The pigs create yet another phony confession to slander Mumia Abu 
Jamal

Leonard Peltier remains imprisoned for the indigenous struggle for 
self - determination

The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee holds a conference in June 
to launch an intensified campaign for his freedom.



The August edition of Vanity Fair magazine has launched a surprise 
attack on the struggle to save the life of Mumia Abu Jamal. The 
article quotes a former prison volunteer reporting on a seven year 
old confession from Mumia. Mumia has termed the allegations "a 
rumor turned lie." The Vanity Fair article was written by Buzz 
Bissinger, who wrote a book about Ed Rendell, the mayor of 
Philadelphia during Mumia's 1982 trial. Bissinger is so close to 
the Philly establishment that Rendell let Bissinger shadow him for 
four years, often passing Bissinger off as an aide at high level 
meetings.(2)

Mumia was framed for the righteous 1981 killing of a Philly cop 
engaged in an act of police brutality. Someone else killed the 
cop, but the Amerikan system of injustice -- backed up by the 
fascist anti-crime fever among a great majority of whites -- 
demands that someone die for the killing of a pig. These fascists 
want to murder Mumia because he is an outspoken leader who 
generates public opinion against the system. His political views, 
including his agreement with Mao Zedong that "power grows out of 
the barrel of a gun" were used as evidence against him in his 
trial and in the imposition of the death penalty.

Mumia is an outspoken advocate and leader of the Black Nation. He 
was a Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party, and 
later a radio journalist. Mumia was hated by the Philly police and 
government for his work exposing police brutality and the 
colonization of the Black Nation within the borders of the United 
Snakes. Years ago, the major of Philadelphia singled Mumia out at 
a press conference for this ominous warning: "Someday you'll pay 
for what you've done."

Philip Bloch was a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Prison Society 
in the early 1990s. He claims he asked Mumia if he regretted 
killing the officer, to which Mumia simply answered "Yes." Bloch 
told no one about this confession until after the April 24 
demonstration in Philadelphia demanding freedom for Mumia offended 
him by its tactics. Bloch is vague about exactly which "tactics" 
by Mumia's supporters offended him so deeply, but he implies that 
strong defense of Mumia's innocence is an insult to the pig's 
widow. This argument deserves little analysis, particularly since 
the widow willingly plays a prominent role in the mainstream 
struggle to execute Mumia.(1)

The Vanity Fair article did not attempt to interview Mumia for his 
response to the allegations. The article does not mention that 
Bloch was kicked out of the Pennsylvania Prison Society for 
violating internal rules regarding confidentiality and other 
reasons.(1)

This is not the first concocted confession used against Mumia. 
First, there were three police officers and then the hospital 
security guard. None of these lies were reported for two months 
despite the incredible importance of the statements. The reason is 
that they were concocted to fulfill the needs of the prosecutor.

Bloch's statement could be used in a new trial against Mumia, 
along with all the other falsifies evidence put together over the 
years. Bloch certainly wouldn't do well as a witness, judging by 
his poor performance answering questions from Mumia's attorney 
Leonard Weinglass on the "Democracy Now" program.

But this "evidence" could also be used by the state to prevent 
Mumia from getting that new trial. While not a particularly 
effective argument, Mumia's attorney Leonard Weinglass expects the 
prosecution to argue that Mumia should not be given a new trial as 
the newest confession would make that new trial even less likely 
to change the initial verdict.(1)

On the "Democracy Now" radio program, Bloch told a convoluted 
story about becoming Mumia's personal friend and then conducting 
research into the case via newspaper microfilm. While still 
Mumia's friend, he determined that Mumia was in fact guilty, hence 
the question about regret. But at a press conference aired on 
"Democracy Now" on August 3, Mumia's supporters revealed a letter 
dated July 17, 1993, in which Bloch told Mumia: "when you get a 
new trial, I think that there is a good chance of acquittal." This 
letter seriously weakens Bloch's chronology.

That this slander came up is a sign of several things. First, that 
the anti-Mumia, pro-state forces are becoming desperate in 
response to the painstaking legal and mass work done by the 
movement. But it's also a testament to the need to intensify the 
struggle to free Mumia Abu Jamal.
Notes:
1. "Democracy Now" 13 July 1999.
2. "Democracy Now" 3 August 1999.

