Synopsis

Rage Against the Machine perform "Freedom" in a cramped venue while the video documents the case of Leonard Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement imprisoned in connection with a 1975 confrontation at South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Archival material, excerpts from a documentary, images of Peltier and fellow activists, and scrolling quotations build a political indictment of the justice system. The performance footage intensifies the urgency, and the video closes with a direct appeal for Peltier's release.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered on MTV's "120 Minutes" on December 19, 1993, shortly after "Freedom" became the fourth and final single from Rage Against the Machine's debut album.

• Its central subject is Leonard Peltier, whose case had become an important cause for the American Indian Movement and for activists who argued that he had been wrongly convicted.

• The video incorporates material from Michael Apted's 1992 documentary "Incident at Oglala," which examines the Pine Ridge confrontation and the legal case that followed.

• Scrolling text throughout the clip draws on quotations from Sitting Bull and material from Peter Matthiessen's 1983 book "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse."

• The production was recognized on the CVC Broadcast & Cable Top 50 chart as the number one promotional video in January 1994.

• The closing message, stating that "justice has not been done," made the clip an unusually direct piece of political advocacy for a major-label rock release.