Leonard Peltier : A Native American Activist Imprisoned For The Murder Of Two Fbi Agents

A key factor in the case of Walter McMillian was that he was an African American man who at one point was respected by his community. However, an extramarital affair with a white woman is what crossed the line. Affairs were not out of the norm in the Monroeville community, but given the fact that McMillian was black dramatically changed what was perceived as socially acceptable behavior. The significant questioning of McMillian’s character came into play when a young woman, Ronda Morrison was murdered. The profound change in the community’s view toward McMillian was an incentive to point to him as the mastermind behind the murder. The police were unable to produce any viable suspects which led to pressure from the community to find and convict a killer – even if the person accused was innocent. The interrogation tactics used during the questioning of suspects and witnesses produced false allegations. Tactics such as intimidation and bargaining. These practices encompassed covert operations that allowed the law enforcement – police, district attorneys, judges – to navigate the case. Several people were instrumental in concocting the false story placing McMillian at the center of the crime. After his initial lie, Ralph Myers’s was pushed by police to produce additional information which although false, was used by police to arrest McMillian. As the story gained traction in the town,

Alvin Dewey was happy that they caught them since he’s been trying to catch these guys for a month. Later, the KBI were assigned to their suspects and interrogate them in separate rooms. Dewey was interrogating Smith and asking him all this questions about what happen. Smith tells him how it started. Perry Smith says that “The door was unlock. A side door. It took us into Mr. Clutter’s office” (Truman 236). This shows that Dick and Perry went inside to Mr. Clutter office, they were waiting in dark and looking for the safe but the safe was know where to be found. When they encounter Mr. Clutter, they took him to the office and ask him where the safe is. Mr. Clutter said that he didn’t have safe. It made Dick yelled at him and had a knife towards Mr. Clutter. Mr. Clutter gave them money that was about thirty dollars but they wanted more so they went upstairs to see who is awake. Mrs. Clutter keep saying that they don’t have a safe at all and saying that Mr. Clutter was telling the truth. Then Perry told Dick that your friend Floyd Wells lied to you about the safe. But Dick was too ashamed so he decided to tie them to their bed. After the KBI had interrogate them and they found their story to be similar but there was one information that was told differently. In the book In Cold Blood it says that “The only serious discrepancy being that Hickock attributed all four deaths to Smith, while Smith contended that Hickock had killed the two women” (Truman 245). This shows that both of Dick and Perry blamed on each other for the crime they committed to the KBI. Dewey could not forget the suffering they been through. He hoped to see them

Some wanted to fight to keep the land that their family has lived on forever.

The investigative details of the Pamela Foddrill case remained very similar to criminal theory in most ways, but not all. In Lyman’s Criminal Investigations, there are eight steps detailed

The fingerprints on the deer rifle were matched to Byron De La Beckwith who was an active and vocal member of a white supremacist group. (Black, pg.1) Byron De La Beckwith went to trial for the murder of Medgar Evers. The two separate trials with all white juries both ended in deadlock decisions. Because the juries reached a legal stalemate Beckwith walked free.

Several days after Till flirted with the young store owner, the youth was abruptly awakened by Roy Bryant and his half-brother JW Milam. Much to the protests of Moses Wright, Till’s uncle, the two men kidnapped Emmett Till and threw him in the back of their pick-up truck. Although their first intentions were to merely scare the youth, the night took a turn for the worst once Emmett began to resist the men and their attempts to subdue the boy. They brutally beat the boy and hit him several times with their guns. Bryant and Milam dragged the boy near the Tallahatchie River while making Emmett carry a cotton gin fan. Stripping Till of all his clothes, the men shot him in the head and sank the corpse in the river with the gin fan around his neck. Then the two men quickly escaped the crime scene. (World Criminal of Justice)

Larry Watson in “Montana 1948” uses the motif of light and silence in many ways to reinforce ideas about truth and injustice. He illustrates the injustice in Bentrock, a town barely inside the state’s border, through the motif of light/dark. Watson then demonstrates to the reader the occurrence of something wrong through the motif of silence. In certain places, the motif of light assists the motif of silence to emphasize the significance of the event. Watson further explores the themes of racism and coming of age using the motifs. Watson in his text uses recurring motifs to develop ideas making them clearer to his audience. Setting is used to emphasize the motif of silence.

