Joseph H. Trimbach was Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis Division of the FBI in 1973, the same year that the American Indian Movement took over the Wounded Knee village on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Six years ago, one of Trimbach’s granddaughters sent him an e-mail and said that in a course she was taking there was a history book discussing Wounded Knee and saying horrible things about him. Trimbach knew that she was reading something that was critical of the FBI and the U.S. government, he had read those books and seen those documentaries as well.

“Let me write the real story of Wounded Knee and its aftermath for you,” Trimbach told his granddaughter. What started as a 40 page story of the facts of the case turned in to a six year project for Trimbach and his son, John, a Peachtree City resident. The result of that project is “American Indian Mafia: An FBI agents true story about Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier and the American Indian Movement.”

Wounded Knee has been presented as Native Americans against the U.S. Government, but trimbach and others saw it as militants taking over a village, shooting at policemen and firefighters, burglarizing the store and leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.

“They were domestic terrorists,” said Trimbach. “They parlayed their actions there into becoming a criminal organization.” In the aftermath of Wounded Knee, in the many books and films about the tragic events, people hear about FBI fabrication, falsification and propaganda, but Trimbach and his son feel the evidence speaks for itself. And not just with Wounded Knee, also in the 1975 case of Leonard Peltier, a native American man in prison for the murder of two FBI agents. Peltier claims his innocence and has won support from organizations like Amnesty International and people like Nelson Mandela, but he has lost several appeals and Trimbach feels that the evidence points to his guilt in the murders.

A lot has been written on both Wounded Knee and Peltier, but the book by the Trimbach’s appears to be the first to refute those earlier works. In their research, they were the first to open and go through the court documents of the Wounded Knee trials which involved 119 volumes of testimony. The Wounded Knee trial, as Trimbach saw it, involved some strange things, including a Federal judge dismissing all charges against the instigators following a secret meeting with one of the defendants and an ex-parte meeting with the defendants’ lawyers.

Ultimately, the Trimbachs feel that a piece of history is missing without the other side of the story being presented. Their book has found its way to some important people and has won support of Native Americans and others, including Richard Two Elk, a former AIM member. In addition to their book, the Trimbachs make presentations at schools and in cities and towns all over the country. They will give a 40 minute presentation at The Campus in Peachtree City at 7 p.m. on March 24 and at noon at the Delta Employees Credit Union on March 25. They will also sign books at Omega Book Store in Peachtree City shortly after the appearance on the 25th.

While the Trimbachs hope that people are receptive to hearing another, what they regard as more truthful, side to the story, they also want to direct attention to some serious topics. Pine Ridge, where Wounded Knee was located, is the poorest county in the USA and the life expectancy for men and women is seriously low (55 for men and 62 for women). The unemployment rate is 87 percent and there is rampant alcohol abuse and sexual abuse of children. The last part of the book focuses on alerting readers to these problems in the hopes that the chains of abuse can be broken.

“We are hoping to promote healing and closure,” said Trimbach. “Closure based on the truth.”

For more information on the Trimbachs and their book, visit www.americanindianmafia.com

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