LEONARD J. PELTIER of Kansas Peace & Freedom Party Presidential Nominee

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LEONARD PELTIER BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS:

POLITICAL: Political Organizer & Fundraiser, American Indian Movement (AIM), 1970-75.

PROFESSIONAL: Former migrant farm worker. Former co-owner, auto body repair shop. Author. Artist.

EDUCATION: Left school at age 14 to seek work.

PERSONAL: Born September 12, 1944 on the Anishinabe (Chippewa) Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. Divorced.

OTHER: Convicted of two counts of first degree murder for aiding and abetting the 1975 killing of two FBI Agents, 1977. Sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in federal prison.

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JANICE JORDAN of California Peace & Freedom Party Vice Presidential Nominee

Janice Jordan -- a longtime socialist political activist and former PFP State Co-Chair -- was the party's choice to be Peltier's VP runningmate. According to her official bio, Jordan has been politically active on "issues affecting the working class and the communities of color, including police brutality, the right to organize unions, homelessness, and environmental racism." She supports slavery reparations for descendants of US slaves, has been involved in organizing many protest demonstrations and marches, and advocates for the "unconditional release of Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu Jamal, Theresa Cruz, and H. Rap Brown and thousands of others who have been unjustly abused and incarcerated by a racist, sexist, classist, and homophobic justice system." She wants to use her VP candidacy to bring attention to the PFP's "call for socialist democracy, the rights of labor, an end to all U.S. intervention abroad -- including immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq." Jordan has never met Peltier in person, but they have corresponded in writing over the years. She has frequently run for Congress and local offices as a PFP nominee in recent years.

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ANALYSIS:

Native American activist and convicted murderer (or political prisoner, depending on your views) Leonard Peltier won 57% of the vote in the PFP Presidential primary in March 2004 -- even though he was serving his life sentence in Leavenworth Federal Penetentiary at the time. In Summer 2004, Peltier formally won the nomination at the PFP Presidential Nominating Convention -- winning 17 of the 30 delegate votes (Nader, who attended the convention, was second with 8). The "Leonard Peltier for President" campaign is 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 initially designated Barry Bachrach -- his lead criminal defense attorney -- as his Vice Presidential runningmate. PFP leaders, however, replaced Bachrach with PFP activist Janice Jordan as the VP nominee. The Peltier-Jordan ticket will only appear on the ballot in California. "We reluctantly admit that Peltier is unlikely to be elected President, but we do believe it's a very important candidacy. He's in prison for a crime he didn't commit. This nomination is a statement on the plight of political prisoners in the US and the need to treat them decently," said PFP Chairman Kevin Akin.

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LINKS:

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee - Official Site.
JaniceJordan.org - Official Site.
Peace & Freedom Party - Official Party Site.
Peace & Freedom Party of L.A. County - Official Affiliate Site.
PFP Platform - Official Platform.
The Partisan - Official PFP Newsletter.
American Indian Movement - Peltier's Former Organization.
FreePeltier.org - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
AIM: Free Leonard Peltier - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
HaveYouThought.com - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
Boston Area Leonard Peltier Support Group - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
International Peltier Forum - European Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
Amnesty International: Leonard Peltier - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
Global Exchange: Leonard Peltier - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
The People's Paths - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
IAC: Leonard Peltier - Marxist Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
COINTELPRO: FBI Targets Leonard Peltier - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
COSIMAPP - French Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
Free Leonard Peltier CZ - Czech Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
Leonard Peltier Stichting - Dutch Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
FBI: Leonard Peltier Case - Negative/Government Site
No Parole Peltier Association - Negative Site.

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OFFICIAL CONTACT INFORMATION:

Leonard Peltier #89637-132
P.O. Box 1000
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
P.O. Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785.842.5774
Fax: 785.842.5796

Janice Jordan
619.475.8227
email: jjordan@janicejordan.org

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