Leonard Peltier, author of Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance (1999), is a 73 year old Native American of the Lakota/Dakota nations. He was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an advocacy group that fights for the rights of Native Americans, and he has paid a high price for defending his people. In 1975, there was already a warrant out for Peltier’s arrest involving an attempted murder, and he was considered a fugitive. At this time, there was continuing violence in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Incident, and, as a member of AIM, Peltier was staying on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to try to reduce tensions and offer protection. There, he and two other members of AIM were involved in a shootout that resulted in the death of two FBI officers. Though the other two AIM members were

When most people hear of Native Americans, they cannot help but think of elaborate headdresses, red skinned warriors, and lively dancing. Although these aspects of Native American culture are fascinating, more important is where they fare in our society 's past and present. Restrictive laws and acts such as the Indian Removal Act, the Indian Reorganization Act, Fort Laramie treaties, and the Trail of Tears forced Native Americans from their lands. When settlers and the American government saw the resistance of Native Americans to forced assimilation, they resorted to racial discrimination and relocation to reservations. This history of discrimination has fueled calls for the United States government to pay reparations and the return of Native Americans to their indigenous lands.

When you hear the words “police racial profiling” your mind may automatically jump to images of white cops stopping young black men in expensive cars, the Rodney King beatings, or even the Rev. Al Sharpton giving a deposition about racial tensions. This is because those images are the hot-button, go-to stories that media often bombards the six o’clock news with. As Americans, we have seen so much of these images that we tend to think that the racial divide is only “black and white.” However, what if you were to be told that racial profiling is more than just white-on-black? There is a group of Americans who face more racial discrimination than African Americans: Native Americans. Native Americans are under represented as victims and over persecuted as offenders. This paper will attempt to define the issue of racial profiling and how it affects Native Americans, provide a review of the current research being done, and provide a brief interview that shows how this subject is viewed in real world scenarios.

Ever since the first contact settlers had with indigenous or Aboriginal people, there has always been discrimination against these groups since they are seen at the bottom of the social class scale. This was the first time in Canadian history where a certain social group were marginalized; the white people who first settled in Canada looked at indigenous people and didn’t believe that they belonged to there society. However, in todays society we have laws that prevent decriminalization, but that does not resolve the problem since many indigenous people are constantly being murdered, assaulted, raped and treated as second class citizens. The underlying problem that help’s illustrate why there so many missing and murdered indigenous woman is due to the lack of support from the government. Many first nations people live in poverty, also Canadians are not properly informed about the deaths and missing rates of indigenous woman in Canada.

Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. Luana Ross. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1998.

In the 21st century, the world as we know it suffers from psychotic, demented, treacherous and, sophisticated crimes. This world would be corrupt without a tunnel of light if it was not for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, also known as the FBI, is a corporation that seeks fidelity, bravery and, integrity for the United States of America. The FBI researches shocking and concerning crimes the news reports about politics, war and, safety that we hear on the television about issues that are being reported to the people. These cases of transgression are missions the FBI analyzes, such as hacking information from double spies, locating terrorists, seeking pedophiles, cracking down unknown mobsters,

There was a long and hard fight by the U.S versus Peltier for extradition to be tried in the States. Since the charges were dropped against Eagle and Robideau and Butler were found innocent, all charges were now to be pinned on Peltier. To extradite Peltier back to the U.S, the government provided affidavits (perhaps fraudulent) from a woman by the name of Myrtle Poor Bear. The affidavits claimed that Myrtle was an eyewitness to the murders of the agents and was Peltier’s ex girlfriend. (She also claimed that Peltier was a father to her children). Peltier claimed that he had never met this woman. His claim was later proved accurate- the government had suborned the witness and pressurized her false affidavits. Her affidavits did what the U.S government wanted and Peltier was brought back to the States for trial. When the affidavits were known to be falsely coerced, Canadian officials demanded the return of

The incident at Ruby Ridge is known to be one of the most controversial crimes in recent history. Randy Weaver was being battered by the federal government after not appearing in court to face charges related to his selling of “two illegal sawed off shotguns to an alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms informant” (“Incident at” 1992). On august 1992, after so many surveillances by the U.S. Marshall, they came across Randy Weaver, 14 year old son and the family dog. A U.S. Marshall shot the family dog which made the son Sammy to fire at the Marshall. Unfortunately, the son Sammy and the U.S. Marshal were shot and both killed.