Customer Reviews

American Indian Mafia: An FBI Agent's True Story about Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, and the American Indian Movement (AIM)

5 star:		(23)
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1 star:		(10)

 

 

1. To say that American Indians are the Mafia is a figment of the imagination. The title of this book "American Indian Mafia" misrepresents all Indian people within the "American Indian Movement". An online dictionary defines Mafia as: "a secret criminal organization operating mainly in the United States and Italy and engaged in illegal activities such as gambling, drug-dealing, protection, and prostitution." The "American Indian Movement" is neither a "secret criminal organization" nor are they from "Italy".

2. The language throughout the reading has a sour demeanor while imposing negative racial profiles to describe Native American Indians regardless of their affiliations. Under the heading "A Bum Steer", Myrtle Poor Bear, who was a government FBI witness, is profiled in negative stereotypical terms. (Pages 441, 442, 599) A tone of racial arrogance and vengeance rings throughout this book.

3. There are no eyewitnesses, only hearsay and coerced testimony in this shallow, hollow account that does not prove Leonard Peltier shot or killed the FBI agents. While reading and searching for good solid evidence to support this claim, I did not find foolproof convincing evidence in this writing. Researching, I have found reliable information in the original court trial transcripts: US vs. LEONARD PELTIER, TRIAL TRANSCRIPT EXCERPTS - Case Number CR77-3003.

4. It is a contradiction to say that FBI Agent David Price and Anna Mae Aquash are "kindred spirits" as described on page 464 because they are opponents in their core beliefs. After all, it was David Price who ordered the mutilation of Anna Mae's body by having her hands cut off. If she had lived to see any kind of body mutilation (cutting off hands, arms, legs or decapitations) practiced on any person, she would have spoken in opposition to David Price for ordering this heinous act that desecrates the body regardless of his reasoning.

5. Conclusion: This book should be rated zero because it reads like a "Propaganda 101" novel. It lacks fairness, integrity and removes human dignity from those who suffered the most during this time, namely, the Native American Indian people. This is an example of 500 years of perpetual biased writing, ultimately living in the "Age of Propaganda". This work is graded " I " as an Incomplete Record of actual events due to the withholding of pertinent documents/information related to this matter. Skeptical reading is highly recommended for this book.

6. Note: It is shameful that there are a few Indian people who mercenarily cater for maza-ska to the forces that not only murdered their ancestors, but mutilated them as well. Historical examples of murder and mutilations are: (1862) Little Crow and the 39 Dakota hanged at Mankato, Minnesota, (1890) Sitting Bull at Little Eagle, South Dakota.

7. Dok-stah! Hoka-hey! Richard and Gary at Saint Michaels, MD

My friend is an AIM member and I always took for granted that Peltier was innocent and the FBI had somehow been responsible for all of the terror. Eventually I began to question just how big this conspiracy must be to keep Peltier behind bars. My friend even said the FBI murdered Anna Mae. When my friend traveled across the country to stand on the street on a candlelight vigil on Peltier's birthday, I thought I would research the case on my own. This book turned it all upside down! The documentation and facts cannot be disputed. AIM's history of terror, and Peltier's background were never mentioned in all that my friend had told me about. I even watched Incident at Oglala and bought into it. American Indian Mafia exposed it all, Peltier was out of jail on bond for attempted murder! Peltier admitted to the murders and Dennis Banks ex wife and best friend heard it and testified about in in court at Anna Mae's murder trial. Peltier even held a gun to her head thinking she was an informant. Robert Redford never mentioned that in his movie! AIM members, please read this book with an open mind. It refutes all of the arguments with the facts.....great book if a reader wants the truth.

As a sympathizer of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and a human rights activist, I find many of the accusations within American Indian Mafia to be not only insulting but highly irrelevant.

In September of 2001, international law attorney Paul Wolf testified before the United Nations Human Rights Commission, chaired by former Irish President Mary Robinson, about the covert FBI program code named COINTELPRO. I would encourage anyone wanting to better understand the practices of the FBI during the 1960s and 1970s to become familiar with this terminology before reading Mr. Trimbach's book. There are also a number of other publications available providing historical data regarding the American Indian Movement(AIM): i.e. Where White Men Fear To Tread by Russell Means. I suggest this information to be important prior to taking up Mr. Trimbach's book.

