Although Peltier was found guilty for the death of the two agents, the argument of the documentary is compelling because the evidence proving Peltier guilty was either fabricated or tampered with by the FBI which gave the trial an unfair, biased outcome.
The documentary does a good job raising questions about the FBI’s prosecution of Peltier and what had happened on the day of June 26th, 1975. On this day, two FBI agents by the names of Jack Coler and Ron Williams were said to be following behind the vehicle driven by a suspect of a stolen pair of cowboy boots. The agents followed this red pick-up truck onto the hostile Pine Ridge Reservation, Jumping Bull Ranch, where the shootout began when several Indians identified the agents in an unidentified vehicle.
There was already internal dispute occurring inside the reservation between the two groups of Indians- full blood Indian and half-Indian. Pine Ridge had more deaths on the reservation than the entire state of South Dakota within just a year. One …show more content…
Keating argued the fairness of Peltier’s trial and Goering argued the truth behind fabricated evidence and an arranged false testimony leading to an unfair verdict for Leonard Peltier. He begins explaining the different firing pin in that Peltier’s AR-15 rifle had and the one that was used to kill the two agents. Then, Goering goes to explain how Myrtle Poor Bear was “coerced by the FBI into signing false affidavits implicating Peltier” to get Peltier back into the United States from Canada and how the judge refused to allow her to be called as a defense witness. Keaton argues that by Clinton supporting Peltier it would stain his legacy but Clinton and Goering believe it as an “important step toward national reconciliation between our government and Native Americans”
The documentary does a good job raising questions about the FBI’s prosecution of Peltier and what had happened on the day of June 26th, 1975. On this day, two FBI agents by the names of Jack Coler and Ron Williams were said to be following behind the vehicle driven by a suspect of a stolen pair of cowboy boots. The agents followed this red pick-up truck onto the hostile Pine Ridge Reservation, Jumping Bull Ranch, where the shootout began when several Indians identified the agents in an unidentified vehicle.
There was already internal dispute occurring inside the reservation between the two groups of Indians- full blood Indian and half-Indian. Pine Ridge had more deaths on the reservation than the entire state of South Dakota within just a year. One …show more content…
Keating argued the fairness of Peltier’s trial and Goering argued the truth behind fabricated evidence and an arranged false testimony leading to an unfair verdict for Leonard Peltier. He begins explaining the different firing pin in that Peltier’s AR-15 rifle had and the one that was used to kill the two agents. Then, Goering goes to explain how Myrtle Poor Bear was “coerced by the FBI into signing false affidavits implicating Peltier” to get Peltier back into the United States from Canada and how the judge refused to allow her to be called as a defense witness. Keaton argues that by Clinton supporting Peltier it would stain his legacy but Clinton and Goering believe it as an “important step toward national reconciliation between our government and Native Americans”