Leonard Peltier was a leader of the American Indian Movement when in 1975 he became involved in a shootout with FBI agents at Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge reservation of the Sioux Nation in South Dakota. Many say that Peltier is innocent of killing two FBI agents in that shootout... that he was framed for his activism and made a victim of a government intelligence program designed to suppress dissent.

Since 1975 Peltier has been in prison. A trial found him guilty of the murders that he now serves a life sentence for. However, evidence does point to flaws, errors, and omission in his trial... and everyone from Madonna, Bono, Robert Redford, and Dustin Hoffman have called for his release. The European Parliament and dozens of world leaders have called for his release, or at least a retrial. Peltier has even been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his work inside the prison system... work that has lessoned racial tension and violence, and lead to the education and spiritual uplift of prisoners. He has written a book about his life and is also an artist whose beautiful oil paintings are actively sought and purchased. The Peace and Freedom Party of California has just nominated Leonard Peltier as their candidate for President of the United States.

Leonard Peltier's photograph does not appear on the homepage of LA's Indymedia website. His running for US President is not even mentioned, despite his having been nominated here in Los Angeles.

By contrast, Sherman Austin... a young man that has contributed virtually NOTHING to the movement for social change is awarded hero status on the Indymedia network. And for what? He created a controversial "anarchist" website where he eventually linked to information on how to construct explosive devices (triggering his arrest by Federal Agents). That is his sole "contribution" to the world of activism.

Sherman Austin's photo appears on the homepage of LA Indymedia as if HE were the one to have suffered 28 years of imprisonment for a crime he did not commit!

This is NOT a letter written to be divisive... rather, it is a call to acknowledge political realities and to set correct priorities. Small cases involving little known defendants like Austin need to be followed, and they should certainly be discussed on open forums like Indymedia... but not at the expense of a leader like Leonard Peltier who have been made to sacrifice decades of his life for a crime many say he is innocent of.

Take down Austin's photo already... he's out of jail. It's time to place Leonard Peltier's photo at the top of the LA Indymedia website where it belongs. Being in solitary confinement for 28 years is long enough.

amr, you should consider joining the IMC. It's a volunteer organization that's pretty small, and not always able to cover enough stories.

Austin is emphasized here, I am sure, because he is a local figure. That is why certain postings and stories get emphazied by being put under the local news section, above the rest of the postings. You can read into it an attempt to say that some people behind bars or otherwise victimized are more important than others, but I think that you are being both silly and needlessly divisive.

Asume that Peltier's picture was on the web site. Couldn't anyone, with equal plausibility (and sectarianism) write in and say that Mumia's picture should be there instead because Mumia is on death row? Arguments about who is more of a victim than who lead nowhere and in fact play into the hands of enemies of the left. It is a bit like arguing about who is oppressed more - male Latino construction workers in LA or Afrtican American data entry clerks in Manhattan. In other words, disruptive, divisive and stupid.

...and when I was in Canada, I attended a protest to get justice for Dudley George, who wasnt imprisoned for decades but murdered by the cowardly, racist, and thoroughly corropt Ontario Provincial Police. We were all also gathered there to protest and give a shout out about what happened to Leonard Peltier too, and I used my artwork for activism on that occaision as well; painting portaits of both brave men (George and Peltier) for the crowd.

I agree that Leonard Peltier can never get enough coverage, but you're diminishing Sherman Austin's importance and relevence to the media activist community. You are also not informed, since Austin didnt publish the bomb making info and was clearly targeted by the fbi and railroaded with conspicuous injustice, just like Peltier was. Austin doesnt support violent acts either, and doesnt fit into the 'bomb throwing anarchist'-stereotype that the authorities always try to portray us as. I dont support acts of violence either, and I support indymedia's core values, which include non-violence.

To answer your criticisms about Austin's importance, He was beginning to make a difference on the outside just as Peltier was making a difference on the inside. Raisethefist chapters were forming, none of which were ever associated with violence. The website was getting international attention as a hub for activist info and, in my opinion, cut to the chase even better than indymedia does. That's why he was railroaded. The authorities succeeded in censoring Austin, just as they have censored my work and they are conspiring, as we argue, to destroy free speech and indymedia as well. Everyone that has sympathy for Austin's situation is also supportive of Peltier. Please, PLEASE, brother, dont confuse the issue with division.

