[Ppnews] Omaha Two story: (Part 18) - Three days of deceit in Omaha Two case by FBI and Omaha Police

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/three-days-of-deceit-omaha-two-case-by-fbi-and-omaha-police>http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/three-days-of-deceit-omaha-two-case-by-fbi-and-omaha-police 



Three days of deceit in Omaha Two case by FBI and Omaha Police

    * By <http://www.examiner.com/user-richardsonreports>Michael 
Richardson, COINTELPRO Examiner
    * March 31st, 2011 11:33 am ET
Omaha Two story:  Oct. 12-14, 1970

October 12, 1970

William C. Sullivan, the third in command of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation and head of Domestic intelligence, was principal 
architect and administrator of 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/crimes-of-cointelpro-heard-at-northeastern-law-school-seminar>COINTELPRO. 
The massive counter-intelligence operation was ordered by 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/j-edgar-hoover-gave-order-to-let-policeman-s-killer-get-away-with-murder>J. 
Edgar Hoover to combat political forces he deemed dangerous.

On October 12, 1970, William Sullivan made his only public statement 
on the Omaha Two case.  Sullivan's boss, J. Edgar Hoover, never 
talked openly about the case of 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/prison-interview-with-ed-poindexter-on-cointelpro-and-the-omaha-police>Edward 
Poindexter and 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/prison-interview-with-mondo-we-langa-on-cointelpro-and-omaha-two-case>Mondo 
we Langa, then David Rice in 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/omaha-s-ugly-racial-history-includes-a-1919-downtown-lynching-and-mob-riot-1>Omaha, 
Nebraska.  The two men were then in the Douglas County Jail waiting 
trial for the August 17th bomb murder of an Omaha policeman, 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/omaha-patrolman-larry-minard-killed-ambush-bombing-after-911-call>Larry 
Minard, Sr.

Sullivan monitored COINTELPRO daily for Hoover and was on the copy 
list of the COINTELPRO memos involving the Omaha Two..  The case came 
up in a rare public speech to a United Press International conference.

Sullivan falsely denied any FBI role in any :conspiracy against the 
Black Panthers.  About Minard's death, Sullivan would say to the 
gathered reporters and correspondents:  "On August 12, 1970 [sic] and 
Omaha, Nebraska police officer was literally blasted to death by an 
explosive device placed in a suitcase in an abandoned residence.  The 
officer had been summoned by an anonymous telephone complaint that a 
woman was being beated [sic] there.  An individual with Panther 
associations has been charged with this crime."

Sullivan went on describing a variety of violent acts for which he 
blamed the Black Panthers including the deaths of rival group members 
that later would be discovered to be COINTELPRO-instigated 
shootings.  Dismissing the growing body of evidence that there was 
some sort of coordinated national effort against the Black Panthers 
that used illegal tactics, Sullivan complained:

"Panther cries of repression at the hands of a government 
"conspiracy" receive the sympathy not only of adherents to 
totalitarian ideologies, but also of those willing to close their 
eyes to even the violent nature of hoodlum "revolutionary" acts," 
said Sullivan.


October 13, 1970


<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/cointelpro-plan-hatched-omaha-to-withhold-evidence-of-policeman-s-killer>Paul 
Young, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Omaha FBI office, sent a 
COINTELPRO memo to J. Edgar Hoover following up on the 911 recording 
of Larry Minard's killer he had sent to the FBI Laboratory.  Young 
had earlier requested, and Hoover agreed, that no laboratory report 
on the analysis of the voice would be made.

Young updated Hoover on the case:  :Assistant COP GLENN GATES, Omaha 
PD, advised that he feels that any uses of this call might be 
prejudicial to the police murder trial against two accomplices of 
PEAK and, therefore, has advised that he wishes no use of this tape 
until after the murder trials of Peak and the two accomplices has 
been completed."

The COINTELPRO memo continued, "no further efforts are being made at 
this time to secure additional recordings of the original telephone call."

October 14, 1970

Murdock Platner, Captain of the Omaha Police Department, was in 
Washington, D.C. to testify before U.S. House Committee on Internal 
Security about the Omaha Two case. Platner was under oath and 
testified to a different source for the dynamite than that alleged by 
Duane Peak, the 15 year-old confessed bomber, at the preliminary 
hearing two weeks earlier.

Peak's story was that Black Panther treasurer, Raleigh House, who was 
never prosecuted, was the supplier of the dynamite that killed 
Minard  Captain Platner told a different story under oath to the 
Committee just two weeks after the preliminary hearing:

"Duane Peak, a 16-year old boy who was arrested, testified in a 
preliminary hearing.  It is from this preliminary hearing you are 
bound over to the district court to stand trial.  In the preliminary 
hearing he testified that David Rice brought a suitcase filled with 
dynamite to his house or to somebody's house, I'm not for sure just 
which place; that they removed all the dynamite from the suitcase 
except three sticks, made the bomb, the triggering device, and so on, 
and put it together; and then packed the suitcase with newspapers and 
that he left with this suitcase."

When Committee members began asking Platner questions about his sworn 
testimony he backed off and declared, "I don't know what I should say."

Platner would also travel to Washington to testify before the U.S. 
Senate Judiciary Committee where he would tell a similar story, but 
with different amounts of dynamite confiscated by police in the 
summer of 1970.

Neither of Platner's trips, nor his conflicting dynamite testimony, 
was ever reported by the Omaha news media.

The stage was now set for the trial of Ed Poindexter and Mondo we 
Langa for the murder of Larry Minard, Sr.

To view all the Omaha Two story articles click 
<http://www.examiner.com/omaha-two-story-in-national>HERE

Permission granted to reprint




Michael Richardson
COINTELPRO Examiner
Examiner.com



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