After almost 50 years behind bars
Indigenous long-term prisoner Leonard Peltier is allowed home.
In the very last moments of his term of office, US President Joe Biden commuted the American Indian Movement activist's two life sentences, allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence on house arrest. Despite pleas from supporters, the White House refused to issue a full pardon.
Despite questionable evidence, Leonard Peltier was found guilty in 1977 of murdering two FBI officers in a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The Lakota-Sioux has since spent almost 48 years in prison. The demand for his pardon had even been supported in recent years by then public prosecutor James Reynolds. Even the Democratic Party had passed a resolution to this effect. Peltier turned 80 last September is seriously ill. He can now spend the last years of his life surrounded by his family.
The new US President Donald Trump, on the other hand, did not mention Native Americans at all during his inauguration speech at the Capitol, in contrast to blacks and Hispanics, whom he thanked for their votes. In his eulogy to the pioneering spirit of trappers and cowboys in the Wild West, Trump forgot to mention the blood toll paid by Indians who were driven off their land and, at best, confined to reservations.
Please read for background information:
50 years after Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee in South Dakota was the site of the last Indian massacre in 1890. The trauma continues to shape the descendants to this day. The Pine Ridge Reservation is still considered one of the poorest regions in the United States. What did the militant protest in 1973 accomplish?
Rebbecca. It's worth noting that Mr. Peltier's story changed from "I was working on a car somewhere else." To " I was there, but didn't shoot." To, " I was there, I shot, but I didn't kill the Agents. Also, any inference of Mr. Peltier's innocence must first explain the death of Anna Mae Aquash. The two agents were not the only victims of Jumping Bull Ranch. Thank You.