In the spring of 1973, Perry Ray Robinson, a 35-year-old Black/African American male and civil rights activist from Alabama, traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was drawn there by the Wounded Knee occupation, a 71-day standoff between members of the American Indian Movement and federal law enforcement. Robinson, a follower of Martin Luther King Jr., had a history of activism, including participating in the 1963 March on Washington and the 1968 Poor People's
Campaign. He arrived at Wounded Knee in April 1973, telling his wife in a phone call, "This could be the spark that lights the prairie fire." He was accompanied by a woman from Alabama, who would later leave the occupation and return home.
Robinson's time within the occupied territory was reportedly difficult. The conditions were harsh, with food shortages and constant gunfire. Accounts suggest Robinson struggled to adapt to the militant environment and the strict discipline imposed by AIM leaders. His nonviolent philosophy, rooted in the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., may have clashed with the armed resistance at Wounded Knee. Suspicions arose among some AIM members that Robinson was a federal informant, a dangerous accusation during the tense and paranoid atmosphere of the siege.
Perry Ray Robinson was never seen or heard from again after April 25, 1973. His wife, Cheryl Buswell-Robinson, filed a missing person's report with the FBI and tirelessly sought answers for decades, but was met with silence from AIM leadership. Conflicting accounts and rumors circulated for years. Some claimed Robinson was shot in the leg and walked away, while others insisted he was murdered.
In 2014, the FBI officially confirmed that Robinson had been killed and buried on the reservation in April 1973. Documents released under a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that cooperating witnesses told the FBI that Robinson was tortured and murdered by AIM members. One witness described hearing a loud bang and seeing Robinson fall after his lower leg was shot. Despite these revelations, the US Attorney's Office declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence. The FBI subsequently closed the case, and no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with Perry Ray Robinson's death. His body has never been found.