[music break]

On June 3, 1999, Leonard Peltier's lawyers filed a petition of 
habeas corpus. Peltier's lawyers and supporters have documented 
numerous details of witnesses lying, tampering with evidence, and 
falsified ballistics evidence. Following an FBI-instigated shoot-
out on the Pine Ridge reservation, Leonard was portrayed as a 
cold-blooded killer during a trial that was merely a formality to 
his imprisonment. His parole has repeatedly been denied, and in 
spite of the mountainous evidence of an unjustified conviction he 
has not been permitted to contest the reasons for his continued 
imprisonment.

The government justifies its denial of parole by saying that 
Peltier's crime involved an ambush of Federal Bureau of 
Investigation (FBI) officers and was a close-range, pre-meditated 
attack. Yet FBI files released since his original trial that show 
that the FBI plotted and carried out a pre-meditated assault on 
Peltier and the people living in the Jumping Bull compound at Pine 
Ridge.

Jennifer Harbury, a member of Peltier's legal team stated: "This 
is not a matter of an unfair trial. This is a case of an innocent 
person being framed." Amerika has fictionalized the case against 
Peltier to hinder a just struggle for self-determination.

With intensified support for his freedom and the mounting evidence 
in Peltier's favor, his release seems more possible than in years 
past. MIM supports the legal fight Peltier's freedom. We also 
agree with his supporters that activists must work consistently in 
the courts of public opinion to win any reforms under the current 
system.

Ultimately, the people must seize state power, recapture land and 
build institutions representing the interests of the oppressed. 
Governments of the people will need to re-try the more than 1.8 
million people within Amerika's prisons so that Amerika-labelled 
prisoners can be judged by their peers. The Amerikan kangaroo 
courts can be petitioned for some proletarian gains, but cannot be 
a means of lasting justice.

VOICE

In 1973, comprador tribal chief Dick Wilson's paramilitary 
Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs) were terrorizing the Oglala 
people. GOONs were responsible for dozens of murders and terror 
throughout Oglala. Roselyn Jumping Bull had asked the American 
Indian Movement (AIM), of which Peltier was an organizer, to 
provide protection from the GOONs. AIM responded as part of its 
work to meet the people's needs and to fight for freedom. AIM 
educated about and protested against the ongoing Amerikan genocide 
of and broken treaties with indigenous nations. AIM also did basic 
work among the people of Pine Ridge, helping to plant gardens, 
rebuild homes that had been shattered by GOON squad attacks, and 
built support for self-determination.

After years of increased activity by AIM, allied traditionals and 
sympathetic supporters, the FBI sought a justification to 
intensify its assault against AIM. June 26, 1975, two FBI agents 
invented a case of theft, and raided the Jumping Bull compound. 
Assuming that the GOONs were attacking, AIM returned fire, and in 
the fighting, the two FBI agents were killed.

Almost immediately, helicopters, 200 state troopers, GOONs, u.$. 
marshals and SWAT teams had gathered nearby. The following day, 
the FBI multiplied its invasion forces including hundreds of M-16-
equipped FBI agents and other pigs, at least nine armored 
personnel carriers and several Huey helicopters. The invasion 
included warrantless searches, destruction of property, physical 
intimidation and false arrests. The FBI murdered AIM member Joe 
Stuntz Killsright during the attack. This type of invasion had 
been launched before and would be repeated in the FBI's war 
against AIM.

Peltier fled across the illegitimate border between the united 
snakes and canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) 
captured Peltier and extradited him on a faked affidavit. Unjustly 
arrested for the deaths of two FBI agents during the invasion, 
Leonard Peltier has been in prison for 23 years. The FBI and state 
fabricated evidence used to extradite Peltier and build the case 
against him. The FBI coerced witnesses and mysteriously lost 
exculpatory evidence. It withheld ballistic evidence that favored 
the defense. The judge cooperated with the conviction train, 
refusing to admit evidence that proved the FBI's intent to destroy 
AIM. He excluded the evidence that had helped to get other AIM 
members acquitted on the same charges Peltier faced.

VOICE

Almost two decades after the trial, files obtained through the 
Freedom of Information Act revealed what AIM had suspected at the 
time: the FBI raid was pre-planned. Prior to the attack, AIM was 
under increased surveillance. The swift military response to the 
initial firefight could have only been coordinated with advance 
preparation. During an appeal in the 8th Circuit Court, the basis 
for Peltier's conviction was discredited. The most precise 
ballistic tests prove that the gun used in evidence at Peltier's 
trial did not kill the FBI agents. The FBI knew this, but 
suppressed it during the trial.

