Take Action for Leonard Peltier

Notes from the Leonard Peltier Branch Support Group Coordinators

We had promised a plan in February, but certain things have occurred which have caused us to make changes, along with unexpected delays. So we want to tell you that we will release the plan at Noon (central) on Sunday. The plan is not complete, but we cannot wait any longer, nor can Leonard.


Cut and paste the following as a bulletin or insert into the body of the email to your friends.


"Our plan of action for the rest of the year that will be released Sunday at Noon Central will be the topic of discussion on the FREE Leonard Peltier Radio Program carried on http://www.therealpublicradio.net/.
David Hill, Ben Carnes, Kari Ann and Wanbli will all be on the show to discuss the plan and take calls about the plan. Pass the word on this so everyone can get questions in if they want. Also you may email Ben at mountainkat_47@yahoo.com and Wanbli at wanbli@gvtc.com during the show with questions you may have on the plan and we will answer your questions on the air. To call in with a question or comment use 712-432-8773 and then pin 179441.
"

Show times: 7 PM Eastern, 6 PM Central, 5 PM Mountain and 4 PM Pacific
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The essence of this plan is that we need to work with a sense of urgency in what we are doing. Those of us who have spent some of our lives warehoused behind concrete, steel and chain link fences can only imagine 33 years of being jailed for something that you and the world know you didn’t do.


Leonard will be 65 this September, and we have made a commitment to bring him home before his next birthday. And we’ll be doing that through concentrated and focused efforts in the US, and the world will have a role to play also. Do not for one minute begin to think that if this plan fails, then we’ll have to do something next year. Let me tell you that I don’t want to be here next year still working to get Leonard out, I want to see Leonard home this year, with his family and getting his life together. That will be as close as we’ll ever get to obtaining justice for him, because no amount of money or the number of apologies will restore the 33 years stolen from him. But justice can come in the form of a congressional investigation of the FBI and its COINTELPRO activities, and if the illegal and immoral activities they have conducted ever see the light of day, then you can almost guarantee that the emerging police state will be hampered. And it could also exonerate several other prisoners who have been jailed as a result of COINTELPRO methods.


It isn’t rhetoric to me when I say this is the most critical time in this 33 year campaign and there is a need for former supporters and support group leaders to rejoin the effort. Since I was asked by the LP-DOC to serve as an advisory board member, national spokesperson, and the National Branch Support Group Coordinator, we are still locating support groups we weren’t aware of.


Also, we want everyone to know that with the release of the plan, we need only official information by the LP-DOC to be redistributed. I can appreciate everyone’s energies and devotion to Leonard’s cause, but independent actions can only create confusion and hamper our cause. If someone has an idea, please run it through the LP-DOC for approval so that our efforts can be coordinated.


The plans will include, who will need to be contacted and on what points. There is a call for a planning meeting in July, and some other activities that won’t be disclosed until June. So right now, we have time to begin organizing and planning activities. There are some people who are planning a west coast concert tour, but details haven’t been provided as of yet. We’ll let you know when.


June 26th is when the Oglala Commemoration will take place, and the second stage of the plan will be released. If you can’t be there, then host an event in your locale, you have time to bring supporters in and plan something. It will be an International Day of Solidarity for Peltier and an observance of all the lives lost and pained caused to the people during the “Reign of Terror”. None of that had to ever happen, but unfortunately when the “Trail of Broken Treaties” arrived in Washington, D.C., then President Nixon said “Get those Goddamned Indians out of there!” The Native people were going to be heard, and the occupation of the BIA took place, and COINTELPRO began targeting AIM.


At the time, the government had a document “Operation Garden Plot”, which was a plan to conduct paramilitary procedures in Indian Country. It was the prelude to the Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) & Special Operations Groups (SOG) teams in place today. The government brought violence to keep the so-called “dissident voices” in check.


It was the FBI who turned the other way when the “Goon Squads” of Dick Wilsons were literally given a “license to kill and terrorize”. I also want to point out, that when the people and AIM called them the “Goon Squad”, it wasn’t done out of love or admiration, but because they were thugs who silenced people supporting AIM. I have seen it written that “Goon” was an acronym for “Guardians of the Oglala Nation. That was never the case; it was the goons themselves who derisively gave themselves that name. It is an insult to those the goons murdered, and in some cases, tortured, to acknowledge this. They were just goons, and for lack of a better description – DEATH SQUADS.


There is easily a 40-year history involved with Peltiers case, but it can easily be traced to an ongoing pattern of the government’s treatment of the First Nations’ since Columbus. Some may proclaim that is absurd, but in reality; Leonard and AIM were there because of the genocidal actions of the U.S. government. Remember, Leonard was very young when he heard about the poverty and misery of his people and he made a commitment to do something about it. It was a warriors’’ commitment that he made, and we know when we step into that special place we can expect to place our life on the line for the people if necessary. We take on the burdens of the people as our own suffering.


When the call came from the Jumping Bulls, Leonard went. He knew it was a hot zone, but the people needed him. Today, Leonard’s needs everyone to come to his aid. We are in the best time to bring Leonard home, even the FBI is afraid Leonard will go free. In January, they said so and started stirring the pot against Leonard, and then he was beaten at Canaan.


So what is it you can do?

Every Friday, jam the phones at the White House and ask Obama to grant clemency, transfer him to a lesser security prison, and to release the files pertaining to Leonard’s case. White House PH.# 202-456-1111.


Ask your friends to join you in forming a Leonard Peltier Branch Support Group. We need to have at least one in each state to cultivate other support groups.
You can go to www.whoisleonardpeltier.info and click on the “Branches” tab, and then click on “Become a Branch of the LPDOC”. Fill out the app., if you are having problems with it let us know.


Visit your congressperson and speak to them about Leonard. Make an appointment now while they are in recess and at home.


Here is a call for a world prayer day:

On April 18, 1977 Leonard Peltier was wrongly convicted on coerced testimony and fabricated evidence and sentenced to two life terms. Despite the pleas of more than 50 Congressmen the Dali Lama, Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and numerous others he remains wrongfully imprisoned.


We ask you to join us on this April 18th in a World Day of Prayer for Leonard Peltier. Offer a prayer for his safety in a prison system that allowed a 64 year old man to be beaten by young inmates in January; for his quick release and for his return to his family through Obama to step up and do the right thing and free Leonard Peltier.


Pray in the way you know and at the time you choose. Alone or in groups. But please, join us in prayer that this man can return safely home to his family. Please spread the word and ask those in your spiritual community to join us in this World Day of Prayer for Leonard Peltier.

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Those are just a few things you can do and plan for until we release the plan in a few days now.


Recently, we upgraded our current website at the www.whoisleonardpeltier.info, which is hosted by bravenet. Our list serve was only allowed 500 subscribers, so with the upgrade we have a cap at 3000. That isn’t satisfactory for us, so we’ll need to get a full website up to accommodate our needs. I’ll be speaking with a contact about it this evening to see what we can do to expedite the development of our site under construction.


So if you think things are too quiet for your taste, this is just the quiet before the storm. If we haven’t met with Obama by the 26th of June, we will escalate our activities, so let’s all start preparing so that we can mobilize the nation behind us to show support for the President to do the right thing. Tell yourself, “Leonard will be home by his next birthday!”, and believe it through everything that you do.
We will see our brother come home!

Ben Carnes & Wanbli,
National Branch Support Group Coordinators &
National Spokespersons for the LP-DOC