The American Indian Mafia is primarily focused on the case of Leonard Peltier and the incident at Wounded Knee of 1971. There is actually very little historical background about the American Indian Movement itself. The book strikes me as a defense document supporting the actions of the FBI as opposed to a historical account of what actually took place and why - similar to the "official" explanation of 9/11.

There are several issues that are totally avoided in the book: Firstly, what and who is AIM; Secondly, what was COINTELPRO; Thirdly, what was the situation that would have encouraged AIM's presence on the Pine Ridge Reservation; Fourthly, where did Dick Wilson get his financial support; and Finally, what was the FBI's response to Dick Wilson's actions leading up to and following the Wounded Knee incident?

Anyone taking a trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation will quickly perceive the magnitude of the problems faced by those Indians who live there. Adding corruption only intensifies the issues already in existence. If there is one positive element to come from American Indian Mafia, it is the potential for asking questions and seeking further knowledge. Only when comparing documents can a true image of what actually took place been seen. If Mr. Trimbach's accounts are valid, why has the FBI classified and declined to release related records that should have been made available at the original time of the Peltier trial?

When you have the truth on your side, it doesn't matter who opposes you. You still win. That is the message I got from this terrifically researched expose. Although stacked up against the pervasive, falsified history of the American Indian Movement and its thuggish leaders, this extensively researched finger-pointer takes them on with the truth. I've read them all. From Ward Churchill's almost comical books about the FBI, to the prime falsifier of Leonard Peltier's innocence, Matthiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, American Indian Mafia fires back with the cold, hard facts. That's one reason why the critics have a hard time scoring points. They resort to the same type of dishonesty thoroughly documented in this book. I now know the "reign of terror," so often referred to in other books, was the result of AIM violence and not the law enforcement officers trying to bring these same criminals to justice, sometimes in front of judges who wanted to look the other way. Why are we not surprised academia got it wrong?

Joseph Trimbach... one of the last of Hoover's "G" men attempts to distill fact from fiction in his new book, "American Indian Mafia". But, in my opinion, it doesn't wash. The book is an extremely one-sided treatment of law enforcement bias, flawed analysis, culturally ignorant prejudices, historically deficient conclusions, right wing politics, and questionable credibility. Removed from the top FBI job at Wounded Knee after two weeks, Trimbach is the self professed authority on all matters regarding Wounded Knee '73, the death of Anna Mae, AIM, Resmurs, Leonard Peltier, and how Native Americans should conduct their lives in Pine Ridge.

Thirty-five years in the making, Trimbach attempts to have the last word as relayed through the distorted lens of a wronged spook. If only the entire cast of characters: judges, juries, trials, defendants, and lawyers would see it his way, history could be redeemed. I'm sorry but the world doesn't revolve in the narrow orbit of Joseph Trimbach.

I didn't buy it (the book or most of his story) and neither should you. Besides being way too long (560 pages, not including endnotes), it has the shelf life of a banana, meaning before long it spoils and goes bad. Like Graham Greene said in "Thunderheart", "You guys are just the second coming of the same old cavalry".

The book's title should be your first tip-off. The Mafia is a criminal organization with Sicilian roots. The Mafia is an organization dedicated to committing crimes for profit: for running profitable criminal enterprises. The crimes they commit run the full gamut, to include the regular use of murder. AIM -- while some of it's members did commit crimes -- is an organization dedicated to bringing better lives to the American Indian people, not an organization of ongoing criminal activity. The Mafia is dedicated to crime, Aim is dedicated to bringing social and economic equality to an abused and disenfranchised people. The use of Mafia in describing AIM was inappropriate at best, racist at worst. But it does give one an idea of what the author thinks of a group of people who would challenge the status-quo, and demand equality and reparations for crimes committed against them: It offers the reader an obvious view of the author's dislike for American Indians who don't "stay in their place".

It is really difficult to decide where to begin with describing the problems with this book. It is so full of distasteful language, sarcasm, and poison of pen, that it is difficult to stick with it to the end. In fact, he spends so much time repeating ground he has already covered, that the book is a jumbled mess in desperate need of a good editor. The author spends far to much time demonizing anyone on the left side of his ideological vision. He refutes anything written by his ideological opponents, and never realizes that he is engaging in self-projection. Nearly everything he accuses his literary opponents of, he is guilty of himself.

