LEONARD: Political Prisoner Wondery

Over the course of his tenure, President Trump issued 143 pardons, but he showed no mercy to Leonard Peltier. In this episode Leonard reacts to Trump’s snub; filmmaker Kevin McKiernan joins us for a conversation with Indian treaty expert Charles Wilkinson; and Carol Gokee from the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee shares important updates on Leonard’s case and medical condition. 
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To avoid the tragic fate of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, who were killed after surrendering to the US government, AIM leader Dennis Banks was persuaded to leave Wounded Knee the night before the federal stand down on May 8, 1973. The warrior selected to lead his escape party was Lenny Foster, a Diné Navajo, who has since become Leonard Peltier’s spiritual adviser. Hear how Lenny was able to evade detection and smuggle Dennis Banks to safety with the help of the spirits.


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In the early morning hours of June 28th, 1975, daylight was breaking on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when Leonard Peltier, Bob Robideau, and Dino Butler discovered they’d been hiking in the wrong direction. Instead of finding themselves in Manderson, a nearby community home to numerous allies, they were in Pine Ridge village, the command center for the largest manhunt in American history. Hear how a handful of unsung local heroes risked it all to rescue the fugitives from the belly of the beast. 
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The FBI transferred Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams to Pine Ridge to help with a backlog of cases despite neither having any training, experience, or special preparation for the civil war raging on the reservation. On June 25, 1975, the day before the shootout, a colleague advised the pair not to return to the Jumping Bulls on their own, but the G-men ignored the warning with deadly results. In this episode we examine the Bureau’s motivations and the beginnings of their ResMurs investigation.
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We return to Pine Ridge to visit the grave of Joe Kills Right Stuntz, the murder site of Pedro Bissonette, and the June Little cabin on the Jumping Bull ranch with Chase Iron Eyes. Chase is an Oglala Lakota and currently serves as the co-director and lead counsel of the Lakota People's Law Project. But there’s something else you should know about Chase. His personal connection to the Oglala firefight and Leonard.


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On the 46th anniversary of the Oglala shootout, we rally for clemency at the Black Voters Matter demonstration in Washington, D.C., a few hundred yards from where a violent mob stormed the Capitol Building on January 6th. It’s a beautiful moment – until a white man in an American flag cape, Navy uniform, and Michael Myers mask rushes the stage and wreaks havoc.
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