AIM leader Bellecourt dead at 75

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Vernon Bellecourt, a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, has died of complications from pneumonia at a Minneapolis hospital a the age of 75.

A self-proclaimed "freedom fighter," Bellecourt spent his life backing American-Indian causes, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Monday.

As AIM's national director in 1973, Bellecourt pleaded for protection of Indian rights in an address to the United Nations.

Ideological disputes with AIM leaders Russell Means and Dennis Banks in later years didn't dim his passion for activism on behalf of his people, The Star Tribune said.

He was arrested before Game 5 of the 1997 World Series for burning Cleveland's red-faced logo outside Jacobs Field to protest the use of Indian mascots and symbols for sports teams.

Bellecourt grew up on the White Earth reservation in Minnesota.

"Although we all lived in poverty, we lived a better life than most people," he told the Star Tribune in 1999.