Leonard Peltier & Richard Campagna
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President and Vice Presidential Candidates |
Information
After winning 57% of the vote in the PFP Presidential primary in March 2004, a PFP spokesman said that Peltier is now assured of winning the party's nomination at the PFP's July nominating convention. The "Leonard Peltier for President" campaign seems to be an attempt to garner more publicity for an imprisoned cause celebre of the international progressive movement. Peltier, a prominent Native American activist, has been serving a life sentence in federal prison for the murder of two FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975, when they came onto the reservation. At the time, he was a leader in the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM was involved in past occupations and protests intended to bring attention to injustices against their tribes, violations of the treaties, and various other "abuses and repression" against their people. Instead, it ended in a bloody gun battle. The two agents had been wounded in the gunfight and then were shot at point blank range in the head. Peltier's two co-defendants were acquitted at trial by reason of self-defense. Peltier -- who fled to Canada because he did not believe he would receive a fair trial -- was later captured, returned to the US, tried and convicted. Peltier has proclaimed his innocence from start, claiming he was framed for the shootings because of his leadership role in AIM. While in prison, Peltier has become a published author, a prolific political writer, and an artist -- and the subject of various documentary movies and TV shows. He has also won supporters for his account of the events. Amnesty International wrote that Peltier is "a political prisoner ... [who] should be immediately and unconditionally released." Likewise, South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu is also a Peltier supporter: "I would hope that the campaign to have him freed will succeed ... It is a blot on the judicial system of this country that ought to be corrected as quickly as possible." Prosecutors and the FBI, however, firmly insist they won Peltier's conviction because he was guilty. In December 2000, Peltier supporters thought President Clinton would grant him clemency and release him from prison -- but Clinton ultimately decided against signing the executive order after FBI Director Louie Freeh and other FBI agents campaigned against the clemency grant. Originally a North Dakota native, Peltier is currently incarcerated in the prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. The US Court of Appeals denied Peltier's latest appeal in November 2003. In February 2004, Peltier designated Barry Bachrach -- his lead criminal defense attorney -- as his Vice Presidential runningmate. The Peltier-Bachrach ticket will only appear on the ballot in California.
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