This book starts out with a bit of mythology. Trimbach tells us how all FBI agents are an upper caste in our society: "The FBI Noble Savage." Then he goes on to tell how Hoover intervened in a case of an assault on an FBI agent. Hoover went behind the scenes in the justice system to make sure the man was given a sentence several times higher than he would have received by the local authorities deciding the case. Trimbach is OK with this -- with Hoover utilizing the justice system to get revenge, which leads me to believe the author wasn't the kind of man we needed in the FBI, or any law enforcement position for that matter. Then the author goes on to explain how Hoover was so involved in the everyday goings-on of the FBI, that he even knew when the agent's babies were born, and what the babies' names were. Then the author states that Hoover, the man who "knew-all", actually had no idea that COINTELPRO was taking place. The author states that "Once Hoover got wind of what was going on, Sullivan's days were numbered..." So, when "poor old" Hoover found out about COINTELPRO, apparently he was so upset that he had the offending officer -- the real COINTELPRO culprit, Officer Sullivan -- removed from office. We are expected to believe that Hoover had no idea that the FBI's longest running counter intelligence program --criminal activity -- used against the Black Panthers, Martin Luther King Jr, the communists, AIM and others, was even in existence? Joseph H. Trimbach has a problem with the truth: telling it, that is.

The author goes to great length in describing his involvement in Wounded Knee 2. It becomes apparent that he was of the belief that the Army needed to go in and put a quick end to the problem. In fact, he states that he lobbied his superiors toward that end. Fortunately for all, he was removed from command early in the conflict, and wiser minds prevailed. The US Army wanted no part of another Wounded Knee Massacre, and neither did any of the other people who can be credited with seeing it though to it's best, though unfortunate conclusion. It was a mess: a long list of crimes were committed by AIM, including murder, theft, kidnapping, and more. Thankfully, Trimbach didn't get his way, and a horrible situation was averted. Think of the mass-murders the FBI committed at Waco, and multiply it by 10. It would have set Indian/US relations back to 1890.

The author agonizes for at least 200 pages on the Wounded Knee trial. It was discovered during the course of the trial that the author allowed FBI officers under his charge to listen in on the telephone conversations of Wounded Knee participants -- a crime-- without getting a warrant. The defense at the trial of Means and Banks made quite a lot of hay out of it, and it was one of the reasons that the case ended up the way it did. The author demonstrates that he is not able to own-up to what he did in an honest manner. The author explains how liberal judges can change the outcome of a trial for the accused. What he doesn't tell you is that a right-wing judge has just as much power to make sure that the accused is convicted, regardless of the facts. The author seems to believe that the accused has a right to an attorney, as long as the attorney does the FBI's bidding. It becomes obvious that for the author, the truth is what he chooses it to be, and the only good AIM'er, is a dead AIM'er. In the end, he proves that he has much in common with Means and Banks. They are different sides of the same coin.

This book contains much truth about AIM's past leaders, and the mindset of many in the FBI. He has filled in some gaps, and brought a very small amount of much needed truth to a long history of outright lies. What is missing entirely, is the truth of the FBI's dirty dealings, and criminal methods of building cases. Without this information, the book is a one sided white-wash, that leaves out the full picture.

The author didn't spend much time on the trial of Leonard Peltier, and sidestepped most all of the accusations of FBI misconduct in that trial and the investigation that led up to it. He did mention personal conversations with Judge Benson, who assured him that he would deal with the AIM members differently than the liberal Judges had. Don't think for one minute that Joseph H. Trimbach and many of his fellow agents were above fabricating evidence, or working behind the scenes to change the course of an investigation or trial, because as he points out in his book, the FBI does exactly that. Just because many of the AIM leaders were criminals, doesn't mean the FBI is much better.

