Benefit Concert for Convicted Killer Haunts Willie Nelson

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Seven months later, Willie Nelson is still feeling the ire of law enforcement officers because of his participation in a benefit concert last fall in Costa Mesa for the convicted killer of two FBI agents.

Irate unionized police are protesting planned concerts by Nelson in Rhode Island because the country crooner headlined the “Cowboys for Indians and Justice for Leonard Peltier” concert in November at the Pacific Amphitheatre, which also featured Kris Kristofferson, Joni Mitchell, comedian Robin Williams and actor Peter Coyote.

“We don’t take too kindly to people raising money for a killer of policemen,” said Wayne Sacco, president of the statewide Fraternal Order of Police.

Sacco’s 3,000-member group is upset over the 1987 event that raised money for Peltier, an American Indian activist convicted in the slayings of two FBI agents. A source close to the Nelson entourage said police do not understand Nelson’s participation in the event, which was organized by people who felt Peltier was not given a fair trial.

“People have to do their homework before they start making accusations,” the source said Thursday.

Nelson’s manager was not available for comment.

There has been no sign of controversy, however, surrounding Nelson’s appearance at the Pacific next Thursday, an amphitheater official said Friday.

Peltier, 42, is serving two consecutive life sentences at the U.S. penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., for the shooting deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. He maintains that he is innocent.

In organizing the benefit concert, actor Coyote, a longtime friend of Peltier, said the issue was not whether Peltier is innocent or guilty but that he did not receive a fair trial because crucial evidence was withheld from defense attorneys.

In 1987, the Ojibwa-Lakota Indian sought asylum from a sympathetic Soviet Union, saying “fake evidence was presented” to convict him and destroy the American Indian Movement.

Sacco said unionized police from across Rhode Island will picket during the concerts July 29 and 30 at the Warwick Musical Theater. “We’re not going to try to stop the concert,” he said. “We’ll make a public appeal protesting the event.”

During their monthly meeting on Monday, trustees from the Rhode Island FOP voted unanimously to protest the upcoming concert.

Larry Bonoff, the business manager for the musical theater, said he was disappointed at the police action.

“We’re bummed out about it because Willie has always been a good person to be around, and he’s always supported the underdog,” Bonoff said.