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Native activist Leonard Peltier to serve remainder of sentence at home after Biden order • Tennessee Lookout [1]
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Date: 2025-01-23
President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota.
Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota.
Biden’s order as he leaves office is to take effect Feb. 18. A statement from Biden said Peltier should serve the remainder of his life sentence at home.
NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, South Dakota, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltier’s commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: “It’s finally over – I’m going home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.”
Peltier’s sister, Betty Ann Peltier, welcomed the news.
“I am going to cook him the biggest meal I can,” she said. “Fry bread and foods he hasn’t eaten for years.”
She said her brother is suffering from the effects of diabetes, has heart trouble and uses a walker.
She said there has been a home waiting for him on the Turtle Mountain Reservation but that she hopes he will stay with her in Fargo.
She had yet to communicate with her brother as of Monday morning.
According to the FBI, in 1975, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The agents pursued a vehicle, with Peltier among the people inside. A fatal shootout ensued, with the two agents and Joseph Stuntz, a member of the American Indian Movement, killed. Peltier has maintained that he is innocent.
Kevin Sharp with the law firm of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, based in Nashville, Tennessee, represented Mr. Peltier for 5 years, filing Mr. Peltier’s original clemency petition in December 2019 and refiling it again in 2021,
“President Biden took an enormous step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country. It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltier’s conviction and continued incarceration, but with the President’s act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days,” said Sharp, the former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a statement his office strongly opposes any change to Peltier’s sentence, calling the deaths of the agents “cold-blooded murders.”
“That conviction has been reviewed and upheld by no fewer than 22 federal judges since then,” Jackley said Monday.
Tracey Wilkie of Fargo grew up on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and said she was raised hearing the story of Leonard Peltier.
She called herself a “lifetime supporter and organizer for his freedom.” She helped lead a rally for Peltier last year when he was up for parole, which was denied.
The rally was on the steps of the federal courthouse in Fargo where Peltier was convicted.
“So many people have been working behind the scenes,” Wilkie said. “It’s going to give a lot of people hope.”
Peltier has been serving two consecutive life terms in prison, most recently in Florida.
According to Biden’s statement, tribal Nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials — including the former U.S. Attorney whose office oversaw Peltier’s prosecution and appeal — and human rights organizations support granting Peltier clemency. They cite Peltier’s advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison.
State Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, a Turtle Mountain citizen, is among Peltier’s supporters. She said her father attended school in Belcourt with Peltier.
“It’s fabulous,” Davis said from the North Dakota legislative session in Bismarck after hearing the news. “I was in committee when I heard the news and almost screamed out loud.”
Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited “50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy” for winning the commutation.
“Leonard Peltier’s liberation is our liberation – we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture,” Tilsen said.
This story has been updated with reaction. North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer and South Dakota Searchlight staff contributed to this report.
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(North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: [email protected].)
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https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/01/23/native-activist-leonard-peltier-to-serve-remainder-of-sentence-at-home-after-biden-order/
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