Even the government says it can no longer prove Peltier's guilt. 
Among layers of lies, it is clear that the FBI planned and 
instigated the shoot-out, not Peltier. The state has already 
agreed that this new evidence is valid, yet a judge has ruled that 
the evidence would not affect the outcome of a re-trial. Yet this 
discredited evidence is the legal justification for denying 
Peltier parole. Peltier's defense team argues that the state needs 
to choose: either Peltier should get a new trial because of 
falsified evidence in the original trial or the state must stop 
using the falsified evidence to refuse parole.

Peltier's lawyers argue that failures of the parole system are 
working against Peltier. As Dennis Brutus shouted during his 
speech: "After 23 disgraceful years it is time to Free Leonard 
Peltier!"


[Music break]

The Leonard Peltier Defense Organizing Conference sponsored by the 
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee in June successfully underscored 
Amerika's perpetration of violence and injustice against 
indigenous peoples. Attended by over 150 participants, the 
conference launched an intensified campaign to free Peltier.

The conference educated attendees about Amerika's history of 
genocide, the FBI Counter Intelligence Program called COINTELPRO, 
and details of Peltier's framing, extradition and unfair trial for 
murder. Discussion focused on the continuing campaign for 
Peltier's freedom.

Peltier wrote in his introductory statement to the conference: 
"This constitution of the US does not apply to everyone, it does 
not apply to my people. We cannot allow this government to 
continue. This affects more than me, [this affects] more than [my] 
people now. This is the same way the US treats other countries."

MIM attended the conference to build unity with those opposed to 
the imperialist repression. We agree with Peltier that Amerikan 
law does not apply to indigenous peoples. Our support for his 
freedom is part of the struggle against imperialism and white 
settler nation domination. Imprisonment of political leaders like 
Leonard Peltier is an oppressive tool to thwart anti-imperialist 
organizing. But such attacks on political leaders can only prolong 
the cancerous life of the imperialist system, they cannot make it 
live forever.

The conference presented a clear indictment against the Amerikan 
prison system. Many also emphasized the need for an 
internationalist perspective in fighting injustice. The FBI's 
COINTELPROs have attacked nationalists, revolutionaries, and 
radical activists. This war includes unjust imprisonment, torture 
and assassination of political leaders. Though COINTELPROs aim to 
destroy resistance, the movement continues to grow. 

During the prison issues panel, former prisoner Ida Robinson said, 
"colonialism has alienated oppressed peoples. If we don't fight 
it, they will continue to kill us one by one. It may be different 
from how it happened 40 or 80 years ago, [but] it's still 
genocide."

Damning imperialism for its anti-people politics, Leonard Peltier 
Defense Committee organizer and former prisoner Bobby Castillo 
said "we're tired of the lies. They attack people trying to change 
[their own living conditions]. They are at war." Ramona Africa 
added: "this government manipulates public opinion to make 
resistance criminal."

Dennis Brutus, who was imprisoned in South Africa because of his 
involvement in the anti-apartheid movement, also spoke at the 
conference. He eloquently linked the battle for Peltier's freedom 
from the u.$. prisons to continued opposition to Amerika's 
atrocities world-wide. Brutus said it is significant that Amnesty 
International is now taking a clear stand on Peltier's case. 
Amnesty International decided in April 1999 to call for Peltier's 
immediate release. This is a positive step forward, but as Brutus 
pointed out, there is much more work to do. He emphasized the need 
for youth to organize. He said that "youth focus on political 
prisoners in other countries, but believe the myth that there are 
no political prisoners in the U.S."

The repressive Amerikan lockdown only breeds the resistance it 
attempts to quell. White Amerika will continue to attack 
progressive victories as they are won. For this reason, MIM fights 
winnable battles that contribute to the overall struggle to 
dismantle imperialism. Proletarian-led armed struggle to seize 
state power is ultimately the only way oppressed nations will gain 
freedom from imperialist control.

We commend the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee for organizing 
this conference and we urge readers to work with MIM to advance 
anti-imperialism toward socialism. The Leonard Peltier Defense 
Committee is planning several actions. During the month of 
November, they plan a continuous protest in Washington D.C. 
climaxing with a march on so-called Thanksgiving weekend. MIM will 
continue organizing work on the streets, through our media, and 
through continued education for the masses. We will organize a 
proletarian anti-imperialist contingent for the D.C. march to 
build support for Peltier's freedom and the freedom of all 
oppressed peoples of the world. 


The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee can be contacted at: P.O. 
Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044; or by phone at (785) 842-5774.