Stevie Van Zandt: I deeply respect the FBI. It’s in that spirit that I say they’re getting this very wrong

Editor’s Note: Stevie Van?Zandt?is a musician, songwriter, producer, director and actor. He is an author and a member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The?views expressed here are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.

I support law enforcement. I’m an independent, “law and order” liberal. My friend, former?New York Police Department?detective Kevin Schroeder, and I proudly hold a huge fundraiser for law enforcement charities in the US?every year in New York City. I count many friends on the job.

I also have friends in the FBI. I’m very grateful for the?excellent job the FBI does in keeping us safe every day from a world that seems to grow?increasingly and more dangerously insane by the day. Whether it’s the never-ending threat of foreign terrorism or?former President?Donald Trump’s zealots who have chosen to follow their leader in ignoring the rule of law, the FBI has?helped to thwart what?feel like?hourly threats to our nation’s safety.

I’m sure it doesn’t always feel that we are a grateful nation, but still, on behalf of all Americans, I thank all members of the FBI, including its leadership.

And it’s in that spirit, as a citizen who deeply respects the work of the FBI, that I now write to call on FBI Director Christopher Wray to right a wrong. Wray recently?opposed the parole of Native American activist?Leonard Peltier. Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of?first-degree murder?for killing two FBI agents on June 26, 1975,?on the?Oglala?Lakota Nation’s Pine Ridge?Reservation in South Dakota.?Peltier denies he killed the agents.?He has been denied parole before, but now he is 79 and?in ill health.

Peltier’s imprisonment has been controversial since the incident?that precipitated it. In his?letter opposing Peltier’s release, Wray wrote:?“Peltier is a ruthless murderer who has shown an utter lack of remorse for his many crimes. His release would strike a serious blow to the rule of law.”

But that’s not the full story.?The historical context for this incident was the war?that?former FBI director?J. Edgar Hoover?was waging against anyone and everyone that he perceived as a threat. His dangerous and illegal?tactics?under?COINTELPRO?—?the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program, active from 1956 to 1971 — were a direct assault on American citizens. This?distorted sensibility continued for far too long after?Hoover’s?death?in 1972.?The FBI that pursued Peltier was largely?Hoover’s creation.

Wray’s outreach in opposition to Peltier’s release seeks to deny?a 79-year-old man?on a walker not just parole, but compassionate release.?It seems clear to me that only an FBI that is completely detached from its own history would want to end this chapter in this way.

Though some still contest it, the simple?reality of the case is this:

Peltier has served?nearly 50 years?on evidence that decades’ worth of observers have called into question.?Witnesses were coerced?and?advocates say?evidence was falsified. Two?of?the?other men?charged with the same crime?were acquitted. In addition, a witness whose information was key to Peltier’s extradition from Canada?to?stand trial for the murders?later said?she made up her story under pressure from the FBI.

My question to?Director Wray?is?also?simple. Why would you feel the need to defend Hoover’s FBI?by condemning Peltier to die in prison?when you have?been an integral part of making the contemporary FBI into the law-abiding organization in the righteous defense of the American people it is today?

This isn’t about re-litigating Peltier’s case. It’s about the fact that?Hoover’s completely irrational paranoia in regard?to the American Indian?Movement, the Black Panthers, the Women’s Liberation Movement and other?groups?encouraged the perpetual harassment of these organizations and members of these movements, leading inevitably to countenanced acts of violence, numerous shootouts and assaults in an environment of constant?life-and-death-level?fear. It’s about multiple?examples of un-American, extralegal activity under the guise of the phony premise of “protecting“ society,?in some cases?resulting?in deaths.

If there was?any true historical justice in this world, Hoover’s name would be removed from the building?where your organization is headquartered.

Why would you want to defend?the actions of?a Hoover FBI?that considered the Black Panthers’?Free Breakfast?for School Children?Program a threat to?the FBI’s efforts to protect?democracy?

Why would you choose to defend a Hoover FBI?that?bugged?Martin Luther King?Jr.‘s?hotel rooms to?try to?embarrass him with the full intention of destroying the Civil Rights Movement?

Let me say it again:?Hoover’s FBI did everything it could to consciously and deliberately derail the Civil Rights Movement.

I appreciate loyalty, perhaps more than most, but?does the FBI?really want to defend?any part of?that?chapter in its history when it doesn’t have to? After all?it has?accomplished?to become an organization Americans can be proud of?

I?just?don’t understand it.?It is my hope that Wray will do?as much due diligence as?he?possibly can on this case and consider writing new letters, explaining that with?additional?light on the subject, and in the interest of American justice,?Leonard?Peltier should be released from prison immediately.