975, a firing pin ballistics test had indeed been performed on the rifle and that the results were clearly negative. In short, the fatal bullets did not come from the weapon alleged to have been fired by Leonard Peltier. It should also be made very clear that the AR-15 and FBI-issued M- 16 deliver the same .223 caliber round. However, the jury never heard about any of these crucial issues. 13) On a related matter, SA Fred Coward (FBI) testified that he was able to see Peltier at the site of the shoot-out, some 700 feet away, using the telescopic lens on his rifle. The defense attorneys duplicated this sighting and found it to be impossible. However, Judge Benson would not allow a test of the claim in court. Coward's testimony was allowed into evidence and used as a basis to support Peltier’s conviction. 14) Equally disturbing are the numerous discrepancies regarding the key vehicle in the case. Agents Williams and Coler had radioed that they were chasing a "red pick-up truck" which they believed was transporting a suspect. The chase led to the Jumping Bull Ranch and the fatal shoot-out. At trial, however, the evidence had changed to describe a "red and white van," quite a different vehicle and which, not coincidentally, was more easily linked to Leonard Peltier. 15) No known witnesses exist as to the actual shooting of FBI Agents Coler and Williams. Three adolescents gave inconclusive and vague testimonies at Peltier's trial, contradicting their own earlier statements, as well as each other. All three witnesses admitted they had been seriously threatened and intimidated by FBI agents. 16) The court, at Leonard Peltier’s trial, did not permit the jury to learn of the FBI’s pattern and practice of using false affidavits and intimidating witnesses in recent related cases against other members of the American Indian Movement. The jury was thus unable to properly evaluate the credibility of prosecution witnesses’ testimony.

The Prosecution's Case

1) There was no witness testimony that Leonard Peltier shot the two FBI agents. 2) There was no witness testimony that placed Leonard Peltier near the scene before the agents' deaths occurred. Those witnesses placing Peltier, Robideau, and Butler near the scene after the killing were coerced and intimidated by the FBI.

3) There was no forensic evidence as to the exact type of rifle that caused the fatal injuries of the agents. Several different weapons present in the area during the shoot-out— evidence now shows that there were other AR-15 rifles in the area —that could have caused the fatal injuries. In addition, the AR-15 rifle claimed to be Leonard Peltier’s weapon was found to be incompatible with the bullet casing allegedly found near Agent Coler’s car (according to the FBI's documents, by two different agents on two different days). Although other bullets were fired at the crime scene, no other casings or evidence about them were offered by the prosecutor in this case. 4) In short, there was/is no reasonable evidence that Leonard Peltier committed the crimes for which he was convicted. Instead there is very strong evidence of FBI and prosecutorial misconduct.

Comparison of the Two Trials

By 1977, Leonard Peltier was the only remaining individual the FBI could blame for the deaths of the two agents. The charges (stealing cowboy boots) against Jimmy Eagle had been dropped—the government stipulated that he was not on the reservation on the day of the firefight. (However, FBI documents later revealed that the government decided to dismiss charges against Eagle so that "the full prosecutive weight of the Federal Government could be directed against Leonard Peltier.") Dino Butler and Bob Robideau were acquitted in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in July 1976. Note: If Jimmy Eagle wasn’t on the reservation what were Jack Coler and Robert Wilson doing there? The Butler/Robideau trial had uncovered much FBI misconduct, such as tampering with witnesses and evidence, perjury, counterintelligence-type activities and tactics used against AIM, and substantial evidence indicating there was a full scale paramilitary assault on Pine Ridge by the FBI and other law enforcement officials on the day in question. The jury as a result concluded that Butler and Robideau were acting in self-defense. Peltier's defense team had this same evidence and more. Yet they would never be able to present a major portion of it to the jury. The government clearly was determined to convict Peltier and succeeded. Leonard Peltier was found guilty not because he was guilty, but because crucial aspects of his trial were manipulated to favor the prosecution and, consequently, cause a conviction. Click here to review a table that briefly points out the differences between the two trials. Also included in the table are direct quotations from a FBI report on the Butler/Robideau trial dated July 20, 1976, which analyzed the "reasons why [the] jury found the defendants Robideau and Butler not guilty on July 16, 1976." It is recommend that you compare this FBI study to the subsequent rulings at Peltier's Fargo trial (Trial Transcript). This was not a unique occurrence. During the 1974 Wounded Knee trial of Dennis Banks and Russell Means, an informant who had direct knowledge of the defense case was exposed. The government had vehemently denied to Judge Nichol that any such informant existed.

The preceding few pages were copied from the Leonard Peltier defense site, (http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/trial.htm) and I can only base my decision on what I have read and seen on the conduct of our government in its goal of putting the American Indian Movement to bed, once and for all…which despite the government’s and role by the Richard Nixon administration has failed. AIM today is as strong as ever, albeit Leonard Peltier remains incarcerated at the Leonard Peltier #89637-132 USP-Lewisburg US Penitentiary PO Box 1000 Lewisburg, PA 1783

The other side of the coin:

In 2003 publisher Paul DeMain wrote that an "unnamed delegation" with knowledge of the incident told him, "Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of the agents..." DeMain described the delegation as "grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe Carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll."