ALL of the people being railroaded, or the rest of us that live with the spectre of corrupt police-state tyranny in their lives need to act in solidarity; not this 'our activist is holier than yours' nonsense. Which brings me to another core value of indmedia: UNITY!. Peltier's latest developments are ripe for a feature, but this article unneccessarily diminishes one persecuted activist at the expense of another.

This discussion typifies the lack of focus that the left in America suffers from today. A thousand little causes, a thousand little leaders, and no serious challenge to the two major political parties. It's almost like the protest has become the cause, not the method.

Change in America takes unity of purpose. Until that is found by the left, Palestine, Mumia. Pellitier, and Austin will remain exhibits of unfocused political process. The left needs to stop being Trotsky and start being Lenin.

wow lets pit political prisoner against political prisoners!

real nice solidarity folks.

Why dont we ask that all poltiical prisoners be freed, instead of just one? and why don't we celebrate that one was released?

what's wrong w/ that?

this is not a popularity contest

Please stop your ranting and read the details of Mr. Austin's case...very disturbing. He deserves the attention he is getting on Indy media considering the fact that the extreme media has given his case very little coverage. Its case's like Austin’s that create change and educate others about the lack of justice in

America. Read on my friend. Educate yourself. Take your rant to the FBI, CIA, bush junta not the progressive movement. Misdirected anger is destructive.

Sherman Austin is sentenced to a year (and didnt serve the whole thing) and this entirely overshadows all other efforts. Why? Because the local liberal and anarchist scenes are racist. They use the image of a black man who happens to be an anarchist and proclaim it loud and proud. They seek to help him moreso than others because they themselves think he is incapable of helping himself. Fuck you white liberals and so-called anarchists. And fuck you too, Chantel. Psycho.

I find this rant offensive. I am a member of Sherman’s family. Sherman and his family have been through hell and back during the last three years. Have some respect. You who probably never stepped inside of a federal prison shackled and chained. What do you know? Please take this rant down. It’s disrespectful to Sherman and his family and only demonstrates the simple minds of those that choose to view life through a single lens. Take it down! It’s hateful and counter productive.

I think if anyone comes out looking bad, it's this Peltier supporter.

If Sherman and Leonard were in the same prison, I bet they'd become friends. They're both political prisoners, though from different eras. They're both victims of frame-ups. (Well, I think they are.) They'be both been abused by the system.

Critic - you don't own Peltier, his image, or his deeds. You're just a hero worshipper who hates to see his hero ignored. You're projecting a jealousy that your hero probably wouldn't have.

If you keep this up, you're going to come off like a comic book fanboy pitting Batman against Spiderman. These men are not just icons: they are activists, just like a lot of people who read this site. Some of us could be in their shoes. We don't support them to worship them, but to protect our own asses from persecution.

(I gotta admit, though. I haven't given $$$ to Peltier. I've only given small donations to Sherman's cause.)

This discussion has clearly demonstrated the mindsets of these stupid liberal activists. It is clear that the purpose is not to free these people from jail and continue the struggle, but to iconize and glamorize them. 99% of the time, the only people who have critiqued the romanticism of Sherman's case have been wingnuts, never anyone who is dedicated to this struggle. It seems that no one has stopped to think about what they're doing. All of the high school kids who have spent their time organizing pitiful protests in Sherman's name never once thought, "hey, wait a minute. Instead of creating some cultural folk hero, we could be intensifying the resistance in a real way." In the early days of the case, mentioning my friendship with Sherman was similar to mentioning a friendship with a rockstar. "WOW! You know Sherman Austin?? Thats soooo cool!" No, its not cool. We'd all be in alot better place if we didn't know anyone who has been to jail. Furthermore, we'd all be alot better off if we analyzed Sherman's situation, and prevented it from happening again. Sherman Austin's case has become the be all-end all of their political spectrum. They've replaced the struggle itself with the people who are fighting it. Sherman was a far more popular topic than the issues themselves. If an action takes place and no one is caught for it, where's all the teens then? Why isn't anyone emulating and escalating the actions? You're all fucking paralyzed. Resistance entails alot more than your Rage/System of a Down records and the idols you've created. When your idea of resistance is no longer a total pathology, I'll be waiting.