FBI suspected AIM members in death of Wounded Knee activist

Tuesday, February 18, 2014  

The FBI has closed the case on a man who went missing during the 1973 occupation at Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

Ray Robinson went missing during the incident. The FBI believes members of the American Indian Movement killed him and buried him somewhere on the Pine Ridge Reservation, according to documents obtained by the wife of the activist.

However, no charges have been filed and the matter has been put to rest. Robinson's body has never been found.

“If new information comes forward, the FBI could reopen the investigation, depending on the information that comes forward,” an attorney for the FBI told The Buffalo News.

Clyde Bellecourt, a leader of AIM, dismissed the suggestion that his group was involved. “It’s just another attempt by the FBI to get involved in legitimate organizations like ours by making crazy charges," he told the paper.

One of the FBI documents mentions a recorded conversation involving Clyde's brother, Vernon, another AIM leader. He allegedly knew about Robinson's murder but he has not been not linked to the death.

Vernon died in October 2007.

Get the Story:
FBI documents confirm murder of activist missing for 40 years (The Buffalo News 2/18)