By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
On the 40th anniversary of the murder of two FBI agents, Washington State is honoring the art of the two agents’ killer. It is a shameful and dishonorable act that highlights the man who took the lives of two young law enforcement officers and an affront to their families who have for forty years endured resurrection of this killer in the news with little mention of the fallen officers.
Last Thursday I read of a Native American art exhibit being held at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries headquarters in Tumwater, Washington. Being a fan of Native American art I travelled to the agency to review the artwork. To my dismay in the main rotunda of the state agency’s offices I saw four paintings from Leonard Peltier along with cards reading how to contact Mr. Peltier’s gallery for purchases of his works. I am familiar with his art and these works are consistent with his style of painting.
Leonard Peltier is currently serving two consecutive life sentences for the 1975 murder of FBI Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams at the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Now, we have a situation where a government agency is promoting the art of this convicted cop killer, which is only certain to generate controversy in the Law Enforcement Community along with the families of those who have lost their loved ones. The State of Washington is sponsoring a murderer’s artwork and providing free advertisements toward its purchase. I view this as highly unethical and a strong conflict of interest. The State of Washington should not be in the business of helping convicted cop killers profit while in prison. It is an insult to the families of agents Coler and Williams and those who have served in the profession.
The great irony of this affair is that the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is the agency charged with paying benefits to police officers injured on the job and to also administer the Washington State Crime Victim’s Compensation Fund.
In 1975 FBI Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were attempting to question a man suspected of a theft at the Pine Ridge Reservation. A brief informational of the murder may be read here. Execution would be a closer representation of how these agents died. Mr. Peltier was later found in Oregon where he allegedly fired on an Oregon law enforcement officer. Officials found Agent Coler’s handgun in Peltier’s vehicle.
A video dedicated to these agents’ service, along with narration from family members may be seen here.
I do take great exception to Washington State’s actions. The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) not only hosted the exhibition of Mr. Peltier’s paintings, but made announcements on L&I webpages and composed flyers showing its support of the artwork. Moreover, each of the paintings had a card naming the artist and where to purchase his works. In other words L&I is acting as an agent to advertise a convicted murder’s works where he or his agents will receive revenue and sales as an intended result.
Mr. Peltier has become somewhat of a cause célèbre among Hollywood actors and celebrities convinced that he is innocent. Regardless of this, and the fact that he has genuine artistic skill in his own right, I find this rather insulting to the police community. But for a government agency to display his works and solicit ways for him or his agents to gain money during his incarceration violates ethical constraints of government and the spirit of preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes or incarceration.
Labor and Industries should remove Mr. Peltier’s artwork and refrain from freely promoting incarcerated cop killers or economically supporting their ventures.
Here are some of the pictures I took of the display. The first shows the official flyer having a picture of Mr. Peltier within a prison facility.
Note: The information on the black wall is for another artist, not Mr. Peltier.
For information on the exhibit click here. A copy of the department’s handout may be read here.
Those having questions about this display may contact the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, or telephone their switchboard at (360) 902-5800.
Please honor Ron Williams, Jack Coler and their loving families.
By Darren Smith
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Photo Credits: Own work, released to the public domain.
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
That’s actually a very interesting article KFC. But I never accused the US army or any one specifically. So, as usual, you present one case as if it dismisses the entire issue. It does not. There is plenty of evidence that smallpox WAS distributed intentionally. One example:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffery_Amherst,_1st_Baron_Amherst#Pontiac.27s_Rebellion
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/plag/5240451.0001.009/–did-the-us-army-distribute-smallpox-blankets-to-indians?rgn=main;view=fulltext
“and that the disease-ridden blankets were often passed around on purpose”
That’s a complete fabrication, promulgated by Ward Churchill.
See here.
More SJW lies.
Prairie Rose: Dogs are the most intelligent beings. Then dolphins. Both dogs and dolphins can yak into a special computer invented by the NSA and their barks and bobble can be interpreted and printed out. The Dolphin Machine came first. Then the Dogologue Machine. The later is the one which we dogs in the Dogpac bark into and hence yak on this blog. Arfff.
BFM,
Good heavens! Haven’t you seen Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? Mice are the most intelligent beings, then dolphins… 🙂
DBQ thanks for the reference. I agree that the spread of disease was a likely cause of the majority of deaths,and that the disease-ridden blankets were often passed around on purpose.
It’s interesting to me that tobacco was broadly considered to be a sacred ceremonial herb, used on very special occasions. We, who do nothing in moderation turned it into a two pack a day addiction.
On another note, those of you who are not aware of, or who disbelieve that the police and FBI have a long history of infiltrating organizations and agitating from within, are either naive or willfully ignorant. Both local police and FBI have been doing just that forever. They did it with the American socialist movements, labor and union groups, anti-war activists, civil rights groups, college political clubs, environmental groups, and of course home grown terror groups like the KKK and the Birchers. There are photos on line right now of know. Undercover cops in Baltimore joining the protesters and agitating violence. Go look it up.