The author makes hay out of how the past AIM leaders are suddenly claiming they were Anna Mae's friend, when in fact they didn't intervene on her behalf and save her life; when in fact the AIM leaders are implicated in her murder. When the FBI had a chance to put agents on her murder case, they chose to wait 25 years, until other non-FBI individuals shamed them into doing something about it. Hundreds of officers were involved in convicting Peltier, but they only had one agent assigned to Anna Mae all these years, and he rarely touched the case; with virtually no agents assigned to many murders of Indians. It's to bad the FBI doesn't give the same priority to all murders. It's to bad they see themselves as more deserving than Indians, Blacks and ordinary White folks. Kill an FBI agent, and they will turn the world upside-down to find and convict the killer. Murder and Indian, a Black man, or a White person of low economic standing, and you will be lucky to hear from them, if in fact you ever do.

Peltier needs to tell the truth so that healing can begin. Both for Peltier, and the many lives he so adversely affected. But that does not mean that all AIM members were criminals or a Mafia. I will give this book 3 stars, because it is important that it be read: but the reason it is important is because it sheds light on the mindset of the FBI. It shows that they have very little interest in justice or fair trials. As for Peltier's sentence, I think he should have gotten the same amount of time in prison as an FBI agent would have gotten for shooting him. How much time would an FBI agent have gotten for killing an Indian? Now that would be justice.

The media has become far more powerful then we ever would have imagined. What was originally a group that we looked to for honest reporting, has become overrun with folks that have decided that the spin trumps the truth. And as is very specifically put forth by Trimbach in American Indian Mafia, several authors have often jumped on that same bandwagon.

So, what has he done that is different you might asked? For one, documentation is the rule of the day in this account of what happened when A.I.M. decided to take over the Pine Ridge Reservation. Led by leaders Dennis Banks and Russell Means the reservation residents were forced to turn over their homes, businesses and belongings to Banks and Means and the other members of the American Indian Movement participating in the takeover, often being threatened and basically held hostage.

Trimbach, working initially as the FBI's SAC (Special Agent in Charge) at Pine Ridge, is dropped into a situation that he and his federal agents are in no way prepared for. On duty at the reservation to investigate criminal activity they must quickly become able to defend themselves as the AIM leadership ups the ante and decides that nightly firefights will rectify injustices against Native Americans during a battle in that same area in 1890.

With a rare chance to bring to light what truly happened at Pine Ridge and possibly help not only that decimated community but the reputation of all the agents involved, Trimbach sets out to put forth a more factual record of the reservation takeover, the "trial of the century", the conviction of Leonard Peltier, and the most recent and likely the most important trial so far, ending in the conviction of two of the AIM members involved in the murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash.

With one epilogue focused on the astounding incidence of child abuse in Indian Country it's evident that Trimbach has a larger goal in mind. And by giving readers a true, first time account, perhaps we can all look on this area of the country, the people that live and work there and how important it is for all of us to understand what is needed to restore hope, respect, and honor to all of those involved.

This is the most detailed and well researched book I've ever read. I only knew the basics of what happened at Pine Ridge and this book answered alot of questions. The worst thing about that whole ordeal is that the executions of the two FBI agents are being lost because some that call themselves Indian activists are opposed to the truth because it doesn't fit their ideal. Supporting Peltier does not make one an activist.

There are three sides to every story, as they say: yours, mine, and the truth. Trimbach can not possibly be an objective voice on this incredibly divisive issue. For an outstanding read that deals with this scenario in rich detail--and from an objective viewpoint, which neither idealizes the government nor is soft on AIM--read The Unquiet Grave by Steve Hendricks. The Unquiet Grave: The FBI and the Struggle for the Soul of Indian Country

Hendricks spent four years doing an amazing amount of research on this issue, and presents it in a very clear and extremely well documented book that is a must-read for anyone interested in what really went on in Pine Ridge. Trimbach himself, along with the FBI in general, is shown to be disturbingly unable to tell a consistent story. I'm not even going to call him a liar, though that would be an easy thing to do; it's one thing to make an accusation like that--but Hendricks has all the documentation to back it up. You are not going to get any more of an honestly objective story from Trimbach than you would from Peltier--they are both too emotionally entrenched in what was an extremely volatile situation.

Don't take my word for it--do the reading yourself and find out just what Trimbach said on the record over the years. Taken from FBI written reports, press reports, live press conferences, interviews, you name it. THEN you can make a more informed decision yourself about what to believe.

This is nothing but the same bulls**t the FBI has been dishing out for years. I expected fairness and honesty. I got neither. Don't waste your time unless you think Custer was a brilliant military man!