Pine Ridge Shootout (1975)

Thu Jun 26, 1975

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Image: An FBI “Wanted” poster for Leonard Peltier [muscarelle.wm.edu]

On this day in 1975, a shootout occurred at Pine Ridge Reservation between two FBI agents and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), leading to the conviction of activist Leonard Peltier for murder in a dubious trial.

The shootout began when FBI agents Ronald A. Williams and Jack R. Coler, driving two separate unmarked cars, began following a red pick-up truck that matched the description of an indigenous man wanted as a suspect in a recent assault and robbery of two local ranch hands.

After tailing the vehicle, Williams reported that they were under fire from its occupants and would be killed if reinforcements did not swiftly arrive. Their next radio dispatch said that both men had been shot.

After being wounded, the agents appeared have been shot execution-style. One member of AIM, Joseph Stuntz, was also fatally shot.

After being extradited from Canada through a witness statement later revealed to be false, indigenous rights activist Leonard Peltier was convicted for murder in a highly contentious 1977 trial, involving contradictory statements from the FBI and recanted witness statements. Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment.