Minnesota tribal leaders call for Biden to commute Leonard Peltier’s sentence
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A group of over 120 elected current and former tribal leaders from across the United States are calling on President Joe Biden to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, a longstanding political activist convicted in 1977 in the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, according to a story first published Monday by HuffPost.
Peltier is a member of the American Indian Movement, a grassroots Native American organization formed in Minneapolis in the late 1960s in response to police violence.
“For the majority of his life, Leonard Peltier has been serving a sentence based on a conviction that would not hold up in court today and for a crime that the government has admitted it could not prove. Mr. Peltier’s continued incarceration is a symbol to Native Americans of the systemic inequities of the criminal justice system in America,” read the letter from tribal elected officials published on NDN Collective.
The letter was signed by over a dozen elected tribal officials in Minnesota, including president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community Robert Larsen, who verified the accuracy of the letter to MPR News, as well as Chair of Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Cathy Chavers and Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Virgil Wind, who signed the letter as President of the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes.
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Faron Jackson, chair of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, also signed the letter. Jackson spoke to MPR News while attending the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe annual state of the band address Tuesday.
“I think it was an injustice from day one,” said Jackson. “He’s been sitting in prison for almost 50 years on a lot of circumstantial evidence that just didn’t add up to justice.”
Peltier, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, is currently serving two life sentences at a federal prison in Florida. Peltier has maintained his innocence since he was first imprisoned.
Peltier was convicted of first-degree murder of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during an incident at the Jumping Bull ranch on Pine Ridge reservation. The agents were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on another man when a shootout began.
The FBI has opposed Peltier’s bid for clemency for decades. In June, FBI Director Christopher Wray wrote to the chair of the U.S. Parole Commission stating he believed Peltier is guilty of the crimes for which he is imprisoned.
Peltier was denied parole at a hearing in July and his next parole hearing was set for 2026.
Tribal leaders stated they believed the federal government failed to make their case against Peltier. They point to a 2021 letter written by James Reynolds, a former federal prosecutor for the District of South Dakota.
Reynolds’ office led the first case against Peltier and a subsequent appeal. Reynolds wrote to Biden in 2021 advocating for Peltier’s release.
“Peltier’s conviction and continued incarceration is a testament to a time and a system of justice that no longer has a place in our society,” Reynolds wrote.
“With time, and the benefit of hindsight, I have realized that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust. We were not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation,” Reynolds wrote.
In their letter to Biden, elected tribal officials called on Biden to consider Peltier’s release as an act of compassion. At age 80, Peltier has been imprisoned for more than half of his life and suffers from major health issues.
“Our standing in the world as a champion of freedom, justice and human rights cannot be maintained in a system that allows Leonard Peltier to die in prison,” read the letter.
The call for clemency from tribal leaders comes after Biden commuted the sentences of over 1,500 people and granted pardons to 39 individuals in mid-December.
In early December, Biden also granted a pardon to his son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted on gun and tax charges.
Biden has until next week to decide whether to grant clemency to Peltier before the end of his term in office.
MPR News Native News senior editor Leah Lemm contributed to this story.
