ICT Staff
Leonard Peltier is free at last.
The longtime American Indian Movement activist was released Tuesday from federal prison in Sumterville, Florida, after 49 years behind bars in what he has long maintained was a wrongful conviction in the deaths of two federal agents during a 1975 standoff at Pine Ridge.
“Today I am finally free!” Peltier said in a statement released by NDN Collective, which has led the recent effort to win his release from prison. “They have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!”
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Peltier, 80, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, left in an SUV and did not stop to speak to nearly two dozen supporters gathered outside the prison gates, The Associated Press reported.
He was set to return to his tribal homelands in North Dakota, where a homecoming celebration and community feed were scheduled for Wednesday.
“Leonard Peltier is free!” Nick Tilsen, founder and chief executive at NDN Collective, said in the statement. “He never gave up fighting for his freedom so we never gave up fighting for him. Today our elder Leonard Peltier walks into the open arms of his people.”
Tilsen has called Peltier “the longest living Indigenous political prisoner in the history of the United States.”
In poor health and after years of fighting for his release, Peltier was finally granted clemency by then-President Joe Biden just minutes before Biden left office on Jan. 20. Biden’s order will allow Peltier to serve out the remainder of his sentence with home confinement on the reservation.
“This moment would not be happening without [then-Interior] Secretary Deb Haaland and President Biden responding to the calls for Peltier’s release that have echoed through generations of grassroots organizing,” said Holly Cook Macarro, who handles government affairs for NDN Collective. “Today is a testament to the many voices who fought tirelessly for Peltier’s freedom and justice.”
Peltier, who was an activist with the American Indian Movement during the 1975 standoff, has long maintained he was wrongfully convicted. He was convicted of murder in the deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, but those convictions were overturned, leaving him with convictions for aiding and abetting in their deaths.
A woman who testified that she saw Peltier shoot the agents later recanted, saying she had been coerced into making the statements.
“He represents every person who’s been roughed up by a cop, profiled, had their children harassed at school,” said Nick Estes, a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe who advocated for Peltier’s release.
Supporters gathered outside the prison Tuesday, waving signs saying “Free Leonard Peltier.”
“We never thought he would get out,” said Ray St. Clair, a member of the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe who traveled to Florida to be there for Peltier’s release. “It shows you should never give up hope. We can take this repairing the damage that was done. This is a start.”
Not everyone cheered his release, however, Former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who resigned as the Donald Trump took office, called Peltier “a remorseless killer” in a private letter to Biden obtained by The Associated Press.
Peltier had long sought release from prison, and was most recently denied parole in July. He would not have been eligible again for consideration until 2026.
He thanked his supporters Tuesday in the written statement and looked ahead to the homecoming.
“Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom. I am finally going home. I look forward to seeing my friends, my family, and my community. It’s a good day today.”
This article contains material from The Associated Press.
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