July 1997

As I roamed through the forest day after day, certain circumstances had come about that caused me to begin to consider turning myself in to face a jury trial and tell my side or the story. But, due to the fact that the court has taken away my First Amendment right, which is the freedom of speech, I've been prohibited from speaking in my own defense or telling my side of the story. I'm truly thankful that I'll be able to take the stand and testify on my own behalf. So far that right has not been taken from me. Then again, I must remember that this is Mendocino County justice, and anything is possible.

In learning of all the stories being put out to the public by the Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's office I became very upset. I felt compelled to tell my version of the shooting incident. One of the reasons I turned myself in to face the death penalty was to expose the Sheriff's Department's racism against the Native Americans. I want to tell of the deputies lying in wait that night, ambushing and murdering an innocent man. I had also intended to expose a mass police coverup by several agencies and a multitude of civil rights violations against elders, children and many others in the Indian community.

I've been incarcerated in the Mendocino County jail for approximately 22 months. In this amount of time I've seen many injustices inside the jail and inside the county courthouse.

At this point and time the Sheriff's Department has come to the realization that their case against me is very weak and that my case just keeps getting stronger as time goes on. I believe that the law enforcement community has become very desperate. For the record, I would like to state some of the latest incidents that some may not be aware of at this time.

In the month of May 1997, I had met a man in the county jail who may be a potential witness in this case for the defense. He had made statements to me that he had listened to the entire shooting incident on his base radio equipment that he has at his home in Ukiah. I set a meeting with my investigator to determine if any of his statements would be relevant in my case. Then, about two days after the interview when I got back from court in the afternoon, this potential witness was locked down in his cell. I began to ask him what happened to get him locked down. He began to speak incoherently, and as I observed his behavior it was my conclusion, judging from the things he spoke of, that he had been heavily drugged.

This man who was perfectly stable for the entire week that we had spoken to each other was now in a very severe state of paranoia with serious hallucinations. He was literally slobbering at the mouth. I became alarmed because I strongly suspected the sheriff department and the medical staff of drugging him without his knowledge. Later that night he was taken out of the B-module and placed in an isolation cell where he remained for about 2 months. The excuse the jail staff used for putting him in isolation was that he was an escape risk. While the man was in the isolation cell his food was heavily drugged. That knowledge came from a Native American man who was also in isolation and mistakenly given the food tray that was drugged. This Native American brother had stated to me that when he ate the food he stayed high and hallucinated for 2 days. There are other witnesses that would testify to this fact.

In the latter part of June, an Indian brother from the Round Valley Indian Reservation came to the county jail and was housed in the B-module with me. As we were talking of the situation on the reservation he informed me that the Sheriff's Department has been telling the Indian community that one day Bear Lincoln will not make it from the county jail to the court alive. He will be assassinated somewhere between those destinations. My Indian brother became alarmed for my safety, with good reason. He was looking out for my welfare, which I appreciate very much. They have kept their eyes and ears wide open because they suspected that the Sheriff's Department would eventually try something violent. Tensions have been building up drastically inside the calaboose.

Then, there is the latest jury tampering by the sheriff's department. There are other dastardly deeds they've committed that I can not comment on at the present time, but possibly at a later time. I am keeping a record of everything that happens which prompts me to state for the record, I turned myself in willingly and I intend to see this ordeal through to the end. There will not be an escape attempt on my part. The jailers could leave all the doors open; I would not leave this jail. I am committed to this cause. Before I turned myself in to face the death penalty I had plenty of time to consider just what might happen to me. I realized that there was a strong possibility that I would be beaten to death once I arrived at the jail. If my death was to occur under different circumstances at the hands of the Sheriff's Department all Tuso would have to do is use the magical word "justifiable," and that would make everything all right to the public. I will also state for the record that, I am not suicidal. I have no intentions of hanging myself or committing any other form of suicide. As a matter of fact, I'm thriving in this incarcerated state because I am winning the battle against corrupt law enforcement and their gross racism against my people, the Native Americans.

If the law enforcement community intends to murder Bear Lincoln, then I am here. I do not fear these people; whatever they have planned for me I will face. Should I be assassinated or railroaded in their courts, I intend to make it all public. I want this case to be in the face of everyone in Mendocino County. Everyone will have to take a good look at the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department as well as the District Attorney's office and come to know their form of operation.

In conclusion, I have yet another experience that I must share with you. While I was free and roaming through the forest I had prayed for a dream concerning putting myself into the hands of those that were hunting me, Tuso and his mighty men. In this dream that I had prayed for, I was standing somewhere that I was unfamiliar with. There was someone one standing with me and at my side. The person by my side was pointing to a group of men. They were officers that were standing over a body that was lying face down, in a pool of blood. Then, this person at my side spoke and said, that's you. I observed my lifeless body that apparently suffered a head shot, judging from the amount of blood.

My dream was over and a few weeks later I arrived in San Francisco to announce to the world that Leonard Peters and myself were ambushed by the police and l am here to prove my innocence in a court of law. I could never let Tuso and his men get away with the cold-blooded murder of my friend. I felt I had to come forward to tell our version, the true version, of what took place that night on Little Valley ridge, date April 14, 1995, 9:51 pm

Rest assured, whatever Tuso and his Sheriff's Department has in store for me, I am here to challenge them with the truth, and defeat them in their own court of law.

"Bear" Lincoln
peaceful organic vegetable farmer