Sifting fact from rumor was the challenge in yesterday’s testimony in the federal court trial of Vine Richard “Dickie” Marshall, charged with supplying the gun that killed American Indian Movement Anna Mae Aquash in 1975.

The trial is being held in Rapid City, S.D., near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where the killing occurred, and Heidi Bell Gease of the Rapid City Journal is covering it:

Anna Mae Aquash

Serle Chapman, a British writer who now lives in Wyoming, told jurors he was doing research for a book about AIM when he interviewed Marshall in 2000. Chapman contacted Marshall again the following year and asked him about a rumor that he had provided the gun used to kill Aquash.

“Did he respond to that?” asked prosecutor Rod Oswald.

“He just kind of said, ‘Well, back in the day, somebody asked you to do something … you didn’t ask too many questions,’” Chapman replied.

Defense attorney Dana Hanna sought to strike the testimony, but U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol denied that request.

But the most explosive testimony yesterday had nothing to do with Aquash’s killing, but centered on something that continues to be controversial more than three decades later — the conviction of AIM’s Leonard Peltier for shooting to death two FBI agents:

Leonard Peltier

Much of Monday’s testimony had more to do with AIM and rumors about Aquash than it did with Marshall’s alleged role in the killing.

Darlene “Ka-Mook” Ecoffey, formerly known as Ka-Mook Banks, longtime partner of AIM founder Dennis Banks, said the rumors were circulating on the heels of news that Doug Durham — once a close associate of Banks — was an informant for the FBI.

“I think (AIM leaders) were becoming quite paranoid,” she said.

Ecoffey told how she, her sister Bernie, Banks, Leonard Peltier and Aquash drove to Washington State in a motor home owned by Marlon Brando in November 1975, soon after Banks had failed to appear for sentencing on charges related to the 1972 Custer courthouse riot.

“Did Leonard Peltier talk about things that were incriminating?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Mandel asked Ecoffey.

She said yes, that Peltier, had talked about the fatal shootings of two FBI agents in Oglala on June 26, 1975.

“He said the (expletive) was begging for his life but I shot him anyway,” she said. Peltier was later convicted of murdering the agents and is still incarcerated.

The alleged fractures within AIM relate to the Aquash case because of the contention that Aquash was killed because of suspicion she was an FBI informant.

Gwen Florio

Malcolm McLaren, former manager of the Sex Pistols, said three words just before he died: “Free Leonard Peltier.”

Peltier is serving life in prison for the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the 1970s. His most recent application for parole, last year, was denied.

McLaren died at age 64 last week of mesothelioma. His last words were reported here in the Telegraph of London, among other places.

His son, Joe Corre, said that “My father was a very special person – a person who changed the world. I am incredibly proud of him. He was an old warrior. The world would have been a very different place without him. He produced nothing short of a revolution.”

Gwen Florio

The American Indian Movement activist will spend his 65th birthday in federal prison, just like he has for the last three decades

Peltier is serving two life sentences for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge (S.D.) Indian Reservation. Peltier, who maintains he was framed and whose case has drawn worldwide attention, recently was denied parole and will not have another parole hearing until 2024, when he will be 79.

Several Web sites offer places to post birthday wishes to Peltier, including the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, here, and Friends of Leonard Peltier (birthday messages here).

Gwen Florio

Two Wyoming filmmakers are working on a new documentary on the case of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist serving two life sentences for the killings of two FBI agents in 1975.

Peltier, in federal prison in Pennsylvania, was denied parole last week and will not have another hearing until 2024, when he will be 79. As Rustin Prevost recounts in this story in today’s Billings (Mont.) Gazette, his case has attracted widespread attention from supporters who say he was denied a fair trial and that the government engaged in misconduct in his arrest and prosecution. The FBI and federal prosecutors deny any wrongdoing and point to numerous unsuccessful appeals by Peltier, including to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But Preston Randolph, 19, of Cody, Wyo., sides with Peltier’s supporters.

“I’ve always known about the Peltier case, because I grew up hearing about it,” Randolph, 19, tells Prevost. “About a year ago, I decided to do something more meaningful in my work and my life. And in talking to Leonard’s family, I thought that something more needs to be done.”

