Amnesty International urges Biden to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier as he turns 80 on Sept. 12

(DRG Media Group)- South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley Attorney General Jackley sent a letter to the Parole Commission this spring objecting to Peltier’s parole request. Jackley was the prosecuting attorney that examined a trial witness regarding Peltier’s confession in Marlon Brandon’s motorhome to American Indian Movement leader Anna Mae Aquash. Peltier’s confession ultimately led to her execution by John Graham who was found guilty of her murder. More than 30 members of Congress have written President Biden asking clemency for Peltier. Jackley said he will write to the President as well, requesting that clemency be denied.

Additionally…..

UNDATED (AP)- Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who has spent most of his life in prison since his conviction in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents in South Dakota, has been denied parole.

The U.S. Parole Commission said in a statement Tuesday (July 2, 2024) announcing the decision that he won’t be eligible for another parole hearing until June 2026. Peltier is serving life in prison for the killing the agents during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was convicted in 1977.

His attorney, Kevin Sharp, a former federal judge, vowed to appeal. He had argued that Peltier was wrongly convicted and that the health of the 79-year-old was failing.

“This decision is a missed opportunity for the United States to finally recognize the misconduct of the FBI and send a message to Indian Country regarding the impacts of the federal government’s actions and policies of the 1970s,” he said in a statement.

The fight for Peltier’s freedom is embroiled in the Indigenous rights movements. Nearly half a century later, his name remains a rallying cry and “Free Peltier” T-shirts are hawked online.

“The way they have treated Leonard is the way they have treated Indigenous people historically throughout this country,” said Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy group. “That is why Indigenous people and oppressed people everywhere see a little bit of ourselves in Leonard Peltier. Although today is a sad day, we are not going to stop fighting.”

The FBI and its current and former agents dispute the claims of innocence.

“They were down, they were wounded, they were helpless and he shot them point blank,” said Mike Clark, president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI. “It is a heinous crime.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that “justice continues to prevail.” And Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, described Peltier in a statement as an “unremorseful murderer.”

“We believe this decision upholds justice for our fallen colleagues and their families,” the statement said.

An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, which began in the 1960s as a local organization in Minneapolis that grappled with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. It quickly became a national force.

Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, credits AIM and others for most of the rights Native Americans have today, including religious freedom and the ability to operate casinos and tribal colleges and enter into contracts with the federal government to oversee schools and other services.

AIM grabbed headlines in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents. Tensions between AIM and the government remained high for years.

On June 26, 1975, agents came to Pine Ridge to serve arrest warrants amid battles over Native treaty rights and self-determination.

After being injured in a shootout, agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were shot in the head at close range, Wray said. Also killed in the shootout was AIM member Joseph Stuntz. The Justice Department concluded that a law enforcement sniper killed Stuntz.

Two other AIM members, Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted of killing Coler and Williams.

After fleeing to Canada and being extradited to the United States, Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced in 1977 to life in prison, despite defense claims that evidence against him had been falsified.

Amnesty International has been among his backers, writing in a statement that keeping him locked up is a “human rights tragedy.”

His latest parole hearing was in June at a high-security lockup in Florida that is part of the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman. Afterward, his attorney, Sharp, said the commission was obligated legally to “look forward,” focusing on issues such as whether he is likely to commit another crime if he is released.

Relatives of the two agents have long argued that Peltier should remain behind bars. In a 2022 letter to Wray, Coler’s son Ronald Coler said the campaign for Peltier’s release has been painful for the family.

“Not only has my family suffered the loss of my father, but we have also been forced to endure the insult that Peltier has become a favorite cause and figurehead championed by Hollywood, the music industry, politicians and well-intentioned activists who assume or believe he is being punished unfairly,” he wrote. “Peltier allows himself to be celebrated thus. He knows his guilt.”

Parole also was rejected at a hearing in 2009, and then-President Barack Obama denied a clemency request in 2017. Another clemency request is pending before President Joe Biden.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of activists and Indigenous leaders are rallying outside the White House in support of imprisoned Native activist Leonard Peltier. Tuesday (Sept. 12, 2023) is his 79th birthday. They’re urging President Joe Biden to grant clemency to the Native American leader. Peltier is serving life in prison for the killing of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier’s supporters argue he was wrongly convicted. But the FBI maintains he’s guilty and was properly sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Organizers say more than 100 people have journeyed by bus and caravan for three days from South Dakota to the District of Columbia.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of activists and Indigenous leaders rallied outside the White House on Tuesday (Sept. 12, 2023) in support of Leonard Peltier on the imprisoned activist’s 79th birthday, holding signs and chanting slogans urging President Joe Biden to grant clemency to the Native American leader.

Peltier is serving life in prison for the killing of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was convicted in 1977.

Key figures involved in Peltier’s prosecution have stepped forward over the years to urge his release, rally organizers said, including the judge who presided over Peltier’s 1986 appeal and the former U.S. attorney whose office handled the prosecution and appeal of Peltier’s case.

The rally kicked off Tuesday with chanting and drum beats. Organizers delivered impassioned speeches about Peltier’s life and his importance as a Native leader, punctuated by shouts of “Free Peltier! Free Peltier!”

“Forty-eight years is long enough,” said Nick Tilsen, president of NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy group that co-organized the rally with Amnesty International USA.

“We are calling on the Biden administration, who has made it a choice — has made Indigenous civil rights a priority — for his administration, yet he allows and continues to allow the longest incarcerated political prisoner in the United States,” Tilsen said at the rally.

Amnesty International considers Peltier a political prisoner, and organizers said a United Nations working group on arbitrary detention specifically noted the anti-Indigenous bias surrounding Peltier’s detention.

Over 100 people have journeyed by bus and caravan for three days from South Dakota to the District of Columbia this week in support of Peltier’s release, NDN Collective said in a Facebook post. Expected speakers include “Reservation Dogs” actor Dallas Goldtooth, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the president of the National Congress of American Indians and other Indigenous leaders.

While Peltier’s supporters argue that he was wrongly convicted in the killings of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, the agency has maintained over the years that he is guilty and was properly sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

“Peltier intentionally and mercilessly murdered these two young men and has never expressed remorse for his ruthless actions,” the FBI said in an email Monday, adding that Peltier’s conviction “has withstood numerous appeals to multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Peltier has exhausted his opportunities for appeal and his parole requests have been denied. He is incarcerated at a federal prison in Coleman, Florida.

An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, or AIM, which grabbed headlines in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents.

Tensions between AIM and the government remained high for years, providing the backdrop for the fatal confrontation in which both agents were shot in the head at close range.

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department, said while she was a congresswoman that she supports Peltier being released.

“Congress hasn’t weighed in on this issue in years,” Haaland posted on social media in 2020, citing concerns about COVID-19. “At 75 with chronic health issues, it is urgent that we #FreeLeonardPeltier.”

In 2017, then-President Barack Obama denied a clemency request by Peltier.

According to Peltier’s attorney at the time, Martin Garbus, they received a letter from the White House saying their application to commute his sentence to the 40 years he already served was denied.

AIM began as a local organization in Minneapolis that sought to grapple with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans in the 1960s. It quickly became a national force.

The group called out instances of cultural appropriation, provided job training, sought to improve housing and education for Indigenous people, provided legal assistance, spotlighted environmental injustice and questioned government policies that were seen as anti-Indigenous. At times, AIM’s tactics were militant, which led to splintering in the group.