[olympiaworkers] International Day in Solidarity

Please post widely

From: Tacoma Chapter, LPDOC

As individual fingers we can easily be broken, but all together we make a mighty fist.
-- Sitting Bull

INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SOLIDARITY WITH LEONARD PELTIER
NW REGIONAL MARCH AND RALLY FOR CLEMENCY FOR LEONARD PELTIER

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY, 4, 2012, TACOMA, WA.

12:00 NOON: MARCH FOR JUSTICE Portland Ave. Park (on Portland Ave. between E. 35th & E. Fairbanks. Take Portland Ave. exit off I-5 and head east)
1:00 PM: RALLY FOR JUSTICE U.S. Federal Court House, 1717-Pacific Ave.
  
  This march is answering the call by LPDOC for marches and rallies on Feb. 4, 2012 Internationally in support of clemency for Leonard Peltier. Of all the regional marches in Tacoma, 16 since 1992, this is the most important one yet. The New Leonard Peltier Clemency Campaign is building and we need to show public support. If you are a regular supporter, please join us again. If you are a new supporter, who has thought about supporting Leonard, now is the time to do it. We need all of you.  

  SPEAKERS:
Co-MCs
Matilaja: Yu’Pik Eskimo from Mountain Village Alaska. Member of N.W. AIM since 1973, Friend of Leonard Peltier for 38 odd years and member of Tacoma Chapter LPDOC
Steve Hapy: Long time Leonard Peltier and Native struggles activist, Tacoma Chapter LPDOC
Drum:
Albert Combs and Coastal Hand Drum Singers
Welcoming:
Deeahop Conway, Puyallup Tribal member, Tacoma Chapter LPDOC
Leonard's case and up-date;
Arthur J. Miller: Northwest Regional Organizer LPDOC, Tacoma Chapter LPDOC,  long time union member and human rights activist
Keynote Speaker:
Ramona Bennett: Puyallup Tribal Elder, Life long friend of Leonard Peltier, Grand Mother, Great Grand Mother
Chester Earl: Puyallup Tribal member
Zoltan Grossman: Evergreen State College faculty in Geography and Native Studies, in Olympia. former board member of Midwest Treaty Network in Wisconsin.
Closing words:
David Duenas: Puyallup Tribal Member
  
  CAR POOLS: OLYMPIA: There will be a carpool leaving from the parking lot at Harrison and Division at 10:15 am. PORTLAND, meet up outside of KBOO Radio Station (20 SE 8th, Portland, OR 97124) before embarking to Tacoma between 9:00-9:30am.SEATTLE CAR POOL: Meet at the Red Apple parking lot at 23rd and Jackson by the bus stop. Will be leaving at 10:30 am
  We need new banners and signs.  We need video of this event to use for support work. We need supporters to get out fliers, if you can please contact us. We need people to forward our e-mail statements. We need people to share on facebook information on the march. Our marches are not about one group but rather they are the work of all Peltier supporters in our region.
  
  RESOLUTIONS FOR CLEMENCY: Leonard needs resolutions for clemency from Tribes, Unions, Human Rights Organizations and others. See a sample resolution at:
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/resolution.htm
  
  For donations: Please make checks payable to the Leonard Peltier Defense/Offense Committee (mark them for NW March) and send them to: Tacoma Chapter LPODC, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415.
  
  Join Tacoma Chapter LPDOC on facebook at: http://facebook.com/tacoma.lpdoc
Subscribe to: Northwest Peltier Support at: nwpeltiersupport-subscribe@lists.riseup.net    
For more information: www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

TACOMA CHAPTER, LPDOC, P.O. BOX 5464, TACOMA, WA 98415-0464. bayou@blarg.net

MARCH STATEMENT

“I have no doubt whatsoever that the real motivation behind both Wounded Knee II and the Oglala firefight, and much of the turmoil throughout Indian Country since the early 1970s, wasâ€"and isâ€"the mining companies’ desire to muffle AIM and all traditional Indian people, who soughtâ€"and still seekâ€"to protect the land, water, and air from their thefts and depredations. In this sad and tragic age we live in, to come to the defense of Mother Earth is to be branded a criminal.” --Leonard Peltier, Prison Writings â€"

