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300 FBI Agents March on White House

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

More than 300 FBI agents, in an unprecedented show of political activism, marched on the White House on Friday to urge President Clinton to reject clemency for a Native American man convicted of killing two agents a quarter-century ago.

The agents’ protest grew out of their sustained outrage over the notorious killings at a South Dakota reservation in 1975--and the FBI’s very real concern that Leonard Peltier may be freed.

Peltier, 56, is serving two consecutive life terms at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. He has become a cause celebre among Hollywood activists, civil rights leaders and Native American leaders who depict him as a scapegoat and a political prisoner. Activists insist that Peltier was wrongly convicted of the murders, in part because of his own political activism.

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But for the FBI agents who marched for a half-hour to the north gate of the White House and delivered a petition signed by 9,500 law enforcement personnel, there were no questions about Peltier’s guilt.

“He did it. No doubt in my mind, he did it,” said one agent who worked the crime scene on the Pine Ridge reservation but asked not to be identified. “The tragedy here will be if President Clinton lets him out.”

Friday’s protest was, by Washington standards, the most civil of civil actions--as agents in business attire and trench coats walked in near silence to remember two fallen colleagues.

There was no chanting or fiery oration, and only a few agents carried placards. They were outnumbered by the signs waved by pro-Peltier demonstrators, who shouted “Shame on you!” at the agents as they paraded past.

But the agents’ subdued appearance belied the fierce emotion the case has generated.

In a letter to Clinton earlier this month opposing clemency for Peltier, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh wrote: “Mr. President, there is no issue more deeply felt within the FBI . . . than the belief that this attack by Peltier was nothing less than a complete affront to our cherished system of government under the rule of law.”

In a letter to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, Freeh called Peltier “a coldblooded killer who shot two ambushed and wounded FBI agents at point-blank range as they lay helpless before him.”

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But as attorneys for Peltier point out--and FBI officials acknowledge--there was doubt during Peltier’s prosecution about whether he pulled the trigger.

The two slain agents, Ronald Williams and Jack Coler, were tracking down a robbery suspect on June 26, 1975, when they followed a van onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Authorities maintain that the agents were met with heavy gunfire from Native Americans on the reservation. Both agents were wounded from a distance and then killed at close range. Prosecutors convicted Peltier of murder based on the theory that he was either the shooter or had helped in the murders. Two other men were acquitted.

Peltier has exhausted virtually all his appeals. But Clinton--who has near-absolute authority to pardon convicted criminals--has acknowledged he is reviewing Peltier’s 1992 request for presidential clemency.

Bruce Ellison, a South Dakota attorney who has represented Peltier from the beginning, said he thinks his client has “a reasonable chance” of success. FBI personnel fear he may be right.

Peltier’s cause has attracted support from such celebrities as Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, who narrated a 1992 documentary called “Incident at Oglala” about the jailing of Peltier.

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FBI personnel say privately that they worry Clinton’s close ties to Hollywood’s elite--who have contributed heavily to his campaigns--could influence his decision.

“With that kind of financial clout, obviously you worry that the president will be inclined to do this,” one agent who asked not to be identified said at Friday’s march.

Some FBI agents also suggest that Clinton might favor clemency as “payback” for several years of strained relations with the FBI. Freeh consistently has argued for outside investigations of campaign finance irregularities by Clinton administration officials.

Tensions worsened last year when Clinton offered clemency to 16 radical Puerto Rican separatists with terrorist ties.

As Clinton enters his final month in office, he is likely to consider clemency proposals from a number of controversial figures. They include convicted financier Michael Milken and two Whitewater figures--Susan McDougal and Webster L. Hubbell.

Friday’s protest was the first time in memory that FBI personnel have marched on the White House, officials said.

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“There’s no precedent for anything like this,” said John J. Sennett, an FBI agent in Albany, N.Y., and a rally organizer. “We feel it is our responsibility to articulate the need for justice and how that overpowers any appeal for mercy.”

Peltier’s supporters questioned the propriety of the event, saying that it called into question the “rules of neutrality” that should govern FBI agents. “It’s just wrong,” Ellison said. “They’re supposed to be neutral and detached, not applying political pressure.”

But Cristy Milliker, an agent in Washington who helped lead the march, answered bitterly: “Those two slain agents didn’t have any chance to show their neutrality.”

The agents took leave time from work to participate, with some traveling from Minneapolis and other parts of the country.

“They are American citizens and are free to voice opinions on matters that are important to them,” said FBI spokesman Steve Berry. Freeh did not attend the march, but Berry said he was “aware that it’s taking place and he supports it.”

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