Jerry
“This is a good case study of “who did it”.”
This is a GREAT case of “the man was convicted by a jury of his peers in a court of law” and, in a sane society, this vicious criminal who mercilessly killed two people should have been executed within the year, If not the month.
That you and your “fellow travelers” support brutal, heinous crime, does not mitigate.
The only absurd aspect of this case, is that the murderer is still alive and being coddled, pampered, catered to and enjoying a life of relative luxury in a federal penitentiary.
Swift justice and efficient expenditure are components of the DUTY of elected officials. This is a perfect example of governmental waste, fraud and abuse.
__________
“Crime and Punishment in Georgian Britain”
“Most punishments during the 18th-century were held in public. Executions were elaborate and shocking affairs, designed to act as a deterrent to those who watched. Until 1783 London executions took place at Tyburn eight times a year, where as many as 20 felons were sometimes hanged at the same time. Prisoners were transported to the gallows along a three-mile route by cart, often followed by a huge, jeering crowd numbering several thousand people. Prisoners were executed in front of these noisy, riotous audiences and many hangings resembled more of a fair than a solemn legal ceremony.”
PhillyT
Did you see that the founder of the Oath Keepers is likely to lose his law license for- you guessed it- violating his oath as an attorney? A disciplinary panel of the Montana Supreme Court has recommended that he be disbarred.
DBQ
I strongly second your recommendation for the book 1491.
Rocky,
If you determine why black people are uncommon on Jeopardy, you may be on the verge of discovery.
And how about those Apollo missions to the moon? Oops! No affirmative action there.
Perhaps you could ferret out how life began in Africa and the highest level of intellectual achievement occurred in Western Europe and America.
I don’t know. I’m simply an observer.
What see you?
“Perhaps you could ferret out how life began in Africa and the highest level of intellectual achievement occurred in Western Europe and America. ”
Some people think cats are the highest most sophisticate life form on earth. No matte, I’m sticken’ with dogs.
Why are black people not called people but ‘folk’? I’m not sure I understand the distinction.
“Native American” is an oxymoronic contradiction in terms. The term is sequentially false and its erroneous usage is disingenuous.
Please stop being ridiculous.
Indians are, technically and in fact, Asiatic illegal aliens in America. It is impossible for them to have been American in any aspect as America did not exist until 1789. Indians are native only to Asia having migrated over the Alaskan Land Bridge millennia ago.
Only fools repeat this nonsensical, false and specious newspeak of “Native Americans.”
There is no such thing as a “Native American.” There is only an incoherent, artificial sematic construct.
Europeans called the nomadic inhabitants Indians. Indians had some informal societal structure, while they had no surveyed property and no recorded deeds.
It is disingenuous for antagonists to take human events out of context. Britain and Europeans expanded west to North America after Cortez expanded into Mexico and the Spanish Empire into South America. Certainly all of these campaigns occurred well after the expansions of Greece, Egypt, Rome, et al.
Throughout history, there are the conquerors and the vanquished. C’est La Vie
Americans are proud of and comfortable with the conquering efforts of Britain and Europeans. You may not be an American. You need to be “fundamentally transformed” into an American.
Europeans gave the name “Indian” to the nomadic inhabitants of the “New World.”
__________
What Indians Called White People
“White Man”
“White Skin”
“Paleface”
“Yellow Eyes”
“Ota”
__________
Tom Benjey
“I found something unexpected in the January 1912 edition of The Red Man when I turned a page and saw an article titled “How the American Indian Named the White Man” by Alexander F. Chamberlain, Professor of Anthropology at Clark University. I was curious at first because I didn’t understand what was meant by the title. However, the first sentence made things very clear: “‘Paleface’ is not the only name by which the ‘white man’ is known to the ‘red.’” The author’s premise was quite reasonable. It makes perfect sense that Indians would coin names for us that described white people as they saw them. It also reminded me of the punchline in that Tonto and the Lone Ranger joke we told as kids: “What do you mean we, paleface?” But I digress. The author explained that different tribes coined different names and had different names for some of the European nationalities.
Many of the names, as expected, had to do with skin color. Several tribes called us “white,” “white person,” “white skin,” etc. In addition to these the Algonkian Arapahos referred to us as “yellow-hided.” Whether it had to do with skin or hair color or courage is unknown. Kiowas used a term that meant “hairy mouth” and the Zunis referred to the early Spaniards as “moustached people.” “They of the hairy chest” was used by Algonkian Miamis.
Ears also played a role. Kiowas used the same word for white men that they used for donkeys and mules. It meant “ears sticking out” because Indians’ ears were partially covered by their hair. Crows and Upsarokas called white men “yellow eyes.” Our voices were not altogether pleasing to theKiowas as they also called white men “growlers.”