In an editorial written in early 2003, DeMain stated that the motive for the execution-style murder of AIM activist Anna Mae Pictou Aquash "allegedly was her knowledge that Leonard Peltier had shot the two agents, as he was convicted." DeMain did not accuse Peltier of participation in the murder. (In 2002 two other AIM members were indicted for the murder.) In response, Peltier launched a libel lawsuit on May 1, 2003, against DeMain. On May 25, 2004, Peltier withdrew the suit after he and DeMain reached a settlement, which involved DeMain issuing a statement where he wrote, “I do not believe that Leonard Peltier received a fair trial in connection with the murders of which he was convicted. Certainly he is entitled to one. Nor do I believe, according to the evidence and testimony I now have, that Mr. Peltier had any involvement in the death of .’’ DeMain did not, however, retract his central allegations: That Peltier was in fact guilty of the murders, and that Aquash's murderer or murderers' motive was the fear that she might inform on Peltier.

In February 2004, Fritz was tried for the murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, and found guilty. On June 26, 2007, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered the extradition of John Graham to the United States, to stand trial for his alleged role in the murder of Annie Mae Aquash. In Looking Cloud's trial, the prosecution argued that AIM's suspicion of Aquash stemmed from her having heard Peltier admit to the murders. The prosecution called as a witness Darlene “Kamook” Nichols, former wife of AIM leader Dennis Banks. She testified that in late 1975 Peltier confessed to shooting the FBI agents to a group of AIM activists who were at that time on the run from law enforcement. The fugitives included Nichols, her sister Bernie, her husband Dennis Banks, and Aquash, among several others. Nichols alleged that Peltier said, “The mother fucker was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway.” Bernie Nichols-Lafferty also gave the same account of Peltier’s statement. Other witnesses have testified that once Aquash came under suspicion of being an informant, Peltier interrogated her on the matter while holding a gun to her head. Peltier and David Hill later had Aquash participate in bomb-making so that her fingerprints would be on the bombs. The trio then planted these bombs at two power plants on the Pine Ridge reservation.

On February 10, 2004, Peltier issued a statement: “Kamook's testimony was like being stabbed in the heart while simultaneously being told your sister just died.” Peltier denounced Kamook Nichol's courtroom accusations as false, saying “I loved Kamook as my own family. I can't believe the $43,000 the FBI gave her was a determining factor for her to perjure herself on the witness stand. There must have been some extreme threat the FBI or their cronies put upon her.”

After the Looking Cloud trial, Darlene Nichols married Robert Ecoffey, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement Services, who was instrumental in the investigation that led to Looking Cloud's conviction. During the trial Nichols acknowledged receiving $43,000 from the FBI in connection with her cooperation on the case, money she explained was compensation for her expenses in traveling to collect evidence by wearing a wire while visiting her ex- husband, Dennis Banks. Some of the money was for moving expenses so that she could move because of her fear of Banks.

Bruce Ellison—who has been Leonard Peltier's lawyer since the 1970s—invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to testify at the grand jury hearings leading up to the Looking Cloud trial in 2003, or in the trial itself. During the trial, the federal prosecutor named Ellison as a co-conspirator in the Aquash case. Witnesses state that Ellison participated in interrogating Annie Mae Aquash on December 11, 1975, shortly before her murder.

In a February 27, 2006, decision, U.S. District Judge William Skretny ruled that the FBI did not have to hand over five of 812 documents relating to Peltier and held at their Buffalo field office. He ruled that those particular documents were exempted on the grounds of “national security and FBI agent/informant protection.” In his opinion Judge Skretny wrote, “Plaintiff has not established the existence of bad faith or provided any evidence contradicting (the FBI's) claim that the release of these documents would endanger national security or would impair this country's relationship with a foreign government.” In response, Michael Kuzma, a Buffalo lawyer and a member of Peltier's defense team said, “We're appealing. It's incredible that it took him 254 days to render a decision.” Kuzma further stated, “The pages we were most intrigued about revolved around a teletype from Buffalo ... a three-page document that seems to indicate that a confidential source was being advised by the FBI not to engage in conduct that would compromise attorney-client privilege.” Legal action has been taken by Peltier’s supporters in an attempt to secure more than 100,000 pages of documents from FBI field offices located throughout the U.S. claiming that these files should have been turned over at the time of his trial or following a Freedom of Information Act request filed soon after.

Well I leave it up to you…after almost 33 years the government of the United States still refuses to come clean – in my opinion they never will, and it really has little to do with Leonard Peltier being an Indian – it is just how our government for the people and by the people operates, without the people!