Leonard Peltier Denied Parole After Nearly 50 Years In Prison
Leonard Peltier was denied parole on Tuesday[…]
Peltier has been in prison since 1977 when the U.S. government convicted him for killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shoot-out on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
But his trial was full of misconduct, including federal prosecutors hiding evidence that exonerated Peltier and the FBI threatening and coercing witnesses into lying. The government’s case fell apart after these revelations, so it abruptly revised its charges against Peltier to aiding and abetting whoever did kill those agents — on the grounds that he was one of dozens of people present when the shoot-out occurred.
There was never evidence that Peltier committed a crime. The FBI and U.S. attorney’s office never did figure out who killed those agents.
Peltier is widely considered America’s longest-serving political prisoner.[…]
The FBI continues to oppose Peltier’s release and is the main reason, if not the only reason, that he’s still in prison. But its stated reasons for opposing Peltier’s release are full of holes, outdated and remarkably easy to disprove.
The FBI also has not publicly addressed the key context of that 1975 shoot-out: That the FBI itself was intentionally fueling tensions on that reservation as part of a covert campaign to suppress the activities of the American Indian Movement, or AIM, a grassroots movement for Indigenous rights. Peltier was an active AIM member and an FBI target.[…]
Currently, Peltier spends most days confined to a cell with inches of space to move within, as his maximum security prison in Florida is regularly in a state of lockdown. He requires a walker to get around. He is blind in one eye from a stroke.
Biden is likely Peltier’s last best hope for going home. The president has the authority to unilaterally release him at any time.[…]
So far, Biden hasn’t said a thing about Peltier.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.[…]
The Democratic National Committee voted unanimously in 2022 to pass a resolution urging the president to release Peltier. Dozens of senators and members of Congress, including Biden’s former presidential rival Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Senate Indian Affairs Committee chairman Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), have called on the president at least four times to free Peltier.
2 Jul 24