He and Derrick McGuire, also 19, traveled to Pennsylvania last month to document the parole hearing. McGuire is a sound engineer and Randolph, while still in high school, won awards for his short films in three consecutive Wyoming State Film Festivals, and taken filmmaking courses in Los Angeles, where he worked on video productions.

Among the best-known of numerous works on Peltier’s case is the 1992 documentary “Incident at Oglala,” produced and narrated by Robert Redford. But Randolph and McGuire says more information has come to light since then about the events on the Pine Ridge (S.D.) Indian Reservation in 1975, and their film will highlight those.

And he says he’s surprised by the amount of support for his project – which he’s largely financing himself – in the conservative area where he lives.

I’m not doing this for money or fame,” he says. “I’m very passionate about the story of Leonard Peltier and what happened then on the reservation, as well as what continues to happen now.”

Gwen Florio

Arthur Bremer, who shot and killed presidential candidate George Wallace, was released from prison after 35 years. Lynnette “Squeaky” Fromme, a Charles Manson family member who pointed a gun at President Gerald Ford, served 33 years.

Both those facts were pointed out by Ben Carnes, a spokesman for American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier, who has served more than 30 years in prison for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge (S.D.) Indian Reservation. Peltier, who maintains he was framed, again was denied parole last week and will not have another parole hearing until 2024, when he will be 79.

Carnes spoke on behalf of Peltier to the Tulsa Native American Times, here.

“When presidential assassins can walk free while an innocent man remains imprisoned, is an injustice to the conscience of all people,” says Carnes.

Carnes is asking people to call President Barack Obama’s comment line at (202) 456-1111 to seek clemency for Peltier.

Gwen Florio

You can also find the following statement from the FBI here.

Statement of Thomas J. Harrington, Executive Assistant Director, FBI Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch:

The FBI family has never forgotten the ultimate sacrifice made by FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, and we fully support the decision of the United States Parole Commission to deny parole to Leonard Peltier. His callous criminal acts demonstrated a complete disrespect for human life and for the law. His time served in jail for their 1975 murders has not diminished the brutality of his crimes or the pain and sorrow felt by the families of his victims or the FBI family.

Gwen Florio

Here’s the early Associated Press report. We’ll update as more information becomes available:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley says imprisoned American Indian activist Leonard Peltier has been denied parole.

Wrigley said Friday the next scheduled hearing for Peltier is 2024, when Peltier would be 79 years old.

Peltier is serving two life sentences for the execution-style deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a June 26, 1975, standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was convicted in 1977. He has claimed the FBI framed him, which the agency denies, and unsuccessfully appealed his conviction numerous times.

Peltier had a full parole hearing for the first time in 15 years last month at the Lewisburg, Pa., federal prison where he is being held.

Defense attorney Eric Seitz declined to comment on the U.S. Parole Commission decision, saying the Justice Department had not informed him.

Gwen Florio

Sometime this week, a federal parole board is to decide whether Leonard Peltier – serving two life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. – should be released.

Late last month, Peltier – who maintains he was framed – had his first full parole hearing in 15 years at the federal prison in Pennsylvania where he’s being held. The hearing spurred demonstrations on behalf of Peltier outside the prison, as well as several cities in the United States and other countries.

His attorney, Eric Seitz, says a representative of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa told the federal parole board that the tribe has arranged for a home and job for Peltier should he be paroled, as well as a position on the Council of Elders.

At the time of the hearing, Seitz said he expected a decision within three weeks, which would be tomorrow. But this Indian Country Today story says Friday. Either way, as that same story notes, the clock is ticking.

Gwen Florio

The attorney for imprisoned American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier says his client should know within three weeks whether he’ll be paroled after more than 30 years in prison.

Peltier is serving two life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Peltier, who says the FBI framed him, had his first full parole hearing in 15 years today.

His attorney, Eric Seitz, says a representative of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa told the federal parole board that the tribe has arranged for a home and job for Peltier should he be paroled, as well as a position on the Council of Elders.

But North Dakota U.S Attorney Drew Wrigley termed Peltier “an unrepentant, violent, armed criminal.” Read more here.

Gwen Florio