Clothing also played a role in the naming. Mohawks of the Lake of the Two Mountains in Quebec thought the tam o’shanters worn by early Scot settlers looked like cow patties and called them “ota,” their word for cow droppings. Englishmen would agree with the Objibwa who described Scots as “he who speaks differently.”
The impetus behind the blind obedience of those believing this lying Peltier finally came out. Years of oppression is the overriding reason folks believe this convicted sociopath killer. Well you know what liberals, I too believe Indians got a raw deal in this country. But, I am able to THINK and not absolve sociopath killers because Indians drew the short straw. I really like Indians and black folk. Much more than ignorant, white, enabler, honky’s.
I am LMAO. The person who goes by the initials ‘JP’ commented @ 9:51am. He lamented our calling this sociopath a killer and even was sanctimonious in giving us a reading assignment on the subject. Unfortunately, ‘JP’ does not know how to SPELL the name of the person of interest in this thread. LOL!
Hey all you cop haters. There’s a cop killer fugitive in Cuba, Joanne Chesimard, aka: Assata Shakur, being protected by another hero of yours, Fidel Castro. Why don’t you folks just beatify her, name some inner city streets after her, and bring her home w/ a ticker tape parade! She probably writes poetry or makes ashtrays you can all buy from her.
Subscribing to thread.
According to phillyT, this is planted by undercover police to inflame our sensibilities! Anything to deflect responsibility for the obscene and threatening behavior portrayed by his comrades!
http://twt-thumbs.washtimes.com/media/image/2015/09/02/proxy_c5-0-574-332_s561x327.jpg?c2503796bf468bf7db18049a7ef6ea28c587dedb
According to phillyT @8:45 am, this is the face of an undercover cop–an interloper–planted at the scene of a protest, in order to “stir things up”–
Why, these protesters are nothing more than innocent, non-violent, disenfranchised victims, who do not promote violence and the indiscriminate murder of anyone in a uniform!
Yeah. Can’t make up this s&^t.
http://libertynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Part-WAS-Was8951519-1-1-0.jpg
Beating that ” war on police” meme of a dead horse…
European settlers killed at least 100 million Native American since they first came to this country.
Actually, it was the diseases that the settlers carried, the germs, that accidentally killed most of the native americans, who had no immunity to things like the flu, measles and smallpox. The large majority of deaths occurred without the native americans even setting eyes on the European settlers.
To be fair, though, the Native Americans gave us syphilis and tobacco so I guess they got some revenge.
Seriously, if you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend reading this book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JMKVE4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1
1491 New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
May, 2015 Peru, murder in the Amazon. 20 year old Man shot in chest with 6 foot arrow. Who did it?
Forced to admit, village of Shipetiari, Peru was not safe, the community closed one of its major sources of income, its ecotourism lodge.
Guides, cooks and other workers have since scrambled for cash, which they need to send their children to regional schools.
20 year old Perez’s killing earlier this year did not change how Diamantinos Indians view the Mashco Piro Indians.
“It’s a sort of mixture of caution, because they do know that the Nomole (Mashco Piro) are dangerous. But there’s also the feeling of reaching out,
and integrating them, and curiosity about these ‘wild’ Yine,” says Frank Hajek, president of SePerú, a nonprofit organization that works with native communities.
But in Shipetiari, where Perez lived and died, most residents are ethnic Matsigenka Indian. They don’t speak the same language as the Mashco Piro Indian, feel no brotherly ties, and want nothing to do with them.
ArtLover
Easy mistake. Most articles are the work of JT, and I assumed that he was also penning this piece. Is that all you got? Seriously? Lol! I have no problem, whatsoever, admitting that I overlooked the name posted as to the author of the article. I mistakenly believed that it was JT. That didn’t, however, affect my comprehension of the article or the information provided therein. A thousand lashes with a wet noodle. Nice try at diversion, Mr. ArtLover. Since you are incapable of denying the validity of my opinion, you frantically grasp at straws. Typical of the Left. Maybe, one day, you will succeed. In the meantime, I find it humorous.
Unlike you, however, I do comprehend that this murderer’s art should not be displayed, honored, exhibited, promoted or hawked by the GOVERNMENT. What part of that don’t you get? Let this loser paint to his heart’s content, as he rots away and, ultimately, dies in prison. Who cares? Who gives a rat’s a$$? No one is stopping him. Unfortunately, as his victims remain six feet under, this human piece of excrement continues to breathe and live his life, unabated, producing child-like and amateurish so-called artwork. Something in which his murdered victims can no longer participate. The government, on its property, should not be in the business of dedicating space in order to hawk, for a price, the wares of vermin, such as this.
As the saying goes, Hell is a place where there is no reason. No need to waste time on people who just don’t get it. You, clearly, fit into that category.
By the way, I’m not a “he”–a little reading comprehension, on your part, would’ve yielded that tidbit of info.
LMAO.