Letter to the Editor

Anderson Valley Advertiser
January 17, 1995

On the night of April 14, 1995, on top of "Little Valley Ridge" is a night I'll never forget. It was a night that I lost one of my best friends, Leonard Acorn Peters.

He was a man who was respectful of everyone, he was very easy to get along with. He was a non-violent man, well-loved and respected among the Indian community on the "Round Valley Reservation." He loved the hills in Hull's Valley where he lived with his wife, Cyndi and his children. He was happy living the simple life with the family he loved very much.

April 14th was a dark dark night, it was very hard to see anything. On top of Little Valley Ridge the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department laid in wait, and ambushed and murdered our brother Acorn. He broke no laws, he had no warrants for his arrest, there was no roadblock, no lights, no warning, only darkness, and then a blaze of gunfire. Acorn died quickly, I believe he was dead before he hit the ground. The M-16s were still going off even after he was down, there sounded like five or six weapons going off all at the same time.

I believe that the Sheriff's Department was only interested in getting a body count. I believe it was their plan to kill as many Indians as they could.

After the shooting was over and it was still very dark, no one could see 20 feet in front of themselves. It is my opinion that the police fired approximately 200 to 250 rounds of ammunition, and there was definitely more than just one M-16.

We the native people on the "Round Valley Indian Reservation" are a sovereign nation, or at least on paper anyway. What the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department did on the night of April 14th, to any other sovereign nation would be considered an act of war!

"Shoot to Kill," Bear Lincoln was the order of the day. Don't give him no chances; blow him away, guilty or innocent, he must die. So "shoot to kill," was the order of the day in Mendocino County, with a $100,000 bounty for my scalp, just to make the hunt more interesting.

So I must send a warning to all my Indian brothers to be wise and be strong, because your lives are in danger in northern California. Especially in Mendocino County, Sheriff Tuso has declared war on the whole Indian population. They could not catch me in the hills and execute me like they wanted. But they will settle for someone else for now, they still want their revenge, and they still want their body count of Indians!

Signed: Pissed off, but still a "Peaceful Organic Vegetable Farmer"
Bear Lincoln
Ukiah

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