Two FBI agents and one AIM member were killed during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Given that there was all of this crossfire, it is all but impossible to figure out who killed who. The FBI agents drove onto private property that was hosting an AIM encampment. AIM members were armed for self defense, because the reservation at that time was going through a covert war very similar to what happened in El Salvador in the 1980s. Dozens of residents were shot and killed by a paramilitary death squad (GOONS) and the FBI was involved in covert operations.
In a situation like that, carrying guns for self defense was a logical thing to do.
The FBI agents supposedly entered the Jumping Bull property (I think I got the name right) early in the morning when most of the AIM members were asleep. The FBI claimed that they were looking for a young AIM member who had stole a pair of cowboy boots. This begs the question of why the FBI concerns itself with petty theft.
The FBI agents didn't get too far from their car, where they eventually died. Soon after the initial shootout ended, more cops and Feds showed up, and all AIM members fled. Eventually a bunch of people got caught. Two guys were put on trial and were acquitted. If Leonard Peltier has been tried with them, he would have walked over 25 years ago. Unfortunately, he fled to Canada, where he was later illegally extradited for trial in the U.S. The earlier trial, having already ended, meant that Leonard had to go on trial by himself, with a pissed off FBI looking for a scapegoat for the stupid mistake commited by their dumb agents.
That is why the case of Leonard Peltier is such a tragedy. After everything the United States has done to indigenous peoples, they have to imprison yet another Native American because the FBI can't admit how stupid they are.
Chuck0 www.infoshop.org