Stay Tuned: While Ward Churchill Promises, Joe Trimbach Delivers

"[T]he motherfucker was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway."---Leonard Peltier bragging to Ka-mook Banks, Anna Mae Aquash, and others about his cold-blooded 6-26-75 execution of a badly-wounded FBI agent

Almost one year ago, on July 24, 2007, Ward Churchill was fired from his job at the University of Colorado. The University issued a press release that stated:

The University of Colorado Board of Regents...voted to accept President Hank Brown’s recommendation to dismiss Professor Ward Churchill from the faculty of CU-Boulder for conduct that fell below minimum standards of professional integrity...

The university’s review of Professor Churchill focused on his professional activities, not his statements about victims of September 11, 2001. Professor Churchill, like every United States citizen, has the right to make controversial political statements. Early in the investigation, the university determined his speech was protected by the First Amendment.

The University of Colorado values academic freedom as the bedrock of any university. But for academic freedom to thrive, it must be accompanied by academic and professional integrity.

Now comes the most ridiculous, hypocritical, and bombastic posturing on the site of the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network (6-26-08):

Ward Churchill’s case continues to be emblematic of the ongoing attacks on those who teach and write about “unpopular” truths, insist that the histories of Indigenous peoples and peoples of color be made accessible, and resist U.S. violations of human rights and international law.

This statement strikes me as breathtakingly mendacious because it is Ward Churchill himself who attacks people who teach and write about unpopular truths. It is Ward Churchill himself who attacks people who insist that the histories of Indians be made accessible. It is Ward Churchill himself who attacks people who defend the human rights of Indians.

One of the main people whom Ward Churchill has maligned in his "research" is the retired FBI agent Joseph H. Trimbach, who tried to defend the Indians of Wounded Knee from the AIM terrorists.

In 1973, Mr. Trimbach was the FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis FBI when the American Indian Movement (AIM), led by Russell Means, attacked the Indian village of Wounded Knee and held people--mainly the elderly and children--hostage. AIM pillaged the store, the museum, people's cars, and homes. AIM shot and injured law enforcement that responded to protect the people.

Ward Churchill tried to whitewash the role of AIM and discredit one of the Indian victims, the elderly Agnes Gildersleeve, by claiming in his book book Agents of Repression (1988 p. 143) that the Gildersleeves were white. Mrs. Gildersleeve was Indian; her white husband had lived among the Indians for many decades.

Churchill claimed that the Gildersleeve's store deserved to be destroyed because it was "government chartered," but the AIMsters who ruined the buildings justified their actions by claiming that the store was operating without a government license. The Gildersleeve's small museum of Indian artifacts was plundered; its contents were stolen or destroyed.

Some Indians say that during the occupation of Wounded Knee women were raped, and AIMster Leonard Crow Dog let it drop that AIM may have "disappeared" some people and buried their bodies near the village of Wounded Knee. The entire town was left a ruin and has never been rebuilt.

On June 26, 1975, AIM murdered two FBI agents named Ronald Williams and Jack Coler while they were on a routine investigation at Pine Ridge. Leonard Peltier was convicted for this crime. In December 1975, AIM leaders ordered the execution of the Canadian Indian Anna Mae Aquash and blamed her murder on the FBI.

Mr. Trimbach is the one who is teaching and writing about these unpopular truths and insisting that the history of Pine Ridge be made accessible. Ward Churchill is suppressing the truth with his fake history.

Joe Trimbach and his son John have written a book called American Indian Mafia. Their book and site show that Ward Churchill's books and essays are filled with falsehoods.

Ward Churchill has written that the two FBI agents murdered on on Pine Ridge Indian reservation on June 26, 1975, deserved to die. On June 26, the anniversary of these murders, the WCSN promised:

To bring you updated information on such struggles, to keep you informed of developments in Ward Churchill’s lawsuit against the University of Colorado (scheduled for trial in March 2009), and to better respond to your queries, we’re launching a new website (right here) in mid-July.

We’ll be featuring a column written by Ward, blogs, an updated calendar, news, and easier access to documents about CU and their corporate cronies.

Stay tuned.

On June 26, 2008, the day that the WCSN made promises, Trimbachs delivered on their blog AIM Myth Busters. The first post tells about the murders of the two FBI agents and about the murder of Anna Mae Aquash by AIM. Trimbachs tell how Ka-mook Banks testified in court that Leonard Peltier bragged about killing a badly-wounded FBI agent. Anna Mae was also present when Peltier boasted of his cold-blooded murder, and Peltier's confession may have cost Anna Mae her life.

On June 30, 2008, the Trimbachs spoke on the Montana program Native View with Jenna Spotted Wolf about the upcoming trial of John Graham for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash and subsequently issued this press release (7-10-08) about their appearance:

The Trimbachs talked about their book, American Indian Mafia, An FBI Agent’s True Story About Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, and the American Indian Movement (AIM). Much of the discussion focused on the upcoming trial of John Graham, the alleged triggerman in the 1975 murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash. Graham will go on trial October 6 of this year. The Supreme Court of Canada has stated that AIM leaders ordered Aquash’s execution-style murder because they believed her to be an FBI informant. Joe Trimbach explained that Aquash was never an informant.

The show focused on the murder of Ray Robinson, a civil rights activist under Martin Luther King. Robinson, the only black male seen in Wounded Knee village during the 1973 occupation, was allegedly shot in the leg during an argument. His body is believed to be buried near the village ruins. The Trimbachs emphasized the need for justice in the Aquash and Robinson murders.

Also discussed was the falsified history of Pine Ridge and the manufactured persona of convicted killer Leonard Peltier.

Ward Churchill misleads people with his propaganda about Pine Ridge history. He publishes selfish, hypocritical rants on the Internet about his violated free speech and "unpopular truths."

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Trimbachs are telling what really happened and giving the living law enforcement and Indian eyewitnesses to AIM's crimes a chance to have their perspective heard and recorded in the history books and on radio, T.V., and the Internet.

For example, Trimbachs tell how the former common-law wife of AIMster Dennis Banks, Ka-mook, used her free speech to witness to the truth in open court:

Ka-Mook: We were sitting one day at the table in this motor home. Anna Mae [Aquash] was sitting by me, and my sister was on the other side, and Dennis [Banks, Ka-mook's common-law husband] was standing in the aisle, and Leonard [Peltier] was sitting on this side, he alternated between sitting and standing. And he started talking about June 26, and he put his hand like this [gesture holding a gun] and started talking about the two FBI Agents.

McMahon: What did he say?

Objection overruled.

McMahon: Tell the Court as best you remember exactly what he said.

Ka-Mook: Exactly what he said?

McMahon: Exactly what he said.

Ka-Mook (extremely upset): He said the motherfucker was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway.