As President Clinton's last days in office rapidly approach, we, along with thousands of others, are wondering if he will put his money where his mouth is and grant Executive Clemency to the most well-known symbol of injustice against Indigenous Peoples of this hemisphere. The list of Leonard Peltier's prominent supporters goes on and on, and millions have asked President Clinton to free this man. He and other AIM members had been asked to go to the Pine Ridge reservation where conflict between a pro-assimilation tribal chairman and traditionalists had escalated into violence. The chairman used tribal monies to fund a campaign of intimidation against his opposition, resulting in several beatings and murders. Despite an overwhelming presence of FBI agents on the reservation, these murders, totaling 64 between 1973 and 1976, were never properly investigated, and virtually no prosecutions were brought.
Shots rang out and a shoot-out erupted.
Women and children barely escaped through the hail of bullets. In the end, the two agents and Native man lay dead. Three people were tried for the deaths of the agents. Two of these were found innocent on grounds of self-defense. Peltier, who was in Canada seeking political asylum, would be tried separately.