{"id":7439,"date":"2022-10-23T18:05:08","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T16:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrisp.lautre.net\/wpblog\/?p=7439"},"modified":"2022-10-23T20:10:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T18:10:02","slug":"jean-roach-tells-the-true-story-of-leonard-peltier-from-jumping-bull-camp-to-life-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisp.lautre.net\/wpblog\/?p=7439","title":{"rendered":"JEAN ROACH TELLS THE TRUE STORY OF LEONARD PELTIER: FROM JUMPING BULL CAMP TO LIFE IN PRISON"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

JEAN ROACH TELLS ABOUT THE EVENTS SHE WITNESSED WHEN SHE WAS 14, EVENTS THAT LED TO LEONARD PELTIER\u2019S LIFELONG SENTENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Jean Roach
\nParis, CICP,
\nOctober 15, 2022
\nAlso published on Censored News<\/a>
\nRecording and transcript Christine Prat, CSIA-Nitassinan
\n(See video below)
\nEn fran\u00e7ais<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The evening before CSIA-Nitassinan 42nd Day of Solidarity, Mitch Walking Elk sung at the CICP (International Center for Popular Cultures) and other guests addressed the audience before the show. Jean Roach told the story of that terrible day, in June 1975, when two FBI agents undercover were killed during a shoo-tout, which led to Leonard Peltier being sentenced for the murders, although he has long been proven innocent.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christine Prat<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cRight now, Leonard has been in prison for 47 years. And we are trying all avenues to have President Biden grant him his clemency. Everybody asks us what we would like people to do. What we\u2019re asking is everybody, if you are a person, an organization or a government official, to write letters of support urging President Biden to grant executive clemency.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cAnd now let\u2019s talk about the time period of 1975, when I was 14-years-old and we were attacked by the FBI. The time period was after Wounded Knee 1973, when the American Indian Movement took over Wounded Knee. We call it the reign of terror, when over 60 people were killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Anybody who was associated with the American Indian Movement were targets of the corrupt tribal government who had squads that would attack the American Indian Movement or people who were having ceremonies. He wouldn\u2019t like to have anything to do with traditional people, the Chairman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grandma and grandpa Jumping Bull asked Leonard Peltier and other AIM members to help protect them, as they made a move to pull away from the tribal government and the community Oglala.
\n\u201cWhat we were doing there was basically helping a community. We were building gardens, helping the grandpa and grandma. They were just celebrating their 50th anniversary. And whatever they needed done, we were there. And Leonard and the other guys were there for protection. Because we were always a target.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the day when the FBI came to our camp, we didn\u2019t know who they were. They came in unmarked cars and they weren\u2019t wearing uniforms, so we couldn\u2019t tell who they were. If they were the GOON squads or who they were. So, Leonard Peltier, Dino Butler, Bob Robideau and the others protected us. They saved our lives. There we lost our brother Joe Stuntz, the moment they killed the FBI agents. And Leonard Peltier, Dino Butler and Bob Robideau and another man were charged for the murders of the FBI. They did illegal searches and they broke into the people\u2019s home looking for the people that escaped, who were mostly us and we were all under the age of 18, the majority there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cSo, Dino Butler and Bob Robideau went to court where they were acquitted on the basis of self-defense, for the FBI attacked our camp. No one was charged except for Leonard Peltier, who was in Canada and by then was facing extradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, the United States government broke the law. The Canadian government wanted an eyewitness before they would extradite. They threatened a Lakota woman by the name of Myrtle Poor Bear. They threatened her with death and taking her kids away if she didn\u2019t sign 3 affidavits that they used in Canada. When we heard about Myrtle Poor Bear, it was really sad because she was threatened like that. The saddest part is that nobody knew who she was. She had no connection to Leonard and she claimed to be his girlfriend, but she was used and abused in Canada.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cSo, when it came time for his court trial, he didn\u2019t go to the same court as Dino and Bob, where they were acquitted. They made sure that they sent him to North Dakota to a known racist judge.
\n\u201cMy point is that immediately they lied and they have been doing so for 47 years, the United States government. They\u2019ve been breaking the human rights, the constitutional rights and treaty rights. All because they want one person to pay for it and they want revenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour weeks ago, we got the whole Democratic party of the United States unanimously pass a resolution in support of Leonard Peltier\u2019s release. We had several support letters over time, and it doesn\u2019t seem to please the United States government. We\u2019re hoping that the European countries will be able to put pressure on Biden. Because he represents himself, or the United States represent themselves, as human rights leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen COVID came, the United States government treated the tribes, Indigenous people differently. When Leonard caught COVID inside the prison, we were scared because he had so many health problems. He is 78-years-old. Again, when he was quarantined, he didn\u2019t go to a medical unit, despite of all his health issues, they just put him in solitary cell and they didn\u2019t even give him water. Until today, we have been trying to get medical care, but the prison system wouldn\u2019t answer to the people that have the right to ask for his medical update or at least a medical appointment to see in what shape is body seems.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut one of the things that we always say, we have been to the United Nations in Geneva and all we ask is for the United States government to tell the truth, that\u2019s all. We don\u2019t want special treatment, we just want them to tell the truth. It\u2019s really simple. There is a lot more, you know, I can talk forever.\u201d<\/p>\n