From: LPDC LPDC@I...
Subject: Peltier Statement - Democracy Now!
Date sent: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 11:30:50 -0500

STATEMENT OF LEONARD PELTIER
IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY NOW AND THE PACIFICA CAMPAIGN

I cannot begin to express my outrage over the harassment of Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and the removal of Democracy Now rom the airwaves. It is my hope that this latest assault will be met with overwhelming active resistance on the part of the thousands of people across the country. I want to express my full support for Pacifica Campaign's call for the resignation of the six board members whose hostility toward the mission and tradition of Pacifica cannot be tolerated. I also want to encourage you to withhold donations to the five Pacifica stations participating in this censorship until the entire conflict is resolved.

I want to tell you why I feel so strongly about this. As you all know, the majority of the media in this country act as mouthpieces for the government instead of the watchdogs we are taught they are. This has been clearly illustrated to me in my case. Over the 25-year span of my imprisonment, my defense team has had to fight for every ounce of media attention we have received. And when we do receive it, rarely are the facts of my case reported. A reporter can have in his hand court records with quote after quote of the U.S. Prosecutor stating that he can't prove who shot the agents but then describe me as a murderer in his story simply because the courts have not overturned my conviction. During the height of the clemency campaign, we finally received national press but only because 500 FBI agents marched in front of the White House to oppose my release. Just one week before 3,500 Indigenous Peoples and supporters marched to the U.N. but, of course, not a peep from the press -- with the exception, of course, of Democracy Now, WBAI, and other progressive reporters.

When we live in a society where the media is in such a compromised state, shows like Democracy Now and networks like Pacifica are not only valuable but they are our life lines, especially for the hundreds of thousands of us locked behind prison walls where information is even more difficult to access.

I personally rely on Democracy Now as my main source of information. Each day it helps me to stay informed and to remember that all of you are still out there caring about the kinds of issues that Democracy Now reports and struggling for government accountability, human rights, and social change. Let's follow in the footsteps of the KPFA victory and refuse to allow the corporate takeover of the country's most valuable network and radio show.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,

Leonard Peltier

Support Senate Hearings on Peltier Case!
Call Senator Leahy: 202-224-4242

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
www.freepeltier.org