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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">11 Members of Congress Write
Letter to President Biden, Demanding Immediate Release of
Leonard Peltier</h1>
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<div>By <span>Darren Thompson</span> - October 11,
2021
<div>
<p>On Friday, October 8, 11 members of Congress
sent a letter to President Biden, United
States Attorney General Merrick Garland,
Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons Michael
Carvajal, and Southeast Regional Director of
Federal Bureau of Prisons J.A. Keller
requesting the expedited release of and
clemency for Leonard Peltier. </p>
<p>Leonard Peltier, a tribal citizen of the
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, was arrested
and convicted for the murders of two Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. He was
sentenced to two consecutive life sentences
and has served more than 43 years in federal
prison. He suffers from diabetes and an
abdominal aortic aneurysm. He is 77 years old
today. </p>
<p>“Biden has an obligation to release Peltier
based on the treatment of our people,” said <a
href="http://whoisleonardpeltier.info/"
moz-do-not-send="true">International Leonard
Peltier Defense Committee</a> Board Member
Jean Roach to Native News Online. “If we want
to make reconciliations with Native people,
release Peltier. There is no justice for
Native people if there’s no justice for
Peltier.” </p>
<p>Fearing oppressive government retaliation,
Peltier fled to Canada. While in Canada, two
others, Dino Butler and Bob Robideau, were
charged with the murders of the FBI agents and
tried separately. Their case was eventually
dismissed due to lack of evidence. Peltier was
eventually apprehended and extradited from
Canada based on an affidavit that cited
Peltier admitted he shot and killed the two
FBI agents. The witness who made the statement
to secure Peltier’s extradition later admitted
she was coerced by the FBI. </p>
<p>Peltier’s trial was also riddled with
evidentiary concerns. The witness who gave the
statement to the FBI citing Peltier admitted
to her he shot and killed the agents and later
admitted she was coerced and was not permitted
to be called as a defense witness. The defense
later discovered that the government withheld
evidence, including ballistics evidence, and
argued that if made aware of the additional
evidence the outcome may have been different. </p>
<p>Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
maintianed Peltier was not given a fair trial
by the U.S. government.</p>
<p>“I think I can explain beyond serious doubt
that Leonard Peltier has committed no crime
whatsoever. But if he had been guilty of
firing a gun that killed an FBI Agent, it was
in defense of not just his people but the
integrity of humanity from domination and
exploitation,” U.S. Attorney General Ramsey
Clark said.</p>
<p>Friday’s letter was signed by Rep. Raúl M.
Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep.
Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL), Rep. Cori Bush
(D-MO), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Rep.
Jared Huffman (D-CA), Rep. Teresa Leger
Fernández (D-NM), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI),
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Betty
McCollum (D-MN), and Rep. Melanie Stansbury
(D-NM).</p>
<p>“Given the combination of this overwhelming
support, the constitutional issues underlying
Mr. Peltier’s prosecution, and his status as
an elderly inmate with severe underlying
health conditions, we believe it is highly
appropriate that BOP prioritizes the expedited
release of Mr. Peltier. We therefore request
that Mr. Leonard Peltier receive an expedited
release and be granted clemency.”</p>
<p>Individuals and groups who have also called
for Mr. Peltier’s release include Amnesty
International, the National Congress of
American Indians, the late Nelson Mandela, the
Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mikhail
Gorbachev, Mary Robinson, former President of
Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights, the European Parliament, the
Belgian Parliament, the Italian Parliament,
the Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights,
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rigoberta Menchú, and
seven other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
Former U.S. Attorney James H. Reynolds, who
oversaw Mr. Peltier’s original conviction, has
written to President Biden requesting clemency
for Mr. Peltier. Last year, Chair Grijalva
co-led a similar clemency request letter with
then-Representative Deb Haaland, now Secretary
of the Interior.</p>
<p>He’s the longest serving political prisoner
in the United States.</p>
<p>“He has serious medical conditions,” said
Roach. “He’s been in there long enough and
it’s time for him to come home.”</p>
<p>“As a survivor of the 1975 Oglala firefight
and member of the International Leonard
Peltier Defense Committee, I urge everyone,
every tribe, to pass resolutions supporting
his freedom,” said Roach.<br>
Read the letter in full <a
href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/grijalva-and-members-letter-requesting-clemency-for-leonard-peltier-oct-8-2021"
moz-do-not-send="true">here</a>.</p>
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<div id="gmail-author_infobox">Darren Thompson
(Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) is a freelance
journalist and based in the Twin Cities of
Minnesota, where he also contributes to
Unicorn Riot, an alternative media
publication. Thompson has reported on
political unrest, tribal sovereignty, and
Indigenous issues for the Aboriginal Peoples
Television Network, Indian Country Today,
Native News Online, Powwows.com and Unicorn
Riot. He has contributed to the New York
Times, the Washington Post, and Voice of
America on various Indigenous issues in
international conversation. He has a
bachelor’s degree in Criminology & Law
Studies from Marquette University in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. </div>
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