The schism continued , with the national AIM leadership claiming that the local AIM leaders , such as Churchill , are tools of the U.S. government used against other American Indians . The leaders of the national AIM organization , now called AIM Grand Governing Council , claim that Churchill has worked in the past as an underground counter @-@ intelligence source for the U.S. government , for example the FBI , and local , non @-@ Indian , police forces , to subvert the national AIM organization . Specifically , they refer to a 1993 Boulder , Colorado interview with Jodi Rave , a former columnist for the Denver Post , in which Churchill stated that he " was teaching the Rapid City Police Department about the American Indian Movement . " In addition , Vernon Bellecourt accused Churchill of having ' fraudulently represented himself as an Indian ' to bolster his credentials . Bellecourt said he complained to the University of Colorado about this as early as 1986 .