Leonard Peltier (of the Anishinabe, Dakota, and Lakota Nations), long time Native Activist and member of the American Indian Movement. Leonard Peltier, an innocent man who was convicted for the 1975 shooting deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. prosecutors have repeatedly admit ted that they did not and cannot prove Peltier's guilt, and the appellate courts have cited numerous instances of investigative and prosecutorial misconduct in this case. As late as November 2003, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that "…Much of the government’s behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed." The trial of the first two AIM members in this case were found not guilty for reason of self-defense.
  Behind the case of Leonard Peltier and the events that took place on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Reservation is the continuing theft of Native land for energy corporations. High grade Uranium was found in the northwest corner of Pine Ridge. It was well known that the Lakota people would be unwilling to sell their land because they refused payment for the Black Hills. So a plan was carried out to suppress the traditional Oglala Lakota people and their supporters from the America Indian Movement. This lead to the Wounded Knee II Occupation, over 500 AIM members being indited on charges, a two and a half year reign of terror against the Oglala Lakota people, and the firefight near Oglala, that Leonard was charged with, that took place at the same time that a corrupt tribal Chairman was illegally signing away the part of Pine Ridge with the Uranium. The firefight took place as a means to divert attention and to suppress AIM.
  Leonard has been in prison for over 35 years for a crime he did not commit and a crime that forces of greed were responsibly for. They have withheld medical care for Leonard and recently Leonard was placed in solitary confinement for 72 days and then sent to a high security prison in Florida, as far away from his lawyers and family as they could send him. Leonard is in bad health and they want Leonard to die in prison, alone and forgotten.  We will not let that happen.
   We are now organizing a new clemency for Leonard Peltier campaign and the regional marches on Feb, 4, 2012 are a very important part of that. Please help us raise money for it and get the word out everywhere.  Please. let us come together in the spirit of unity for Leonard and for the kind of justice and peace we want for our world. Thank you.

DONATIONS: Organizing this march has already costs us more than we have raised by donations. We are a grassroots movement, we get no outside funding and depend upon donations. Please make checks out to: The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, (mark them for NW March) and mail them to: Tacoma Chapter, LPDOC, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464. Thank you.

International Day of Solidarity With Leonard Peltier:
Clemency For Leonard Peltier Marches and Rallies

From:
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
Phone: 701/235-2206
E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

International Day of Solidarity With Leonard Peltier:
Clemency For Leonard Peltier Marches and Rallies

February 4, 2012

  The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee calls on supporters worldwide to protest against the injustice suffered by Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier. Gather on February 4, 2012, at every federal court house and U.S. embassy or consulate worldwide to demand the freedom of a man wrongfully convicted and illegal imprisoned for 36 years!
  Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist wrongfully accused in 1975 in connection with the shooting deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Government documents show that, without any evidence at all, the FBI decided from the beginning of its investigation to 'lock Peltier into the case'.
  U.S. prosecutors knowingly presented false statements to a Canadian court to extradite Mr. Peltier to the U.S. The statements were signed by a woman who was forced by FBI agents to say she was an eyewitness. The government has long since admitted that the woman was not present during the shootings.
  Meanwhile, in a separate trial in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mr. Peltier's co-defendants were acquitted by reason of self defense. Had Leonard been tried with his co-defendants, he also would have been acquitted.
  Unhappy with the outcome of the Cedar Rapids trial, prosecutors set the stage for Mr. Peltier's conviction. His trial was moved to an area known for its anti-Indian sentimentâ€"Fargo, North Dakota. The trial judge had a reputation for ruling against Indians, and a juror is known to have made racist comments during Mr. Peltier's trial.
  FBI documents prove that the U.S. government went so far as to manufacture the so-called murder weapon, the most critical evidence in the prosecution's case. A ballistics test proved, however, that the gun and shell casings entered into evidence didn't match. The FBI hid this fact from the jury. Mr. Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. According to court records, the United States Attorney who prosecuted the case has twice admitted that no one even knows who fired the fatal shots.
  Leonard Peltier is 67 years old and in poor health. An accomplished author and artist, Mr. Peltier is renowned for his humanitarian achievements. In 2009, Leonard was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the sixth consecutive year.
  Although the courts have acknowledged evidence of government misconductâ€"including forcing witnesses to lie and hiding ballistics evidence reflecting his innocenceâ€"Mr. Peltier has been denied a new trial on a legal technicality. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, 55 Members of Congress and othersâ€"including a judge who sat as a member of the court in two of Mr. Peltier’s appealsâ€"have all called for his immediate release.
  The Courts may not be able to act but Barack Obama, as President, can. Please join with us to free an innocent man. On February 4, 2012, tell Obama to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier.
  If you can organize, or help organize and event in your area, please contact LPDOC. Please if you can make a donation to help with the costs of the LPDOC. Scheduled events will be announced and details provided at www.whoisleonardpeltier.info.
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
Phone: 701/235-2206
E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
www.whoisleonardpeltier.info