WASHINGTON, DC – Scores of current and former elected tribal leaders of national tribal organizations wrote President Biden a letter this past week urging the “end of Leonard Peltier’s long incarceration” by granting Peltier clemency before Biden leaves office.
According to the tribal leader letter, Peltier is an 80-year-old citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (ND), “and a boarding school survivor who is in his 49th year of incarceration at the maximum-security United States Penitentiary, Coleman, outside of Orlando, FL.”
The letter continues by emphasizing key individuals who were involved in Peltier’s prosecution have also spoken out in support of his release.
“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,” the tribal leader’s letter stated, noting the crime is one in which the federal government admits now it cannot prove.
The letter explains Peltier’s continued incarceration is a demonstration of systematic inequalities of the criminal justice system in the U.S. for Native Americans.
The tribal leaders added, “Mr. President, we honor your demonstrated commitment to Indian Country. You have stood with us many times—both in the White House and in the U.S. Senate. 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.”
The letter concludes by urgently asking President Biden to consider the opportunity to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier and to stand alongside the Native American community once again.
